The legalization of cannabis is the process of eliminating all legal prohibitions against it. Cannabis would then be available to the general adult population for purchase and consumption at will, similar to tobacco and alcohol. Decriminalization is the act of eliminating criminal sanctions against an act, article, or behavior. The decriminalization of cannabis means that it would remain illegal, but the legal system would not prosecute a person for possession less than a specific amount.
Instead, sanctions would range from a total absence of sanctions, civil fines, drug education or drug treatment. It provides the first summary of Canada's experience in the first year of retail sales after the legalization of cannabis, with a focus on the public health and safety objectives of the Cannabis Act. Canada's relationship with legal cannabis is evolving and the market is still developing. With the law in effect for less than a year, any discussion of the impact is limited to preliminary remarks.
The expansion of available product classes, as well as the continued growth in the number of license holders and retail access points across Canada, have provided adult consumers with access to a wide range of legal cannabis products. Where DAD consumption remained comparable to the national level despite having one of the highest levels of cannabis use in the entire country. As an indication of its high addictiveness, cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States and its consumption rate continues to increase. The most common mental health problems reported by cannabis users were anxiety, melancholy, sadness and impatience.
However, to facilitate the legal industry's ability to compete with the illegal market and displace it, there is no regulated limit to the amount of THC that dry cannabis products can contain. Oversight of the cannabis supply chain is a shared responsibility between federal, provincial and territorial governments, with the participation of industry, municipalities and other stakeholders. Beyond the choice of product, it's important to consider the factors consumers consider when choosing how and where to buy their cannabis. Note 13 Since the reported prevalence of cannabis use tends to be higher after legalizationNote 17 (although part of the increase could be due to a greater willingness to disclose it), many feared that consumption among young people would also increase.
According to this study, more Canadians obtain cannabis legally and also fewer consume illegal cannabis than before the legislative change. Now that the third anniversary of legalization has arrived, the legal review of the Cannabis Act is due to begin. What also did not change is that the prevalence of cannabis use in general, in addition to the use of DAD, remained considerably more common among people aged 15 to 24 than among people aged 25 and over. A recent study by the Canadian Center for Substance Use and Addiction points to a dramatic reduction in the number of crimes involving possession of cannabis among young people following legalization.
A lower-than-average acquisition of cannabis from legal sources (36.6% and 47.3%, respectively) was reported. Ultimately, the Working Group recognized that legalizing cannabis for non-medical purposes would fundamentally change adult access to cannabis, but recognized that the impact was too uncertain and unpredictable to support large-scale reforms, at the time, of established medical access programs.
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