Tighten up rules around pot products, OPH urges federal government

Health unit weighing in on the national post-legalization review

Trevor Pritchard – CBC News – Nov 03, 2022

Cannabis products are seen on display in an Ottawa store in 2020. Ottawa Public Health is set to issue dozens of recommendations to the federal government on the Cannabis Act as a mandatory review of the legislation gets underway. (Andrew Lee/CBC)

Ottawa’s public health authority is set to issue dozens of recommendations to the federal government on the Cannabis Act, from prohibiting pot products in certain shapes and colours to issuing guidelines around how many stores should be in one area.

The recommendations from Ottawa Public Health (OPH) serve as its contribution to a recently-launched federal review of Canada’s pot legislation, one designed to look at whether the rules around legal cannabis are meeting Canadians’ hopes and needs.

In a report coming up for approval Monday at the city’s board of health meeting, OPH said while it remains “supportive of a public health approach” to regulating pot, it still has several concerns.

Those include products and packaging that could appeal to children, a rise in accidental poisonings after legalization and lack of “co-ordinated access” to substance use and treatment services, the report notes.

Ban on flavouring, sprinkles

OPH’s recommendations include maintaining the current limits on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive property of cannabis.

They call for a ban on any flavouring agents in cannabis extracts, as well as the use of “shapes, sprinkles or colours that may appeal to children.” 

All edible products should also be stamped or marked with the THC symbol when possible, OPH suggests, while any use of the words “candy” or “candies” should be prohibited.

Other recommendations include:

  • Keeping the current four-plant limit for home growers.
  • Investing in education around cannabis use and populations like youth and pregnant people.
  • Providing “maximum density” guidelines when it comes to brick-and-mortar shops.
  • Systemically collect race-based data to better understand racial disparities in cannabis-related charges.
  • Allowing pharmacists to dispense medical cannabis.
When it comes to physical pot shops, OPH is recommending the federal government provide guidelines on how many should pop up in one area — and then work with the provinces to come up with ways to impose those limits. (Alistair Steele/CBC)

Under the act, the review — which began in September, a year behind schedule — must examine the law’s impact on Indigenous people, the cultivation of cannabis in housing complexes, and the health and consumption patterns of young people.

Its mandate has, however, expanded to consider social and environmental effects of legal pot, the impact of medicinal cannabis, and how the rules have affected women and racialized communities.

Could push consumers to black market

Several of OPH’s recommendations to make pot products less appealing to children are already captured by Health Canada guidelines and would be near impossible to codify in the act itself, said Trina Fraser, a partner at Ottawa firm Brazeau Seller Law who specializes in cannabis law.

“We’re not going to prescribe specifically what that means because we can’t foresee every single thing that might be appealing to children,” Fraser said.

“It’s something that has to be determined on a case-by-case basis.”

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