IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v49y2023i3p293-305.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Canadian Medical Cannabis Use after Legalization

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Davis

Abstract

In a major policy decision, Canada legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018. However, provinces implemented legalization differently. In particular, Ontario opened cannabis storefronts much later than other provinces, and retail data indicate that this affected consumer behaviour. I use this exogenous variation in access to legalized cannabis, combined with large-N patient data from a chain of medical cannabis clinics operating in several provinces, to help understand the observed decline in purchased medical cannabis and significant growth in individually produced medical cannabis. After legalization, the purchase of medical cannabis fell less in Ontario than in higher-access provinces. However, I find no evidence that legalization changed trends in the composition of medical cannabis purchasers by gender, age, or medical condition. This suggestive evidence is consistent with minimal misuse of the medical cannabis system and hence does not support more restrictive policies regarding medical cannabis purchases. However, the substantial increase in the personal growing of medical cannabis for use may become a future policy focus.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Davis, 2023. "Canadian Medical Cannabis Use after Legalization," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 49(3), pages 293-305, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:49:y:2023:i:3:p:293-305
    DOI: 10.3138/cpp.2022-041
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2022-041
    Download Restriction: access restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3138/cpp.2022-041?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:49:y:2023:i:3:p:293-305. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Iver Chong The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Iver Chong to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/cpp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.