The medical cannabis regulatory framework in Canada: A narrative review

Abstract

In 2001, Canada became one of the first countries to legalize medical cannabis; since then, the Canadian government has released policies regulating this product. In 2018, Canada passed the Cannabis Act to also legalize cannabis for recreational use and placed the previous medical cannabis regulatory framework under this same act. The purpose of this review is to provide a current account of the Canadian medical cannabis regulatory framework by examining patient access, ethical implications, and regulatory compliance. This narrative review, informed by searches conducted across academic databases and the grey literature, aims to provide a current account of the medical cannabis regulatory framework in Canada. Resources that discussed aspects of this framework were drawn upon to synthesize this review. Many resources were examined on the policies’ ethical implications, and consequences for public health and on individual patients in the context of medical cannabis use. Additionally, studies conducted thus far highlight the fact that continued research to fill knowledge gaps in the clinical evidence for different medical conditions is still very much warranted. Furthermore, ethical concerns regarding the role of healthcare practitioners under medical cannabis regulations were also explored. Opposing viewpoints towards the medicalization of cannabis and the effects of using medical cannabis continue to exist in Canada. Further research should examine the challenges and successes that were encountered under previous medical cannabis regulatory frameworks in order to ensure adequate production, distribution, and access to medical cannabis under the current and future frameworks and address existing accessibility concerns.