Cannabis Legalization Across Canada: policy diversity and public health

In Canada, the new federal legislation that establishes the legalization of cannabis for non-medical use, the Cannabis Act, places a strong focus on public health and safety. Under the federal act, the provinces and territories have authority to tailor certain regulatory features to create their own systems of cannabis production, distribution, sale, and consumption. This situation presents a unique opportunity to study different cannabis policy experiments as they unfold across the country. We have started to develop a formal record of cannabis policy conversations and plans in Canada, starting with an in-depth look at pre- and early-stage implementation of legalization in four large provinces – from east to west, Québec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

We searched empirical databases for the years 2000-2018 and, using a multi-method search strategy, collected the most current grey literature content (for example, government websites, reports by community organizations and health authorities) that we could find on cannabis legalization in the four provinces.

Table 1 gives a snapshot of key regulatory features that we wish to highlight. Each provincial case offers a distinct approach to legal cannabis access, distribution, and sale, including government-run monopolies, private retail, and a hybrid model. In 2017, all of these provincial governments launched public and stakeholder engagement processes to inform their cannabis legislation. Numerous health authorities, professional organizations, and community groups in each jurisdiction recommend public health as a priority to guide provincial legalization plans. 

Over the past year, each province has also grappled with different issues to varying degrees – such as reluctance to permit home cultivation in Québec, mixed municipal responses to public consumption in Alberta, and concerns about the future of existing dispensaries in BC.

Developing a comprehensive understanding of how multiple provincial governments are responding to federal cannabis legalization is an essential component for evaluating the impacts of this major drug policy reform on public health. How will the diversity of cannabis regulatory approaches affect public health outcomes for people in Canada? We will continue to document this patchwork of cannabis systems as the process unfolds.

Table 1. Overview of select cannabis regulation features by province

	Québec	Ontario	Alberta	British Columbia
Provincial legislation	Cannabis Regulation Act (Bill 157)	Cannabis, Smoke-Free Ontario and Road Safety Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017 (Bill 174)	An Act to Control and Regulate Cannabis (Bill 26)	Cannabis Control and Licensing Act (Bill 30)
Provincial distributor	Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ)	Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO)	Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission	BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB)
Permitted retailers	Société québécoise du cannabis, a subsidiary of SAQ	Ontario Cannabis Store, a subsidiary of the LCBO	Private retailers (with government-run online sales)	Public (under the LDB) and private retailers (under the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch)
Minimum age for purchase and sale	18 years	19 years	18 years	19 years
Public non-medical cannabis consumption restrictions	Lists various enclosed and public spaces	Prohibited in any public place, workplaces, and motor vehicles	Prohibited in places frequented by children, wherever tobacco smoking is prohibited, and motor vehicles	Prohibited in places frequented by children, wherever tobacco smoking is prohibited, and motor vehicles
Home cultivation	Not permitted	Up to four plants per household	Up to four plants per household	Up to four plants per household

Note: This table is current as of July 2018.

Government websites on cannabis legalization

Québec: http://encadrementcannabis.gouv.qc.ca/en/

Ontario: http://www.ontario.ca/page/cannabis-legalization

Alberta: http://www.alberta.ca/cannabis-framework.aspx

BC: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/public-safety/cannabis/legalization

Tara Marie Watson, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. With a background in criminology, she has longstanding research interests in substance use, drug policy reform, and harm reduction programs. She is working with a cross-jurisdictional team to study diverse stakeholder and community responses to Canadian cannabis legalization. You can find her on LinkedIn.

Co-authors on this research: Elaine Hyshka (University of Alberta), Sarah Bonato (CAMH), and Sergio Rueda (CAMH).

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