Is Bureaucracy Impeding Important Research on Cannabis?

Researchers at universities across Canada are concerned that exhaustive administrative requirements and lengthy authorization processes are slowing down their ability to study the effects of cannabis, according to La Presse’s Philippe Mercure.

While the Canadian Institutes of Health Research increased funding intended for studying cannabis over the last two years, researchers working on clinical trials in Quebec, Ontario, British Colombia and Alberta told La Presse that post-legalization regulations were much more restrictive than they had anticipated. They say the current regulatory environment is impeding the collection of much needed data at a time when studying the possible effects, risks and medical benefits of cannabis is more important than ever.

Dr. Matthew Hill, the Director of the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids and assistant professor at the University of Calgary, suggests that while Health Canada is managing a complicated situation, it could address the problem by establishing an expert committee to help develop a simpler mechanism for approving clinical trials.

Click here to read the full article on La Presse’s website (in French).