Toronto’s medical officer of health wants the federal government to ban certain cannabis edibles that would be attractive to kids, such as cannabis-infused gummy bears, candies and lollipops.
The recommendation, which was made in a report authored by Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s top doctor, was approved by Toronto’s board of health on Monday.
De Villa is calling for the government to prohibit edible cannabis products that are “particularly appealing to children due to colour or shape.”
“We know there are specific risks that are there for young people should they get exposed to cannabis products. Their brains are still developing and we know that early exposure to cannabis, exposure to cannabis before 25 years of age, is actually associated with particular harms to the developing brain,” de Villa told CP24 Monday.
She said the board of health has been supportive of cannabis legalization but believes strict regulation is needed to reduce the harm caused by the drug.
“We’ve actually quite of bit of support in respect of our stance and today was no exception to that,” de Villa said.
“The board did approve the report as I put forward before them and they were quite supportive of the notion that what we need to do is to legalize cannabis but to do so in a method that actually minimizes the harms associated with the drug.”
Another recommendation approved by the board was to enhance and develop tools to monitor cannabis consumption rates and the full range of potential health effects.
The Cannabis Act is expected to be amended by October to include edibles, which are not currently legal in Canada.
Health Canada is currently conducting consultations on the regulation of edibles, extracts, and topicals.
