SynthesisAddiction (Abingdon, England)2023
The implementation and public health impacts of cannabis legalization in Canada: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of CBD and hemp oil use on drug test results: a systematic review.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Pooled it
- From legalisation to practice: implementation of newly legalised health interventions in healthcare settings - a systematic review.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- The implementation and public health impacts of cannabis legalization in Canada: a systematic review.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of legal access versus illegal market cannabis on use and mental health: A randomized controlled trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Trial
- Association between problematic internet use and depressive symptoms among individuals at high-risk of cannabis use disorder: a cross-sectional study in Quebec (Canada).Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Article
- Who uses legal cannabis and why? Cluster profiles of participants in a Swiss regulated sales pilot trial.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Beyond the Bud: new cannabis products and modes of consumption in Ontario, Canada's legal hybrid market.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Predictive and discriminant validity of the Impaired Control Scale - Cannabis (ICS-C): an intensive longitudinal study of daily cannabis use outcomes.Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
- Changes in Cross-Sectional Associations Between Cannabis Use and Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidality in a Nationally Representative Sample of Canadians From 2012 to 2022: Évolution des relations transversales entre la consommation de cannabis et la dépression, l'anxiété et les idées suicidaires au sein d'un échantillon représentatif de Canadiens à l'échelle nationale, de 2012 à 2022.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2026Article
- Adverse Effects of Non-Medical Use of Cannabis or Opioids Associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Higher risk cannabis use indicators among people living in Canada: a cross-sectional study examining the association with socio-demographic and socio-economic factors.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Public health impacts of legalizing recreational cannabis use in Canada and the US.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2026Article
- Impact of legalization on cannabis exposure calls to the British Columbia Poison Control Centre.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026Article
- Longitudinal, population-based analysis of burn injuries across Canada pre-recreational and post-recreational cannabis legalisation.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- One year after partial legalisation in Germany: Trends in cannabis use among young people between 2008 and 2025.Journal of health monitoring · 2026Article
- Cannabis Use Disorder in the Era of Legalization: Implications for Addiction Treatment Systems.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2026Review
- Attitudes and expectations of primary care physicians regarding recreational cannabis legalization in Germany: a pre-implementation survey.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- Cannabis Consumption Before and After Partial Legalization in Germany: Early Trends, Consumption Patterns, and Motives.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2025Article
- Are cannabis policy changes associated with alcohol use patterns? Evidence for age-group differences based on primary care screening data.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Examining bidirectional associations between cannabis use and internalizing symptoms among high-risk emerging adults: A prospective cohort study.Psychological medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsWe provide a narrative summary of research on changes in cannabis arrests, cannabis products and prices, cannabis use and cannabis-related harm since legalization.
methodsWe systematically searched for research on the impacts of cannabis legalization in Canada in PubMed, Embase, Statistics Canada and government websites and Google Scholar, published between 2006 and 2021.
resultsCannabis legalization in Canada has been followed by substantial reductions in cannabis-related arrests and cannabis prices. It has also increased adults' access to a diverse range of cannabis products, including edibles and extracts. The prevalence of cannabis use among young adults has increased, but there have been no marked increases or decreases in use among high school students or changes in the prevalence of daily or near-daily use. Legalization has been associated with increased adult hospital attendances for psychiatric distress and vomiting, unintentional ingestion of edible cannabis products by children and hospitalizations for cannabis use disorders in adults. There is conflicting evidence on whether cannabis-impaired driving has increased since legalization. There is suggestive evidence that presentations to emergency departments with psychoses and cannabis use disorders may have increased since legalization.
conclusionsLegalization of cannabis in Canada appears to have reduced cannabis arrests and increased access to a variety of more potent cannabis products at lower prices. Since 2019, recent cannabis use in Canada has modestly increased among adults but not among adolescents. There is evidence of increased acute adverse effects of cannabis among adults and children.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.