October 17th marks the 6th anniversary of recreational cannabis legalization in Canada.
news release
brock university
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With October 17th marking the sixth anniversary of recreational cannabis legalization in Canada, Brock researchers said the time has come to examine how the process has affected the medical cannabis market.
A new study by Michael Armstrong, associate professor of operations research, finds that while the number of patients in the medical market has declined with the nationwide shift to legalization, access to recreational cannabis has not made the program obsolete. It was shown that
“Overall, while many patients left Canada's medical cannabis system around the time of legalization, that decline may not have been all bad news. Many patients probably shouldn't have been there in the first place. “It may partly represent a 'rightsizing' of the system, with those people leaving,” Armstrong said. “The data also shows that patients who remained in the medical system stabilized their purchase rates and increased their purchase size, suggesting there is still a legitimate appetite for the medical cannabis system.”
In the newly published “Canada's Recreational Cannabis Legalization and its Relationship with Medical Cannabis Patient Activities 2017-2022,” Armstrong examines the number of patients who have registered to use medical cannabis, the frequency of their purchases, and their orders. We looked at Health Canada data on the purchase price of each patient.
He then looked at patterns of behavior in June 2018 in conjunction with the passage of the Cannabis Act. Sales for recreational use began in October 2018. Edible and other processed products will be on store shelves in December 2019.
Although patient registration was increasing even before legalization, the study found that the number of Canadians seeking medical cannabis licenses from Health Canada began to change in July 2018, immediately after the law was passed and several months before it took effect. was shown.
When the law was passed, Alberta experienced the steepest decline in registrations in the country. In contrast, enrollment rates in Ontario only slowed during that period and then gradually “leveled out,” Armstrong said.
The survey showed that there has been little change in registrations or purchase size since cannabis dispensaries opened and sales officially began in October 2018. However, the frequency of purchasing medical supplies has decreased. Armstrong said this may be because retailers initially offered the same products and additional access to products as medical suppliers, but there was no real incentive to leave the system altogether. states.
Perhaps the biggest change in patient behavior occurred when cannabis offerings expanded to include products such as edibles, beverages, and e-cigarettes. During this period, the number of registrations also decreased, but the frequency of purchases remained stable and the amount purchased per order increased.
“The remaining patients appear to have become more active since these products became available in late 2019,” Armstrong said. “Producers with a large selection of edibles may be starting to get more orders, while other producers are losing patients to the recreational market and its wide selection.”
As for future developments, Armstrong doesn't expect these trends to change significantly in the near term, unless governments make changes to the price structure or availability of medicinal cannabis.
“If excise and sales taxes were eliminated for medical marijuana, it could become cheaper and more attractive than recreational marijuana,” he says. “If medical cannabis is available at local drugstores, buyers will have access to pharmacists and medical guidance, which could increase interest in medical cannabis.”
Because Canada has a long history with medical cannabis and is a “leader” in cannabis legalization, it is also well-equipped to serve as a model for what to expect as other countries move forward with the legalization process. Armstrong says he is prepared.
“Simply put, we should expect big changes in the medical market after legalization, but we shouldn’t expect it to suddenly disappear. “It depends in part on variables such as competitiveness,” he says.
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