A piece of dried cauliflower, or broccoli or beet in an opaque white bag with a stop sign and a written warning affixed — that’s a weed edible in the Canadian province of Quebec, where any marijuana products resembling candy, chocolate, chips or any food that may appeal to children are outlawed.
“Lately there’s been [cannabis-infused] sausages,” said François Gagnon, a senior researcher at the Canadian Center on Substance use and Addiction.
Quebec has some of the strictest regulations on cannabis sales and products of anywhere in North America that has legalized the substance. That includes regulations on packaging, dosing and advertising. All dispensaries are operated by the provincial government, not entirely dissimilar from Pennsylvania liquor stores.
At a Pennsylvania House Health subcommittee hearing Thursday, both Canadian and American public health experts praised Quebec’s regulation. They said other American states that rushed into legalization saw increases of calls to poison control and ER visits, cannabis related DUIs, upticks of excessive use, and more. In particular, the experts urged lawmakers to consider a state-run dispensary system, much like how liquor is currently sold.
“If you do it wrong, it can take as long to untangle as the harms of the tobacco