As prescribed by the Cannabis Act, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions have launched a review of the Act as it approaches its third year following coming into force. The report is to be returned to both houses of Parliament within 18 months.
The objective of this review will be to assess its impacts on public health, including:
In addition, the review will assess progress towards achieving the Act's purposes. Specifically, the review will focus on assessing the seven key objectives set out in section 7 of the Act:
The legislative review will also include evaluating patients' reasonable access to cannabis for medical purposes in light of cannabis legalization for non-medical purposes, including the role of personal and designated cannabis production.
The review comes at a time of generally weak cannabis stock performance and concerns amongst retailers that the current taxation regime leaves too much room for black market and gray market cannabis to thrive. While not a stated focus of the review, ensuring a fair an effective cannabis market in Canada will certainly be at the heart of the debate.
The Sussex Federal team is prepared to support organizations wishing to contribute to the consultation. Stakeholders must respond via the online questionnaire by November 21, 2022.
If your organization is considering participating, please feel free to reach out to one of our consultants below.
Devin McCarthy, Senior Vice President and Federal Practice Lead: dmccarthy@sussex-strategy.com
Eric Johnson, Vice President, Federal Practice: ejohnson@sussex-strategy.com
Liam Daly, Senior Associate, Federal Practice: ldaly@sussex-strategy.com