Hundreds of scientists sign letter arguing that regulation is stifling cannabis research

Since the legalization of cannabis for recreational use in 2018, an expected boom in Canadian cannabis research has failed to happen, which has led scientists to demand changes in how clinical trials are regulated.

A worker inspects cannabis plants growing in a greenhouse at a facility in Canada. Credit: Chris Roussakis/Bloomberg/Getty Images

When University of Saskatchewan neurologist Richard Huntsman contacted Canada’s regulatory agency for drugs, Health Canada, seeking permission to study a medicinal cannabis product in children with drug-resistant epilepsy in 2015, he got a letter of approval from the government in two weeks. “It came by fax, during a holiday period,” he recalls with a wistful chuckle. “Since then, though, things have really changed. But certainly not for the better.”