Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jun 2017
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2017 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Tony Coulson
Page: S3

CANADIANS WANT MORE FACTS ABOUT CANNABIS

The federal government has announced its intention to legalize
cannabis for Canadian adults, with a target date of July, 2018. It
would be reasonable to think this change would be well received: Over
the past few years, surveys have found that about two-thirds of
Canadian support legalization.

But as legalization gets closer to becoming a reality, it's being
transformed from an abstraction into a raft of concrete choices about
licensing, oversight, distribution, packaging and labelling. In good
Canadian fashion, there is also a dose of jurisdictional confusion
about how Canadians will access their legal cannabis - the federal
legislation leaves the distribution and sale of legal cannabis to the
provinces and territories.

As the legalization becomes more concrete, Canadians' support for it
seems to be fluctuating, and may even have dropped over all. In an
Environics survey fielded in April, we found that while more than half
of Canadians support legalization, few have strong opinions either for
against. Moreover, three in four Canadians feel less than very well
informed about the health and other risks of cannabis use, or about
the types and potency of products that will become available.

The fact that support has flagged slightly suggests that for some,
this topic just became real for the first time. Discussion about how
to manage the risks of cannabis use - how to deal with driving under
the influence, for example - may have brought the risks to life for
some Canadians, dampening overall support for legalization.

When asked whether cannabis should be regulated more like tobacco or
more like alcohol, Canadians are divided. Slightly more than half say
they would prefer cannabis regulations more like those for alcohol,
and just less than half say tobacco.

When we asked participants why they chose the option they did, those
on the tobacco side most often mentioned the fact that both products
are smoked, followed by the notion that tobacco use is strictly
controlled. Fewer mentioned that advertising for tobacco is banned.
Those preferring a regulatory system modelled after alcohol most often
mention that cannabis has effects similar to alcohol ("impairment"),
the need for roadside tests for driving under the influence, and also
the belief that alcohol has more restrictions or is better regulated
than tobacco.

On product packaging, we asked whether "companies should be free to
brand, package and market their cannabis products to adults as they
see fit, as is the case for many other products," or if "plain and
standardized packaging rules should be enforced so that the products
are not made more appealing by the branding and packaging." In this
case, three-quarters of Canadians opted for the plain and standardized
packaging, likely based on their awareness that this is how tobacco is
regulated in Canada.

How and where should Canadians be allowed to acquire their cannabis?
About two in three Canadians consider the following to be acceptable
options: pharmacies (with controls similar to other regulated drugs),
existing government-owned or -licensed liquor stores, and new
government-owned cannabis retail stores. About 40 per cent consider
private retail stores such as dispensaries acceptable while three in
10 consider distribution by mail - the current system for medicinal
product - acceptable, and only about one in four are accepting of 24/7
home delivery for legalized cannabis.

The public's responses to all these questions must be read in the
context of Canadians' self-admitted lack of knowledge about cannabis
and its risks. The regulatory structures that govern the cannabis
market will have important implications for product safety, access,
and consumer education. There is a lot of work yet to be done in
establishing and publicizing these parameters. In the meantime,
Canadians' opinions on the issues remain soft and fluid, as they take
in new information and consider new angles.

Legalization legislation is the end of one process but the beginning
of another, arguably thornier one. To choose just one of the dilemmas
policy makers will have to resolve: How should leaders reconcile
Canadians' support for a plain-packaging regime on one hand with their
self-reported lack of awareness about cannabis products and their
potencies? Canadians want access tightly controlled, but they also
need relevant product and safety information. Consideration must also
be given to who the rules are being written for - regular cannabis
users, for example, have quite different views about most of these
issues, when compared with non-users.

In recent years, many Canadians have thought of cannabis legalization
as a common-sense modernization of a needlessly restrictive policy.
But with legalization now at hand, Canadians recognize they don't have
a deep understanding of the nuances of the issue - so many will likely
rely on experts for careful, evidence-based decision making to protect
the health of users and others.

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Group vice-president, corporate and public affairs, at Environics Research
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MAP posted-by: Matt