The Competition Bureau, a federal agency that promotes competition in Canada, has produced a report recommending the government consider adjusting the THC limits for edible cannabis products. The current limits for THC — the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis — are 10 mg per unit and 10 mg per package.
At least one health researcher worries the bureau’s recommendation was made without considering the health ramifications.
“Essentially what they have done is taken the [cannabis] industry’s three or four lobbying points and printed them in their paper,” said David Hammond, a public health researcher at the University of Waterloo.
“And from what I can tell, they did that with very little regard to what the evidence is.”
The appropriateness of existing THC limit is contested
The current rules were introduced in 2019 when the government amended the Cannabis Act to legalize edibles. The 10 mg THC limit for edibles was put in place to protect consumers against the risks of accidental or overconsumption, Health Canada spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau told Canadian Affairs.
“The [10 mg] limit draws heavily on lessons learned from, and the limits established by, U.S. states that have legalized cannabis,” Jarbeau said.
“It is important to note that the 10 mg limit does not represent a safe ‘dose’ or standard ‘serving size’ for THC, particularly for new and novice consumers. Everyone’s response to cannabis differs and can vary from one time to the next,” she added.
In Hammond’s view, “Individual units of 2.5 mg or 5 mg would be more tolerable for the vast majority of consumers.”
The long latency period between taking the drug and feeling its effects, as well as the longer duration of the effects of the drug in edible form, comes with unique risks, Jasleen Grewal and Lawrence Loh noted in an article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2020.
“The onset of psychoactive effects from cannabis edibles can be delayed by up to four hours after consumption, and the effects can last for more than eight hours overall, which lengthens the duration of impaired judgment and co-ordination experienced in comparison to inhaled cannabis,” the authors state.
Alternatively, someone could ingest an edible without realizing it contained the drug. This is particularly dangerous for children, who the authors say can be enticed by edible products that “resemble candy or other food and drink.”
Canada’s per unit THC limits would exceed US states’ if Bureau recommendation is adopted
The Competition Bureau’s report recommends that Health Canada consider adjusting the current 10 mg per package THC limit for edibles.
It doesn’t make a specific limit recommendation but notes that industry stakeholders see the potential consumer appeal of packages with up to 10 units of 10 mg each. If adopted, this rule would be consistent with those in most U.S. states that have legalized cannabis.
In Canada, edible use accounts for only 5.8 per cent of the total market versus 11.8 per cent in the United States, according to a 2022 Cannabis Edibles industry report. The bureau implies this discrepancy indicates consumer demand for stronger edibles.
The bureau also recommends that Health Canada consider adjusting the per unit 10 mg THC limit. None of the 18 US states surveyed by the bureau had a per unit limit higher than 10 mg.
The changes would give legal edible manufacturers flexibility to compete with the illicit market. “Given the number and type of higher potency edibles available in the illicit market, previous illicit market consumers expect to be able to purchase comparable products through legal means,” the Competition Bureau wrote in its report.
The bureau’s report has been submitted to Health Canada and an expert panel that is tasked with reviewing the Cannabis Act.
Leave a comment