- Set a national minimum age of purchase of 18, acknowledging the right of provinces and territories to harmonize it with their minimum age of purchase of alcohol
- Apply comprehensive restrictions to the advertising and promotion of cannabis and related merchandise by any means, including sponsorship, endorsements and branding, similar to the restrictions on promotion of tobacco products
- Allow limited promotion in areas accessible by adults, similar to those restrictions under the Tobacco Act
- Require plain packaging for cannabis products that allows the following information on packages: company name, strain name, price, amounts of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) and warnings and other labelling requirements
- Impose strict sanctions on false or misleading promotion as well as promotion that encourages excessive consumption, where promotion is allowed
- Require that any therapeutic claims made in advertising conform to applicable legislation
- Resource and enable the detection and enforcement of advertising and marketing violations, including via traditional and social media
- Prohibit any product deemed to be “appealing to children,” including products that resemble or mimic familiar food items, are packaged to look like candy, or packaged in bright colours or with cartoon characters or other pictures or images that would appeal to children
- Require opaque, re-sealable packaging that is childproof or child-resistant to limit children’s access to any cannabis product
- Additionally, for edibles:
>Implement packaging with standardized, single servings, with a universal
THC symbol
> Set a maximum amount of THC per serving and per product
- Prohibit mixed products, for example cannabis-infused alcoholic beverages or cannabis products with tobacco, nicotine or caffeine
- Require appropriate labelling on cannabis products, including:
> Text warning labels
(e.g., “KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN”
> Levels of THC and CBD
> For edibles, labelling requirements
that apply to food and beverage products
- Create a exible legislative framework that could adapt to new evidence on speci c product types, on the use of additives or sweeteners, or on specifying limits of THC or other components
- Provide regulatory oversight for cannabis concentrates to minimize the risks associated with illicit production
- Develop strategies to encourage consumption of less potent cannabis, including a price and tax scheme based on potency to discourage purchase of high-potency products
- Require all cannabis products to include labels identifying levels of THC and CBD
- Enable a exible legislative framework that could adapt to new evidence to set rules for limits on THC or other components
- Develop and implement factual public education strategies to inform Canadians as to risks of problematic use and lower-risk use guidance
- Conduct the necessary economic analysis to establish an approach to tax and price that balances health protection with the goal of reducing the illicit market
- Work with provincial and territorial governments to determine a tax regime that includes equitable distribution of revenues
- Create a exible system that can adapt tax and price approaches to changes within the marketplace
- Commit to using revenue from cannabis as a source of funding for administration, education, research and enforcement
- Design a tax scheme based on THC potency to discourage purchase of high-potency products
- Implement as soon as possible an evidence- informed public education campaign, targeted at the general population but with an emphasis on youth, parents and vulnerable populations
- Co-ordinate messaging with provincial and territorial partners
- Adapt educational messages as evidence and understanding of health risks evolve, working with provincial and territorial partners
- Facilitate and monitor ongoing research on cannabis and impairment, considering implications for occupational health and safety policies
- Work with existing federal, provincial and territorial bodies to better understand potential occupational health and safety issues related to cannabis impairment
- Work with provinces, territories, employers and labour representatives to facilitate the development of workplace impairment policies
