Cannabis Health Claims
Health Canada’s latest announcement in the cannabis space has been released with much less fanfare than the most recent one regarding cannabis edibles and topicals. However the message within the June 19 consultation document may indeed be a game changer as it points to a potential new category of cannabis products in Canada. This new category of cannabis products is referred to by Health Canada as Cannabis Health Products (CHPs). According to Health Canada the purchase and use of CHPs would not require practitioner oversight.
Health claims will be permitted for the CHPs as long as the claims are supported by scientific evidence. So what we are seeing for the first time in Canada by way of this latest consultation is the possibility of associating health claims with cannabis products. The allowable claims would be for treating minor ailments such as inflammation, sleeplessness, headaches and pain. All claims would need to be approved by Health Canada before they are used, in keeping with the regulations under the Food & Drugs Act. General health claims would not be permitted for CHPs such as those for general health maintenance or health promotion. Detailed scientific evidence would need to sufficiently demonstrate the association of the ingredient (i.e., specific phytocannabinoid) with the health claim.
This new pathway to market for CHPs will leverage Health Canada’s established evidence-based system for controlling access to safe, effective and quality products that make health claims alleging to maintain and improve Canadians’ health. In terms of which evidence will be required to support the claims, we can expect to hear more on that as Health Canada noted their intention to gather external scientific advice regarding the appropriate evidence standards for CHPs before advancing draft regulations for consultation.
This potential to mix cannabis with safe and effective ingredients would provide Canadians with access to a greater variety of options for treating minor ailments. However robust scientific evidence will be required to demonstrate that the interaction of the different substances in the same product is safe and effective.
The Food & Drugs Act has specific rules around promotion of products, namely that the product label and related promotion of the product is truthful and is not misleading. Product claims must align with market authorization. It will therefore be interesting to see the flexibility allowed for these cannabis health products once they receive the go-ahead from Health Canada on health claims for their product. One of the main goals for Health Canada continues to be for consumers to have all the information on a product available to allow them to make choices on safe and effective treatments for their health care.
For place of sale, Canada is proposing to maintain these same restrictions regarding the place of sale for CHPs in order to protect against the public health and safety risks that may be present. Under this proposed approach, companies who are authorized to sell cannabis by their province or territory would be able to sell CHPs in the same way they sell cannabis. CHPs could be ordered online or by phone and would be delivered securely by mail or courier. Provinces and territories would continue to have the flexibility to authorize CHP sellers operating at any physical location. This could allow for CHPs to be sold at pharmacies under strict conditions that respect federal requirements.
