Canadian CANNAINVESTOR Magazine September 2018 | Page 348

clinics and related infrastructure. The potential downside should the CMA’s efforts bear their intended fruit could be severe.

The concerns of the investor perhaps should be ancillary or collateral in this matter because as a progressive modern society founded on decency and civility, a return to the days of subtle suggestive negative terms such as “pot” and “weed” and the likes of Reefer Madness must not be allowed.

I have contacted the CMA to discuss their position but as of the time of writing the CMA has opted to not contact me to set up an interview or discussion. The CMA did however send me an email with a link to their current policy as it relates to medical use cannabis and that policy can be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here; however, the curious part is repeated below and perhaps may appear contrary to their current stated position that the medical use framework should be phased out because a legal adult recreational market replaces it.

Health products include prescription health products, non-prescription drugs, natural health products, cosmetics and medical devices. Although all these products are regulated by Health Canada, they undergo different levels of scrutiny for safety, efficacy and quality, and in some cases industry does not need to provide scientific evidence to support the claims made on the label. The level of proof required to obtain a Drug Identification Number (DIN) for prescription drugs is considerably higher than the level of proof required for a Natural Product Number (NPN); rigorous scientific evidence is needed for a DIN but not for a NPN. Consumers generally do not know about this distinction, believing that Health Canada has applied the same level of scrutiny to the health claims made for every product. As a result, consumers presently do not have sufficient information to choose appropriate products.

Consistent with the advice it received from the Task Force on Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis, the government intends on pursuing both a medicinal and retail cannabis system at this time. In this instance the CMA supports regulations for each system being as

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