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432-00663 (Health)

Paper petition

Original language of petition: English

PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

WHEREAS:

Licences for the production of medical cannabis are often abused, with production in excess of personal use amounts diverted for commercial sale on the black market;

The amount of cannabis individuals are authorized to possess for medical purposes is impossible for an individual to personally consume;

Grow-ops in residential neighbourhoods have negative impacts on nearby residents' health and well-being, such as excessive smells, frequent traffic, and reduced property values;

Municipal enforcement agencies have little to no power over cannabis grow-ops in their own jurisdictions;

The federal government has failed to subject personal registered medical cannabis production to examination and inspection, allowing grey and black-market cannabis growing operations to flourish under this program.

THEREFORE: We, the undersigned citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to reform the licensing and oversight of the production of cannabis for personal medical use, and to grant resources and authority to the provinces in regulating and enforcing the production of cannabis for personal medical use, in turn empowering municipal regulation and enforcement..

Response by the Minister of Health

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Jennifer O'Connell

Successive court decisions established the right of individuals to have reasonable access to cannabis for medical purposes and have emphasized repeatedly that the government may only restrict an individual’s access to cannabis for medical purposes when such action is justified and consistent with the objective of protecting public health and safety. In response to these court decisions, a legal framework was established under the Cannabis Regulations that allows individuals with a signed medical document from their health care practitioner to access cannabis for medical purposes by:

  • purchasing quality-controlled cannabis from a wide variety of federally licensed sellers inspected by Health Canada;
  • producing a limited amount of cannabis for their own medical purposes, as authorized by their health care practitioner (“personal production”); or,
  • designating someone to produce it for them (“designated production”).

Subject to the legal age limit in their province or territory, they are also able to buy cannabis:

  • at provincial or territorial authorized retail outlets; and/or,
  • through provincial or territorial authorized online sales platforms.

The majority of individuals (approximately 375,000) who access cannabis for medical purposes obtain cannabis from a seller licensed and inspected by Health Canada. A smaller number of individuals (approximately 43,000) produce a limited amount of cannabis for their own medical purposes, or designate someone to produce it for them.

Health Canada is committed to protecting patients’ rights to reasonable access to cannabis for medical purposes and recognizes that most patients are using the program for its intended purposes. Abuse of the medical framework undermines the integrity of the system that many patients rely on to access cannabis to address their medical needs.

All persons authorized to produce cannabis for medical purposes must abide by the law and operate at all times within the limits set out when they were registered by Health Canada, including respecting their plant limits. Individuals are only authorized to produce and possess cannabis for their own medical purposes (or the individual they are designated to produce for), and it is illegal for them to distribute or sell cannabis to anyone else. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in revocation of their registration and/or criminal charges and prosecution.

The Cannabis Regulations require patients to obtain an authorization from their health care practitioner to access cannabis for medical purposes. Health Canada does not play a role in determining whether cannabis is appropriate for a patient. The health care practitioner makes this decision through a discussion with their patient; the health care practitioner will also identify the daily amount needed for the patient’s medical condition. Health Canada expects health care practitioners to make these decisions based on the condition for which the patient is receiving treatment and supporting evidence.

Over the last years, Health Canada has increased engagement with the health care practitioner community and the provincial and territorial licensing bodies in order to encourage health care practitioners to authorize appropriate amounts of cannabis for medical purposes, in line with established standards of practice and the best available evidence. Health Canada has published a document entitled Information for Health Care Professionals to help patients and health care practitioners make informed decisions about the benefits and risks of using cannabis for medical purposes, including dosage amounts. The Department continues to review the latest developments in the peer-reviewed scientific literature on dosing and will continue to publish further updates to this document.

Regulatory oversight of health care practitioners and the practice of medicine is the responsibility of provinces and territories and professional colleges. Most provincial and territorial licensing bodies have their own set of standards and guidelines for their members, which may include standards of practice on authorizing cannabis for medical purposes. To support provincial and territorial licensing bodies in their oversight of their members, Health Canada has been proactively sharing data on the authorization of cannabis for medical purposes since the spring 2019. This data sharing includes providing specific information on the small number of health care practitioners who are responsible for authorizing large daily amounts of cannabis. In an effort to increase transparency, in December 2020, Health Canada began publishing data on its website on the average daily amounts authorized by health care practitioners.

Health Canada actively works within the current regulatory framework to address risks associated with the personal and designated production of cannabis for medical purposes by:

  • conducting additional verifications when warranted (for example, contacting the health care practitioner to confirm the validity of the medical document and to confirm the daily dosage amount);
  • verifying that there are no more than four registrations at any given production site—the maximum allowed in the regulations—to reduce the risk of large-scale production sites;
  • refusing or revoking a registration, if it is determined that an applicant has submitted false or misleading information as part of their application, such as a forged medical document, or where the registration is likely to create a risk to public health or public safety, including the risk of cannabis being diverted to an illicit market or activity; and,
  • conducting inspections of personal registration and designated production sites to further verify compliance with the regulations.

Most recently, on March 8, 2021, Health Canada launched a public consultation on a draft guidance document for the personal and designated production of cannabis for medical purposes. The draft guidance provides proposed factors that may be considered in refusing or revoking a registration. The public consultation is open until May 7, 2021. 

It is important to note that different levels of government and law enforcement have roles in maintaining public safety with respect to cannabis. It is the responsibility of municipalities to enforce their bylaws with respect to cannabis production, and law enforcement has the authority to take action against illegal cannabis activity under the Cannabis Act and against those who operate outside of the legal framework.

With each registration issued, Health Canada reminds registered individuals and designated producers that they need to comply with all relevant provincial/territorial and municipal laws, including local by-laws about zoning, noise, odour, electrical and fire safety, as well as all related inspection and remediation requirements.

Health Canada encourages all provinces, territories, and municipalities to use the tools at their disposal to confirm that individuals meet all standards and by-laws. This includes implementing any limitations on zoning, location and nuisances, such as odour, that they feel are appropriate in their jurisdictions. Municipalities could, for example, require building permits and inspections of electrical work at personal production sites.

Health Canada supports law enforcement representatives by providing a dedicated service 24 hours a day and seven days a week to confirm, when necessary, that specific individuals are authorized to possess or produce a limited amount of cannabis for medical purposes. The Cannabis Regulationsauthorize Health Canada to share information that is protected under the Privacy Act in the context of an active law enforcement investigation. In the context of an investigation, law enforcement also has the ability to enter residences and any production sites.

The Cannabis Act requires that the Minister initiate a review of the Cannabis Act three years following the coming into force (i.e., by October 17, 2021), and that a report of the review’s findings be tabled before both Houses of Parliament within 18 months of the start of the review. The Government of Canada has also committed to actively monitoring and evaluating patients’ access to cannabis for medical purposes through the implementation of the Cannabis Act, and to undertake an evaluation of the existing medical access framework within five years (i.e., by October 17, 2023), as recommended by the expert Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation. These two exercises will be an opportunity to address some of the challenges associated with the cannabis for medical purposes program.

Health Canada is committed to ongoing engagement with stakeholders on the administration and operation of the Cannabis Act. Departmental officials regularly engage with stakeholders on all aspects of the cannabis framework to advance public health and safety objectives.

Presented to the House of Commons
Brad Vis (Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon)
March 11, 2021 (Petition No. 432-00663)
Government response tabled
April 26, 2021
Photo - Brad Vis
Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon
Conservative Caucus
British Columbia

Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.