Data on cannabis adverse reactions: Executive summary of 2024 annual report
Read the full report on Open Government.
In 2024, Health Canada received 170 domestic adverse reaction reportsFootnote 1 (including duplicates, such as multiple reporters of the same adverse reaction) associated with cannabis as a suspected substance.
Out of the 170 reports, 67 were unique casesFootnote 2 associated with legal cannabis products.
Of the 67 unique cases involving legal cannabis products:
- 36% involved males and 30% involved females
- 57% involved cannabis used for medical purposes (self-reported)
- 52% involved cannabis extracts
- 34% of cases involved adults aged 45 to 64 years and 36% were missing age-related information
- 64% of cases were reported as serious, with other (medically important condition) as the most frequently reported reason for seriousness
265 adverse events reported across the 67 unique cases were assessed for causality; 168 were assessed as certainly, probably or possibly related to the suspect cannabis product(s). The most frequently reported adverse events across all cases involving legal cannabis products where a causal relationship was determined included:
- oropharyngeal pain (n=8)
- cough (n=7)
- headache (n=6)
- dyspnoea (n=6)
In 2024, there were no domestic reports of suspected vaping-associated lung injury (VALI) involving cannabis.
Most findings have remained consistent from 2023 to 2024, however, some changes were observed, namely:
- an increase in the total number of cases (serious and non-serious)
- the types of adverse events reported
- the type of individuals involved in adverse reaction cases (for example, the distribution of sex and age)
Health Canada continues to monitor, assess and report on adverse reactions associated with cannabis, and findings continue to be used to prepare evidence-based educational materials on health and safety risks with cannabis, including risk communications and educational resources.
- Footnote 1
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The term “report” indicates the inclusion of report duplicates where the case details are the same, but the reporters differ (for example, submission of the same case in separate reports by both a licence holder and a consumer). Within this data report, this terminology is used where the indicator being discussed is dependent on information provided in each individual report (for example, type of reporter, date of submission, etc.).
- Footnote 2
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The term “case” indicates that duplicate reports have been removed. Within this data report, this terminology is used where the indicator being discussed is not dependent on information provided in each individual report (for example, seriousness, reason for seriousness, demographic information, reported events, etc.). Most sections and figures will refer to cases instead of reports.