Edible cannabis THC limits are asinine. Why is edible cannabis in Canada limited to 10mg THC?
Officially, it’s about “public health and safety.” The idea is that children might get their hands on edible cannabis, thinking it’s regular candy or chocolate.
Legalization in Canada is about displacing organized crime and taxing a regulated market. It has nothing to do with your liberty.
But even then, displacing the illicit market is next to impossible when legal edibles are limited to 10mg THC.
Nevertheless, a 10mg THC limit on edibles violates a medical cannabis‘ patients right to reasonable access. And this isn’t our opinion.
Justice Robert A. Graesser ruled that THC limits in the Cannabis Act violated Section 7 of the Charter. However, his ruling was “declaratory relief,” meaning it didn’t change or force the government to change the Cannabis Act.
But a recent lawsuit launched by the Victoria Cannabis Buyers’ Club would force the government to address this absurdly low limit.
Why Medical Cannabis Patients Need More than 10mg THC
We measure edible cannabis in milligrams (mg), with 10mg equalling one-hundredth of a gram. Medical cannabis patients often require high doses of cannabis far beyond 10mg.
This can be for a variety of reasons. An individual may experience chronic pain, and thus their tolerance level is such that they require high doses.
Others may have a lower tolerance, but their pain or nausea is such that they need a lot of cannabis.
Edible cannabis is also slow-acting. It has to be broken down by the digestive system and processed by the liver before entering the bloodstream and affecting the brain. This makes the higher doses more tolerable.
Consider the effects of eating an 850mg edible versus consuming a vape pen of a comparable amount in one sitting. Both methods will medicate the patient, but one is more manageable.
Who Benefits from a 10mg THC Limit?
Who benefits from limiting Canada’s cannabis edibles to 10mg THC?
Typically, when the government does something in the name of “pubic health,” it’s a cover for power grabs and a redistribution of wealth.
For example, the covid lockdowns resulted in the largest transfer of wealth in history. While people turned on each other for not wearing ineffective masks, corporate America was, once again, robbing the middle class.
Here – however – the edible cannabis THC limit does seem like the result of public health busybodies.
According to George Smitherman of the Cannabis Council of Canada, THC limits are a “$500 million gift to the illicit market.”
Every licensed producer in the country – big and small – wants to see the 10mg THC limit increased.
The only people who benefit from 10mg THC limits are the busybodies. They can pat themselves on the back, confident in the false belief that they’ve done something good for “the children.”
By trampling on the constitutional rights of medical patients.
As well as the dignity and respect of adult human beings. Like yesteryear’s alcohol temperance movement, these cannabis prohibitionists are modern-day Puritans.
Public health has a haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
Edible Cannabis THC Limits: A Bad Idea That Won’t Go Away
As more states and countries move to legalize cannabis, they can learn an essential lesson from Canadian legalization: THC limits don’t work.
If you aim to displace illegal markets, don’t guarantee them a revenue stream by making legal products unappealing and psychoactively ineffective.
Likewise, perhaps you think capping THC in edibles will be good “for the children.” Canada has a “growing” issue of children ending up in hospitals after accidentally eating edibles. This is despite the 10mg THC limit and child-resistant packaging.
Since public health measures on edible cannabis have failed, it’s clear punishing adults for what children might do is no way to conduct legalization.
Whether for edible cannabis or any cannabis products, THC limits:
- Are ineffective for patients requiring higher doses of THC to manage their symptoms. In Canada, THC limits may very well prove to be unconstitutional by restricting their rights to reasonable access.
- Limit consumer choice, which is morally repulsive.
- Impossible to enforce: Canada has proven that a legal 10mg THC limit incentives the illicit market to fill the demand for high-potency THC
It seems public health busybodies don’t understand the logic behind legalization. People were consuming cannabis regardless of what the laws said.
People were cultivating, processing, and supplying cannabis despite what the laws said.
A “THC Limit” on legal products only gives public health a smug sense of accomplishment. When, in fact, all they’ve done is damage sick patients’ health.
As well as insult the dignity and intelligence of free adults who have chosen to purchase high-THC cannabis products.