Taking Stock of Progress
To enact change and growth within the regulated cannabis industry, it is our responsibility to provide constructive feedback to regulators. These responses to the "Taking Stock of Progress" questionnaire from Health Canada reflect my own views, with the goal of driving the cannabis industry forward in a safe and responsible way.
- David Cote
Section 1: Minimizing Harms to Protect Canadians
1.1 What is your view of the current legislative and regulatory restrictions in place to safeguard public health?
The current legislative and regulatory restrictions in place for the cannabis industry are a great start: as a country, we’re lucky to be having these sorts of reviews because they’re an indication that we’re moving in the right direction. That said, it is my belief that Health Canada still views cannabis as something to be hidden, something to speak about in hushed tones, something to fear. Cannabis is treated like cigarettes: cigarettes have no medicinal benefit, nor will cigarettes be considered a “safer alternative” to other legal recreational substances. Since cannabis has both a medicinal benefit and is proven to be a safer alternative to other legal intoxicants, including but not limited to cigarettes, why is it treated as though Health Canada doesn’t want the legal market to exist? The Government of Canada is quite happy to have earned millions on taxes and excise stickers in recent years, but future investment in the space will be limited as long as the industry is treated as an exile.
1.2 What controls, if any, would you like to see changed and why?
When I walk down the street with my 3-year-old son, we walk past advertisements for Budweiser and Grey Goose out front of any number of bars and restaurants. When I have the news on TV while making dinner and he’s in the room, the news is normally “brought to us by Pfizer”. When I take him to skating lessons, there are Esso ads on the boards of the arena. My 3-year-old recognizes the logos of these alcohol, pharmaceutical, and oil companies. The cannabis plant is a proven alternative to much of what these other businesses are selling, but cannabis is not allowed to be advertised or educated outside of an age gated environment. Allow cannabis to be advertised in the same fashion as alcohol and pharmaceuticals and allow Canadians to learn – allowing Canadians to make more informed choices and help drive innovation through competition.
1.3 Are the current safeguards adequately restricting access and helping to protect the health of youth? (Yes, No, Don’t Know)
“Don’t Know”:
Yes, the current safeguards around the legally regulated cannabis industry is keeping youth out of legal cannabis stores and restricting their access. But with education being limited, with marketing being hidden, with taxes and excise stickers being so costly, the legal cannabis industry cannot compete adequately with the illicit market – and Health Canada and the Government of Canada seem to be doing very little to tamp down the illicit market, thus those illicit players are thriving. And illicit sellers will sell to youth without a care. And why would an individual that has been purchasing from an illicit source in high school turn and spend more money in the legal market when they become age of majority? This cycle ensures the illicit market will thrive indefinitely. The Government of Canada can stop the cycle, should they wish to do so, but this would require a long term view on taxes and regulation, allowing the legal market to succeed and educate properly.
1.4 Under the current framework, what presents the greatest risk to youth in accessing and consuming cannabis?
The current framework ensures the illicit market will thrive for years to come, given the financial burden on the industry with the regulations and taxes imposed. As long as this is true, youth will not be safe from illicit products, since the illicit operators are not held to the same standards as those that have been properly licensed. If Health Canada is truly interested in protecting youth, they will allow the legal, regulated industry to operate with stronger margins so there’s an ability to compete with the illicit market. Until then, the youth population will be susceptible to illicit offerings of unknown origin.
Section 2: Education and Awareness to Support Informed Choices
2.1 To what extent have public education efforts delivered the appropriate messages and reached the appropriate audiences, including youth and young adults?
Preaching complete abstinence until the age of majority will never work perfectly. Provincial bodies have certainly not supported licensed cannabis retailers to deliver any messages to youth and young adults. No guidance has been provided besides “age gating” entrances. If there has been a nationwide campaign to deliver education to this audience via television, print or other media, it has not been visible or frequent enough for it to have an impact.
2.2 What additional measures or areas of focus could be considered to continue to close the gap between perception of risks and harms and scientific evidence?
Take a realistic approach to educating the young. Aiming for complete abstinence, instilling fear or having zero tolerance for any use is futile. Young adults will find a way to use cannabis as they always have. However, as with many things in life, supporting their understanding of why frequent use at an early age can be damaging to brain development is key. Health Canada could design a pamphlet to provide to authorized retailers to provide to any under age adult attempting to purchase cannabis.
Section 3: Progress Toward Establishing a Safe and Responsible Supply Chain (Continued)
3.1 Do adult Canadians have sufficient access to a quality-controlled supply of legal cannabis? (Yes, No, Don’t Know)
Yes, in most provinces, the roll-out of cannabis retail locations has been swift and enabled legally aged adults to shop for regulated cannabis products.
3.2 What alternative measures, if any, could the government consider to further strengthen and diversify the legal market?
The government could reduce the excise tax on craft producers, while also reducing the excise tax on lower priced items.
3.3 What alternative measures, if any, could the government consider to better meet the needs of racialized, under-represented, or Indigenous communities within the cannabis licensing program?
The Canadian Government needs to hold themselves accountable on their promise for amnesty for past cannabis possession charges to allow marginalized individuals easier access to financing and support in launching their ventures. The delays and bureaucracy around the amnesty program is an extension of the over policing that occurred to racialized, under-represented, or Indigenous communities during prohibition by continuing to hold these groups back from thriving in the legal environment. Automatic amnesty for past small possession convictions should be table stakes for the Canadian Government, if they actually want to help racialized, under-represented, or Indigenous communities.
3.4 To what extent have the current restrictions on home cultivation of four plants or less supported the safe and responsible production of cannabis?
Growing cannabis properly is not easy. One of the great side-effects of allowing citizens to grow plants at home has proven just how difficult it is to produce decent cannabis flower – many have tried and many have failed. It’s a good learning activity, in a similar way to growing tomatoes at home: if produce works out, you’ll enjoy it and take pride in the output, making you more appreciative and educated on the product when shopping in the future. This appreciation and education will spill over to friends and family, encouraging further learning and engagement. I believe home cultivation is important to building this community of thoughtfulness around the cannabis plant.
Section 4: Protecting Public Safety
4.1 What are your general impressions of legal retailers’ progress to-date in capturing the legal market? Please explain.
The tax burden placed on the cannabis industry from the provincial and federal governments has contributed to weak profitability, and despite this, most legal retailers have managed to establish themselves with parallels to traditional retailers. This allows for Canadian cannabis shoppers to access cannabis from trusted, safe and legal sources. However, retailers will never be able to fully compete with the illicit market until the federal government takes steps to reduce the excise tax, which will allow retailers to bring prices even more in line with the black market.
4.2 What additional steps or measures should the government consider to combat the illegal cannabis market?
Reduce the excise tax and support provincial police and other regulatory bodies to shutdown unauthorised retail stores. Plus, educate the public on the dangers of consuming illegal cannabis.
Section 5: Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes
5.1 What are your views on the current medical access program for cannabis?
I believe it is more or less unchanged since recreational legalization in 2018. However most medical practitioners still seem uncertain how to properly prescribe medical cannabis or even consider it as an option.
5.2 Is a distinct medical access program necessary to provide individuals with reasonable access to cannabis for medical purposes, or can access needs be met through the non-medical framework? Please explain.
The products available in the medical access program are nearly identical to those available on the recreational side. Medical cannabis patients could just as easily fulfil their prescriptions at authorised retailers. This would help to reduce the cost and complexity involved for the government to manage multiple programs, while at the same time eliminating confusion for new patients about where to access medical cannabis. Eliminating the medical access program also removes cost and complexity from licensed producers through a reduction in the channels of distribution required. Finally, it would also support profitability of many smaller retailers with a new segment of the market available to distribute to.
5.3 Are there specific reforms that you would recommend?
Move the current medical access program out of pharmacies and into authorized retailers. The pharmacies profiting the most from medical cannabis currently are the ones who benefit the least from the sale of medical cannabis. Moving medical access to authorized retailers should come with additional compliance and training requirements to ensure that medical cannabis patients can get the same level of education at any retailer with the ability to dispense medical cannabis.
Section 6: General Comments
6.1 What are your views on the impacts of legalization of cannabis on the environment, small businesses and social and economic impacts on diverse groups of Canadians, in accordance with the Government of Canada's commitment to implementing Sex- and Gender-Based Analysis Plus (SGBA+)?
With the cost structure in place, the Government of Canada has all but ensured no small businesses can survive for the long term in the legal cannabis market. High taxes, no marketing, heavy regulation, and costly reviews/bureaucracy are the major drivers of most business failures. The epic number of CCAA filings in 2022 is only a preview of what 2023 will bring.
I believe the cannabis industry is one of the most socially inclusive industries in Canada, on all fronts. BUT, for a business to have the luxury of focusing on social initiatives, there has to be profitability, so it remains unclear to me how long these social initiatives can survive, given the number of CCAA applications coming from cannabis businesses.
The waste tied to the packaging requirements for legal cannabis in Canada continues to be one of the biggest travesties in CPG packaging. The regulations show that the environment is absolutely not a priority for Health Canada or the Government of Canada. I encourage anyone working on this review to come to a store and look at a beverage or a single pre-roll or a one-gram package to see for yourself the amount of waste in every single unit shipped. In comparing the regulations around cannabis packaging to plastic straws: cannabis packaging regulations make plastic straws look environmentally friendly.
6.2 Please provide additional comments you would like to share on the administration and operation of the Cannabis Act and its Regulations that were not addressed in the previous sections. In particular, we are interested in hearing from you on additional impacts the Cannabis Act has had since its implementation, including trends that you have observed and evidence sources that substantiate such trends. Please include additional sources of information or data that should be considered to support the legislative review. Please limit your response to 5,000 characters, including spaces.
Legally regulated cannabis can have a net positive impact on our society if we let it. The current framework ensures the illicit market will continue to thrive, folks will continue to turn to addictive pharmaceuticals for pain, and alcoholism in young adults will continue to increase. With education being limited, with marketing being hidden, with taxes and excise stickers being so costly, the legal cannabis industry will never be able to survive – and then Canada will hold two titles: the first to legalize recreational cannabis and the first to bankrupt the industry.
Section 7: Demographic Questions (for analysis)
7.1 For the purpose of this questionnaire, please indicate whether you are providing input:
As an individual, representing my own views
As a representative of a group or organization
Prefer not to say
I’m submitting these answers as an individual, representing my own views.