Five years after the legalization of cannabis in the country, Quebec’s approach to public health ranks well compared to other Canadian provinces and certain American states. Even though the price of cannabis is lower there, fewer Quebecers consume it and they fear the dangers associated with it more than elsewhere.
This is what emerges from a comparative study carried out by researchers from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) and published last Thursday.
They compared the evolution of different public health indicators following the legalization of cannabis for non-medical purposes in several states south of the border, namely Colorado, Oregon and Washington state. Among the Canadian provinces, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario were chosen as examples.
First, among all these states, Quebec is the place where consumption has increased the least, it is pointed out. What’s more, the perception of the associated risks has decreased less than elsewhere in Canada or in the American states studied.
“The vast majority of measures suggest that the legalization of cannabis for non-medical purposes has not been followed by a statistically significant increase or decrease in the use of alcohol, tobacco or other psychoactive substances” , also underlines the study.
The Quebec regime – developed under the liberal government of Philippe Couillard, then modified by the Coalition Avenir Québec – was also less unfavorable “in terms of mortality, morbidity and behavioral and situational risk factors”. The study cites the example of pediatric emergency admissions for acute cannabis poisoning, which have increased less in Quebec than elsewhere.
A “more restrictive” framework
And yet, the transition from the black market to the legal market, a reason often cited to justify legalization, is occurring at the same pace in Quebec as in the other Canadian provinces and territories, the analyzes suggest. Note that no study allows a comparison with American states.
To explain these good results in Quebec, the researchers immediately point out that the marketing framework there “seems more restrictive […] than in the other jurisdictions examined.
A phenomenon that they attribute to its governance “which is non-profit and centered on a public monopoly of distribution and sale” under the governance of the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC).
Certainly, a more restrictive marketing framework “could on the other hand result in higher selling prices [mais] the prices of cannabis sold in Quebec were among the lowest in Canada at the time of the analyses,” underline the researchers.
Gray areas remain
“Additional restrictions on incentive promotions” are also cited, including the fact that Quebec law specifically prohibits temporary discounts, the display of products outside of packaging and any form of slogans on them.
This ban also affects the sale of derivative objects associated with cannabis, a brand, the SQDC or a cannabis producer – which no other province does.
However, certain gray areas persist regarding the effects of legalization. Thus, the available studies “do not allow us to compare Quebec with other jurisdictions in terms of the evolution of crime, criminal sanctions for use in public and other social phenomena,” note the researchers.
Even if five years have passed since the legalization of cannabis in Canada, this policy “is still recent,” they emphasize in conclusion.