2022 Proposed Cannabis Act Amendments

Since the beginning of legalization in 2018, there have been many undertakings to amend and make the Cannabis Act Regulations more appropriate and in line with the views of consumers and operators. Many consumers have faced purchase limits that don't make sense, have been restricted from applying for certain positions, and have faced roadblocks in providing or accessing quality testing. On March 12th, 2022, the Government of Canada proposed regulatory amendments to the Cannabis Act outlining these issues and offering solutions to streamline these processes and make them more accessible and more in line with other Regulations in the Act.

Changes to research for non-therapeutic purposes

The current framework for research on cannabis for non-therapeutic purposes; or recreational use stipulates that this type of research falls under the GPP (Good Production Practices) under the Cannabis Act instead of under the GMP (Good Manufacturing Processes) under the Food and Drug Regulations like most NTR research. This is specific to Canada's framework and makes it hard for researchers to obtain an NOL (No Objection Letter) for Non-Therapeutic Research under the Cannabis Act. Proposed under the new Regulations Non-Therapeutic Research on Cannabis would receive an exemption under the Food and Drug Act for certain research on cannabis for non-therapeutic purposes with exceptions; exceptions applying to cannabis research related to diagnosis, treatment, mitigation, and prevention of a disease, disorder, or abnormal physical state would still comply with GPP requirements. the amendments would also allow research to be conducted with cannabis products as well as certain cannabis that are not products, all cannabis including cannabis that is not a product, would be required to comply with requirements in part 6 of the regulations that apply to cannabis products in the legal regulated market. Authorities under this new amendment will also be able to refuse to issue, renew or amend a license in regards to research on cannabis for non-therapeutic purposes if there are reasons to believe that the research may cause an adverse reaction if the effects are serious enough they would be required to notify Health Canada.

Expanding reference standards and test kits

Amendments to the Regulations have been suggested for reference standards and test kits in order to make them more available. The government of Canada considered that since the majority of licensed facilities could produce these reference standards and test kits but are currently unable to due to restrictions surrounding the GPP requirements. Removing these requirements and implementing a quality control person to oversee operations would allow more facilities such as analytical testing facilities and other government agencies to qualify under the current framework, as licensed producers are currently the only facilities allowed to produce these references and kits. The changes to the regulations surrounding reference standards and test kits, according to the government's outreach during the summer of 202, would help foster a growing industry with better access to reference standards and testing kits, allowing for more consistency and better standards in the way processors approach products.

Beverage limits increased

The big one, something everyone has commented on and been waiting for; are the proposed changes to Cannabis beverages. The proposed changes focus on equivalency ratings and purchase limits originally set out in the Cannabis Act Regulations. The government has realized the error in the way they initially proposed and rolled out the possession where 2100g of beverage is roughly 5 standard beverage cans and equivalent ratings (1G = 70g) for cannabis beverages in comparison to similar products; where 10mg chocolate bars at 10g each would equate to the possession of 45 infused chocolate bars. This limit of 5 beverages fell well below the national spending average per month with $30/month being spent in total on 5 beverages per adult vs. the $67/month per adult spent on other cannabis products. the discrepancy laid in the possession limits limiting the amount each adult could purchase at one time for beverages. Under the proposed regulations for Cannabis beverages, the government would alter the dried flower equivalent from 1G = 70G to 1G = 570G meaning a consumer could now purchase 48 cans of standard-sized Cannabis beverages without exceeding public possession limits. The proposed amendments would also replace the non-solids class of cannabis with 2 new classes of cannabis. the first-class covers all commercial and home-brewed beverages that have a. concentration of 3% or less THC, and the second class of Cannabis would encompass non-solid cannabis other than beverages containing 3% or less THC with the dried equivalent remaining 1G = 70g for this second class. Provinces do not have to implement these new regulations and will be at their discretion whether to use and enforce these new rules. All producers will be required to update beverage and non-solid labels to reflect these new changes and will be given a 12-month transition period to do this. Producers during these 12 months will also be granted the ability to sell their remaining stock with old labels, and licensed retailers will be allowed to sell all old label products even after the 12-month period has passed. The regulation changes surrounding Cannabis beverages will help to increase the expenditures by consumers to be more in line with other cannabis products and their equivalencies and make beverages a more reasonable purchase in this aspect; without worrying about breaking public possession limits (hopefully, 48 cans is enough for you).

Industry impact

The government of Canada has outlined the costs to businesses and the government itself to implement and maintain these new regulations over the next 10 years. These changes will ultimately cost the government $3,014,199 from 2022 to 2031 for reviewing, maintaining and enforcing compliance with license holders. The estimated costs for business over the same period of 10 years will average roughly $32315 for compliance-related changes (2022-2031). The government is currently taking feedback on these proposed changes which will close on April 30th, 2022. The Changes will come into effect on the date that they are registered.