Adverse reaction data with respect to cannabis products are one of several important indicators of the impact of legalization and regulation of cannabis on the health and safety of Canadian consumers and the risks associated with the real-world use of these products.
Health Canada conducts near-time monitoring, detection, and assessment of cases of adverse reactions involving cannabis products as part of the Vigilance Framework for Cannabis Products in Canada. Health Canada also monitors cases involving cannabis as a substance for broader issues of public health importance such as vaping-associated lung illness (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/vaping-pulmonary-illness.html), cases involving pediatric populations from studies like the study on serious and life-threatening events associated with non-medical (recreational) cannabis use in Canadian children and youth(https://cpsp.cps.ca/surveillance/study-etude/serious-and-life-threatening-events-associated-with-non-medical-recreational-cannabis-use-in-canadian-children-and-youth), and other potential emerging safety issues (for example, potential drug interactions, like cannabis and warfarin)(https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/medeffect-canada/health-product-infowatch/october-2020.html). Adverse reaction data are often used in combination with other sources of data (for example, published literature, hospitalization data and survey data) to better understand cannabis use behaviours among Canadian consumers and their potential risks.
The purpose of these annual surveillance reports is to provide a descriptive analysis of the types of adverse reaction reports involving cannabis products regulated under the Cannabis Act and its Regulations that are received by Health Canada to address gaps in current knowledge about the risks associated with use of cannabis products for medical and non-medical purposes. These annual surveillance reports are intended for use by a broad range of stakeholders such as licence holders, health care professionals, the public and others, including regulators, poison control centres, provincial and territorial stakeholders, and researchers.