Outcomes associated with nonmedical cannabis legalisation policy in Canada: Taking stock at the 5-year mark

Five years after policy implementation, available evidence suggests that outcomes related to health — such as the prevalence of cannabis use, cannabis-related emergency department visits and admissions to hospital and cannabis-impaired driving — have mostly increased or remained steady.

Substantial reductions in criminal arrests and charges related to cannabis use — and related stigma and other personal burdens — among both adults and youth should be noted as related positive social justice and possibly indirect public health outcomes.

Continued measurement of key health and social outcomes, as well as robust ways to integrate diverse data when evaluating policy outcomes, are needed to inform evidence-based adjustments to regulatory parameters that will more effectively serve the declared public health objectives of cannabis legalization in Canada.