Clearing the Smoke on Cannabis: Edible Cannabis Products, Extracts and Topicals

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) recently released the report “Clearing the Smoke on Cannabis: Edible Cannabis Products, Cannabis Extracts and Cannabis Topicals.” 

Since cannabis has been legalised in many countries around the world including Canada, there has been an increase in diverse cannabis products.  Some of these new cannabis preparations are also appearing here in Australia. These products include edible cannabis products such as THC-containing lollies and chocolates, and cannabis extracts. There is an array of cannabis extracts, including the oldest type of extract (hashish) but also new products like “wax” or “shatter”, tinctures and oils, and topicals - cannabis-extracts added to creams and lotions that are designed to be applied to the skin.

Some of the potential issues related to these new cannabis products include increased risk of over-intoxication due to the high THC potency in some extracts, or overconsumption of edibles due to the delayed onset of effect. There is emerging evidence that the mental health impacts of cannabis use is related not just to the frequency of cannabis use, but also to the concentration of THC in the cannabis that is consumed. 

Download “Clearing the smoke on cannabis: Edible cannabis products, cannabis extracts and cannabis topicals” (733KB PDF Document)