​​The Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) became effective on October 17, 2018 in Canada, which outlines the legal and regulatory framework to control the legal production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis. The rationale for cannabis legalization includes prevention of youth access and displacement of the illegal cannabis market. The ultimate goal is to facilitate a public health approach to cannabis consumption in Canada. Adults are now allowed to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis, purchase cannabis from authorized retailers and grow up to four cannabis plants per residence for personal consumption. Researchers from OCRINT secured funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) to examine the population-health impacts of cannabis legalization. They are assessing a wide range of outcomes, including patterns of consumption of cannabis, patterns of consumption of other substances, cannabis-related treatment admissions and cannabis-related traffic fatalities. The publications resulting from this research project are listed below:

Effects of cannabis legalisation on patterns of cannabis consumption among adolescents in Ontario, Canada (2001–2019) Imtiaz, S., Nigatu, Y. T., Sanches, M.,Ali, F., Boak, A., Douglas, L., Hamilton, H. A., Rehm, J., Rueda, S., Schwartz, R. M., Wells, S., & Elton-Marshall, T.

Facts and analysis of Thailand’s cannabis policies: A public health perspective. Journal of Health Science, 32(2), 375-388. Sornpaisarn, B., Pipattanachat, V., Lamyai, W., Silawan, T., Dejkriengkraikul, N., Thitipraserth, W., & Rehm, J

Age, period and cohort effects on time trends in monthly cannabis use in adult population: 1996–2019 Nigatu, Y. T., Elton-Marshall, T., Rueda, S., Imtiaz, S., Hamilton, H. A

Cannabis legalization and cannabis use, daily cannabis use and cannabis-related problems among adults in Ontario, Canada (2001 – 2019)   Imtiaz S, Yeshambel N, Ali F, Douglas L, Hamilton H, Rehm J Ruefa S, Schwartz R, Wells S, Elton-Marshall, T 

Changes in health harms due to cannabis following legalisation of non-medical cannabis in Canada in context of cannabis commercialisation: A scoping review.  Myran, D. T., Imtiaz, S., Konikoff, L., Douglas, L., Elton-Marshall, T.

Essential and urgent policy and research and initial policy recommendations regarding the medical cannabis policy in Thailand.  Sornpaisarn, B., Lamyai, W., Ratchadapunnathikul, C., Angkurawaranon, C., Dejkriengkraikul, N. & Rehm, J.

Daily cannabis use during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Canada: A repeated cross-sectional study from May 2020 to December 2020.  Imtiaz, S., Wells, S., Rehm, J., Wickens, C. M., Hamilton, H. A., Nigatu, Y. T., Jankowicz, D., Elton-Marshall, T.

Cannabis use, increased cannabis use and cannabis use frequency in the context of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Canada (May 2020 to March 2021)  SImtiaz, S., Hamilton, H. A., Jankowicz, D., Nigatu, Y. T., Rehm, J., Wells, S., Wickens, C. M., Elton-Marshall, T. 

The longitudinal relationship between cannabis use and hypertension. Haleem, A., Hwang, Y. J., Elton‐Marshall, T., Rehm, J., & Imtiaz, S.