What is the best way to remove from the Cannabis Act?

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What is the best way to remove from the Cannabis Act?

Three years ago Sunday, December 17th, 2017 Canada legalized recreational and adult use of cannabis. The Trudeau government deserves credit for making this happen, as most Canadians had believed that the consequences of prohibition outweighed whatever negatives would arise from legalization for some time. The Cannabis Act is now three years old and it needs to be changed to make the legal cannabis market more affordable and patient-friendly.

What is the best way to remove CBD products from the Cannabis Act? CBD stands for Cannabidiol, a chemical found mainly in hemp, which is low in THC. On its own, CBD has a variety of health and medicinal properties. CBD is used to treat seizures, joint pain and inflammation, and as a sleep aid. Because CBD products are not psychoactive and have a significantly lower risk profile they shouldn t be regulated the same as cannabis products containing THC. Any CBD product with a THC concentration of less than 0.3 per cent the U.S. legal standard should be treated as a natural health product. Moving away from the one size fits all approach would help make Canada's legal cannabis market more consumer-friendly in a number of ways. We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

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First, it would exempt CBD products from the heavy-handed marketing, branding and packaging requirements outlined in the cannabis act. Cannabis, the difference between tobacco and alcohol, was a huge mistake. But treating CBD products like tobacco is downright silly. Beyond scrapping away at the paternalism built in by enacting Act, exempting CBD would dramatically increase consumer access to information. The market for CBD wellness products and beverages, including sports drinks, could expand significantly if these products were sold outside of licensed cannabis retailers, which are in many provinces in short supply. Even in Oakville, which has open up retail access to some cities — Ontario is one —, some cities have kept their cannabis retail ban. Under a looser regulatory regime, CBD products would be beyond the reach of nanny-state local councilors.

On the industry side, removing CBD products from the Cannabis Act could help reduce the current glut of over one billion grams of cannabis. Freeing cannabis from the Act would allow producers with too much cannabis on their hands to simply extract the THC and make CBD products. Philip Cross: Welcome to our new economy of shortages, comrades Reform of the Act should also address the excise tax system for cannabis. Medical cannabis should be exempt from medical marijuana. We don t have extra taxes for other medicines. Why does it make up one? Removing the tax may also have the benefit of encouraging medical patients to grow their own illegally rather than pushed into buying legal medical cannabis with a Health Canada permit, an avenue that has consistently been found to be supplying the legal market.

For floating users, the $1 gram excise tax should be replaced with a recreational percentage. The minimum excise of $1 gram artificially hurts prices, limits the availability of discount brands and affects the craft cannabis industry. More competition on price would obviously benefit consumers, but it would also help chip away at black market sales, which are still running at $750 million a year. Finally, the act should be amended so that the rules for cannabis marketing and promotion are the same as those for alcohol. A legal cannabis brand should be allowed to sponsor events, advertise more broadly, creatively brand its packages, use spokespeople or endorsements and provide discounts or other incentives for sales — all of which are allowed for alcohol.

To their credit, some provinces have done what they can to make their legal cannabis market more consumer friendly. Ontario has made significant progress in expanding the retail access to cannabis and has just committed to legalizing curbside pickup and delivery. These changes at provincial level are in large part why legal cannabis sales have exceeded illegal sales in the third quarter of 2020 for the first time. The provinces seem to be committed to expanding consumers access. With the cannabis act two years old, it is time for the federal government to step up, too.