Canadian Cannabis Consumption

"What followed commercialized legalization was a rise in cannabis addition as well as increases in hospital admissions for psychosis, including cases where psychotic disorders occurred alongside cannabis addiction."

"The emergence of a for-profit cannabis industry can result in commercial interests being prioritized over public health, just as we have seen with the alcohol and tobacco industries."

"Increased availability of cannabis products, greater product strength and active marketing of these products can increase the risk of harm."

Tom Freeman, psychologist, University of Bath

Cannabis-related hospitalizations associated with later mortality  Recovery Research Institute

 

The Liberal government of Canada gifted Canadians with MAID -- Medical Assistance in Dying. A program whose original protocol of accessibility was to ensure that patients' ebbing lifeforce was imminent, to spare them further pain and suffering. That soon changed, with guidelines for approval becoming more openly 'benevolent', where applicants eventually could simply decide life wasn't worth living any longer; poverty and lack of adequate medical care prompted some to end their lives. The latest 'improvement' on the guidelines was to include those suffering solely from mental illness; a decision still in abeyance.

 

Living the good life, courtesy of the Liberal government introduced legalized marijuana, and the licensing of cannabis shops throughout the country where the 'weed' and products flavoured with cannabis, some in shapes appealing to children were available. Leading to children being seen at hospital emergency rooms having consumed those appealing tidbits. Government argued that commercializing pot's easy availability would see the end of the illegal black market through regulation. Things haven't exactly worked out that way, with seasoned users still buying on the street at prices more than rivalling commercial outlets.

 

 NSLC's lone exclusivity cannabis-only outlet is seen on Clyde Street in Halifax on Thursday, July 2, 2026. The NSLC also operates cannabis dispensaries inside its alcohol selling stores across Nova Scotia. Photo by Tim Krochak /The Chronicle Herald

 

Now a global study recently published in the Lancet Journal of Psychiatry points out that the widespread commercialization of cannabis in Canada has seen an explosion of hospital visit for psychosis, psychiatric disorders, and addictive use of the product. Elsewhere globally where legalized cannabis is available, a tighter regulatory regime has been instituted not involving widespread commercial availability and as a result other countries where pot has been legalized don't face the pot-related problems that Canada does.

 

Titled International Cannabis Policies and Their Association with Cannabis Use, Cannabis Use Disorder, and Other Psychiatric Disorders, the study represents a global research survey of the policy of legalization of cannabis. As such studies go, this is the most recent research that raises concerns over health effects resulting from Canada's 2018 cannabis legalization and the commercialization that followed. 

 

Seniors are among the fastest-growing age group for using cannabis in Canada. Meanwhile, the number of seniors ending up in emergency departments with cannabis poisoning has also risen sharply since legalization, new research shows. (Travis Dolynny/CBC)

 

Most troubling, society has seen teens and young adults to be the most affected. This, when science also warned that up to age 21, the human brain is still maturing, and exposure to the chemicals in cannabis is harmful to that development. A 2019 study published in Lancet Psychology, advanced the result of regular use of strong cannabis (20 milligrams per gram or higher), increases the potential of a psychosis by up to 1,000 percent among teens and young adults.

 

Data from Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. indicates as of 2023 that close to half of its sales were of cannabis products. Those products having a THC content of 20-25 mg/b (10 times stronger than the old weed), 30 percent of sales represented with 24-30 mg/g and just over 10 percent reflected a potency of over 30 mg/g. Further, according to the 2022 Canadian Cannabis Survey, youth in Nova Scotia (age 16 to 19) saw the highest use of marijuana in the country.

 

Halifax's wastewater tests contained the highest rate of cannabis metabolites per capita of any city in Canada. The Canadian Wastewater Survey testing for drug metabolites in wastewater, tracks consumption trends throughout the country. 

 

As pot becomes more potent and more convenient to purchase, emergency doctors are reporting more cases of cannabis hyperemesis syndrome. Photo by Getty Images