Canada Govt announces $1.4 million on Marijuana Research Projects

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on January 29, 2018.

The federal administration of Canada has announced $1.4 million for research projects on the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana in the country.

Member of Parliament Bill Blair made the announcement at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health on Wednesday, saying the research findings will help the government to understand the impact of the country's new marijuana laws.

“Armed with the results of this research we will be able to better based future decisions on solid science. The foundation of knowledge that we lay today will inform the policies, programs and interventions of tomorrow,” the Liberal MP said.

Blair, who has spearheaded the government’s efforts to legalize and regulate cannabis, unveiled 14 projects that would each receive $100,000 from the Canadian Institute of Health Research over one year. Each of the 14 research projects are based out of hospitals and universities across the country.

Some of the projects will look at how the use of recreational marijuana affects Indigenous communities, pregnant women and teenagers, and others will examine how marijuana use changes once it's legalized and will evaluate the provincial governments' regulatory models for marijuana policies.

The government has been criticized for not conducting such research before deciding to legalize recreational marijuana.

Canada plans to legalize recreational marijuana before July this year. It will be the second country to legalize recreational marijuana after Uruguay.

Last year, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to "legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana" in order to reduce access to young people and to displace the illegal market.

In the US, nine states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, but it remains illegal at the federal level.

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