Cannabis is a complex plant, ideally labelling of cannabis products should accurately reflect the combinations of psychoactive ingredients present in a strain.
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It has long been clear that some countries have drug policies that cause harm and violate human rights.
Much of what is known about the health effects of cannabis legalization in Canada is based on outdated and often irrelevant data.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Daniel Myran, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
The government’s advice to cannabis users is to start low and go slow. Given the potential harms of a rapidly expanding retail market, it should heed its own advice and move slowly on regulatory changes.
People line up to purchase legal cannabis in Calgary, Alta., on Oct. 17, 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Although a recent review found a lack of evidence to support these products, this doesn’t mean cannabis can’t help some people with sleep. We need better research.
A woman marks the first day of legalization of cannabis across Canada as she lights a joint in a Toronto park in October 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
As many as 33 American states and several European countries are looking to legalize recreational cannabis. Canada’s experience has lessons for them about how best to sell cannabis.
The Drug and Substance Checking Bill currently moving through parliament marks another milestone in New Zealand’s shift away from criminalisation and towards harm reduction.
As recreational cannabis use increases, so has the number of calls regarding dogs who have accidentally consumed cannabis products.
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Accidental ingestion of drugs can have detrimental effects on dogs’ health. Education and awareness can help protect pets from consuming opioids and cannabis products.
In this November 2019 photo, patrons smoke marijuana at a state-licensed but federally illegal marijuana establishment in Los Angeles.
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Hemp, CBD and marijuana are all forms of cannabis – but they are different in significant ways, from form and legality to their potential uses as treatment for various health conditions.
Mexico’s militarized war on drugs – and, often, drug users – has killed at least 150,000 people over the past 15 years.
Jair Cabrera Torres/picture alliance via Getty Images
Mexico would not fully legalize cannabis; its new regulation plan makes recreational use legal. However modest, that would be a symbolic milestone for a country immersed in a long, deadly drug war.
Growing weed indoors is not an environmentally friendly process. Climate controls create a lot of greenhouse gas emissions, and where the pot is produced has a huge influence on emission levels.
People gather in Trinity Bellwoods park for a weed bubble blowing event in Toronto on Oct. 17, 2018, the day cannabis became legal in Canada.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
If the goal of cannabis legalization was to protect public health and safety, education and awareness campaigns must normalize safe cannabis use, not stop cannabis consumption.
The use of cannabis, though safer than many other drugs, is not entirely without risk.
AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file
Weed, though far less dangerous than many other drugs, is not entirely without risk. Some 59% of people treating pain with medical cannabis experience moderate to severe withdrawal symptoms
An Amsterdam storefront shows the type of creative and colourful cannabis packaging seen in other jurisdictions.
Creative Commons
Health Canada should revise its cannabis regulations to let producers differentiate themselves from competitors and explain their products to consumers.
Activists wave flags in front of the U.S. Capitol to demand that Congress pass cannabis reform legislation on Oct. 8, 2019.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images
A cannabis decriminalization bill approved by the House is a sign from Congress that sentiment around the drug is evolving, but it misses a chance to regulate marijuana for the good of all Americans.