Consulting about flavours in inhaled cannabis extracts: Amending the Cannabis Regulations

We sought feedback on the proposed amendments to the Cannabis Regulations on flavours in inhaled cannabis extracts.

Regulatory amendments are required to address the rapid rise in youth vaping in Canada. This trend is not unique to nicotine or non-nicotine containing vaping products; it has also been observed in cannabis vaping products. These products are an increasingly popular consumption method for youth (individuals under 18 years old) and young adults (individuals 18-24 years old). Health Canada has identified that the availability of flavours is one of the factors that has contributed to the increase in cannabis vaping in youth and young adults.

On June 19, Health Canada published the proposed amendments to the Cannabis Regulations restricting flavours in inhaled cannabis extracts in the Canada Gazette, Part I. For a plain language summary of the proposal, refer to the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement.

Who was the focus of this consultation

We engaged with all Canadians, including:

• general public
• Indigenous peoples
• health care practitioners
• the public health community
• patients and patient groups
• provinces, territories, and municipalities
• Industry, including licensed processors, medical sale licence holders, provincially and territorially authorized distributors and retailers of inhaled cannabis extracts

Key areas for consultation

We sought your comments on the proposed amendments, especially on these three themes:

• new restrictions on flavours in inhaled cannabis extracts, other than the flavour of cannabis
• proposed rules for flavouring agents used to produce an inhaled cannabis extract
• new restrictions on promoting or labelling an inhaled cannabis extract with a flavour, other than the flavour of cannabis

Health Canada will consider all of the input we receive in the development of the final regulatory amendments.

Privacy Notice

The personal information you provide to Health Canada will be used by the Strategic Policy, Cannabis Directorate within the Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch under the authority of subsection 139 (1) of the Cannabis Act and will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Why are we collecting your personal information? We require your personal information to ensure we are representing the views of participants for meaningful analysis of this consultation. We will not ask you to provide us with any information that could directly identify who you are, such as your name, or full date of birth. However, it is possible the responses you provide could be used alone, or in combination with other available information, to identify you. The protection of your personal information is very important to us and we will make every effort to safeguard it and reduce the risk that you are identified.

What are your rights? You have a right complain to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you feel your personal information has been handled improperly. For more information about these rights, or about how we handle your personal information, please contact the Strategic Policy, Cannabis Directorate at cannabis.consultation@canada.ca.

Contact us

Strategic Policy
Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch
Address Locator:
0302I
Health Canada
Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0K9
Email: cannabis.consultation@canada.ca