Health Canada, not industry to design marijuana labelling, says CMA

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Ottawa, Feb 6 (Canadian-Media):   Product labels are a key factor of educating consumers, especially young people, about the risks of pot,  said  Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Monday, media reports said. 

Health Canada -- responsible for helping Canadians maintain and improve their health and ensures accessibility of high-quality health services and works to reduce health risks -- had been applying different levels of scrutiny to prescription drugs than it does to n-prescription medication, natural health products, cosmetics and medical devices — a fact said CMA had not recognized.

Consumers of recreational marijuana had been advocating a single set of regulations in place for both the medical and recreational marijuana industry to protect themselves from misleading health claims on the labels.

"Ensuring that health products are safe and effective must be a key component of any regulations on cannabis," said  Dr. Laurent Marcoux, the president  of CMA on Monday.

"This is why we believe rigorous scientific evidence is needed to support claims of health benefits and to identify potential risks and adverse reactions."

​Marijuana: CMA facebook page

​CMA, a voluntary group that represents most of the country's physicians, had been urging Ottawa to apply the same standards to marijuana as it does to prescription medication and prohibit health claims that are not backed by research.

Designing marijuana packaging and product labelling --  an important way to educate consumers, especially young people about the risks of using marijuana --  should be left to federal officials and public health experts, not cannabis producers and distributors, said a group representing Canada's doctors.

Recreational marijuana is expected to be legalized by federal government this summer.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)