It’s time to talk about a dilemma the Canadian government faces in the wake of cannabis legalization for medical and recreational use. Cannabis is the first psychotropic plant we’ve legalized for both uses without conducting proper studies to determine safety and efficacy. Now the Canadian government will have to answer questions that they have not publicly addressed. Are all cannabinoids treated equally? Who pays for validation?

The first question ‘Are all cannabinoids treated equally?’ should be a resounding no, although no legislation exists to differentiate THC and CBD from the many other cannabinoids. THCP, for example, is suspected to be much more psychotropic than THC. If an LP produced cannabis flower containing 25% THCPA (acid form) would they be allowed to sell it in the market? Would THCP edibles have the same 10mg restriction as THC? When cannabis companies expand their cannabinoid offerings the Canadian government is going to once again rush to play catch up with no data. LP’s don’t have to run clinical trials before releasing new cannabis varieties, how do you create policy around ~200 potentially psychoactive compounds when you only have data on 2 of them? An impossible feat, but a necessary one due to the unusual addition of cannabis to our medical system through litigation instead of clinical trials. I suspect this unusual method of adding cannabis to our medical system is why the government taxes medical cannabis and refuses to budge. They know they’re going to get shafted down the road. 

This brings us to the next question ‘Who pays for validation’? Normally companies would have to pay for clinical trials before they’re allowed to sell compounds through our medical system. They don’t have to do that with cannabis, so why would they spend the money and time if it’s not required? If companies don’t provide the research the government will need to step up and provide all the funding to do the research. Governments fund many studies on tobacco and alcohol to gather data and create policy. The Canadian government will have to do the same with cannabis, all ~200 compounds since there’s no differentiation of cannabis based on chemotype in the legislation (apart from hemp). I believe the FDA foresaw this issue of ‘who pays for validation’, which is why they’ve taken a slow and conservative approach to regulating cannabis. 

The medicinal cannabis dilemma is not often talked about because industry doesn’t have to worry about it and our government is forced into dealing with it. The end result is our medical system warping in a way never intended due to litigation. The turbulence and friction between LP’s and the Canadian government has only started, wait until they clash on policy regulating all the other cannabinoids.