A comparative analysis of laws on recreational cannabis edibles between Canada and the United States of America.

BACKGROUND

The Canadian government has amended the Cannabis Act and Cannabis Regulations to legalize use of recreational cannabis edibles. Besides Canada, the United States of America (U.S.A.) is the only other country with experience regulating cannabis edibles, albeit at the state-level. Because of the potential health risks associated with consuming THC, we sought to compare laws (within Canada and the U.S. states that have legalized the recreational use of cannabis edible) that govern THC-infused cannabis edibles; and to identify any associated gaps in Canada's cannabis regulatory framework.

METHODS

For all U.S. states with laws on recreational cannabis, state-level statutes and regulations were retrieved from LexisAdvance Quicklaw and compared to requirements contained in the Canadian Cannabis Act, Cannabis Regulations, and gazetted Health Canada regulations. A comparative analysis of these documents highlighted similarities and differences in the cannabis regulatory framework of the two countries.

RESULTS

Currently, twelve jurisdictions in the U.S.A. authorize recreational cannabis use, but only ten states outline specific requirements for edibles. Overall, regulatory requirements for cannabis edibles are largely similar in Canada and the U.S.A.; however, requirements on test result reporting and data collection are different. Canada's limits on per package tetrahydrocannabinol and labelling requirements tend to be more conservative when compared to the U.S.A.

CONCLUSION

To further prevent accidental consumption, Canada should require cannabis manufacturers to directly imprint edibles with a cannabis symbol, which four American states currently mandate.