Health Canada plans to share a policy consultation document about health products containing cannabidiol (CBD) this fall. The agency has been working on the proposal since 2019.

In 2022, Health Canada also released a report on health products containing cannabis. In their Forward Regulatory Plan: 2024-2026, released earlier this year, Health Canada also said it intends to create a regulatory pathway for health products containing cannabidiol that would not require practitioner oversight. 

The nine-person expert panel report in 2022 included recommendations for some very limited forms of therapeutic CBD use for both humans and some dogs. 

The Cannabis Health Products Coalition (CHPC) has been advocating and holding Health Canada accountable for the creation of an additional pathway for the sale of cannabis health products (CHPs) through additional sales pathways that would include pharmacies, health food stores, and other stores. 

Currently, Canadians can only access CBD products through Canada’s cannabis for medical use program, which only allows online sales, or through non-medical “recreational” stores where employees cannot discuss medical effects. 

Deepak Anand, an industry consultant and advisory board member at the Cannabis Health Products Coalition (CHPC), argues that over-the-counter distribution of CBD products without THC could provide better access to these health products than the current distribution modes. The organization, Anand explains, has been actively lobbying for these changes for some time. 

“There has long been a need for an additional pathway for Canadians to access relatively low-risk cannabinoid products such as CBD,” says Anand. “We’ve been advocating for the government to move forward creating a pathway for these products based on the recommendations issued by the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) in 2022, more than two years ago.”

In the June webinar held by the CHPC Coalition, the organization noted that it has been engaging with pharmacy groups who support the calls to allow for sales through pharmacies, stating that they have experience dealing with similar health products. 

Danielle O’Beirne, who is also a part of the CHPC says she’s pleased to finally see some mention of this previous commitment, and would like to see concrete plans for what the regulations will look like and a timeline for implementation. 

“From a pharmacy perspective, we already have all the framework in place for natural health products and prescription drugs. No reason to recreate the wheel here for CBD products, they can be distributed through the same channels.” 

Related Articles

How long until Canadians can access medical cannabis in pharmacies?

June 10, 2024

Health Canada releases CBD report: Report of the Science Advisory Committee on Health Products Containing Cannabis

July 28, 2022

Health Canada announces science advisory committee for cannabis health products

November 19, 2020