Cannabis facts

If you choose to use, it’s good to know the facts.

What is legal in Alberta?

Lower-Risk use

Health effects

Buying

Impaired driving

Growing, storage and transportation

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What is going on with cannabis?

If you’re not familiar with cannabis and its use, you’ve probably been wondering about all the recent news regarding legalization. Here are some basic facts about cannabis, as well as resources for you to further understand legalization and AGLC’s role in that process.
 

What is cannabis?

• Cannabis is a plant with psychoactive properties that produces dried flowers, fruiting tops or leaves of the cannabis sativa or indica plants or a mixture of the two called hybrids (CCSA).
• Cannabis can be refined to other forms such as oils, extracts or resins.
• Cannabis goes by many names including weed, marijuana, hash, pot, ganja, bud, etc. 

After alcohol, cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive substance in Canada.

Definition: THC

• THC is one of the chemical compounds in cannabis that is responsible for how your brain and body respond to cannabis. It’s the mind-altering chemical that provides the feeling of being “high” to the user. The concentration or strength of the cannabis is usually shown as a percentage of THC by weight (or volume in oil). Products high in THC are more likely to result in harm. Choose lower THC products to reduce your risks.

Definition: CBD

• CBD is another chemical compound found in cannabis. It has no mind-altering effects and may, in fact, block or lower some of the effects of THC on the mind. Choose products with a higher CBD to THC ratio to reduce your risks. 

How is cannabis used?

• Cannabis is most often smoked in rolled form, commonly known as a “joint”. 
• It can also be consumed in other ways, such as smoked through a water pipe (called a “bong”), vaporized through an e-cigarette or ingested through food or drink.

Cannabis resources

• Government of Canada: Legalizing and Strictly Regulating Cannabis: The Facts
• Government of Canada: Introduction of the Cannabis Act: Questions and Answers
• Alberta Government: Cannabis Legalization in Canada
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
• Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse – Clearing the Smoke on Cannabis

Sources: https://aglc.ca/cannabis // https://aglc.ca/cannabis/using-cannabis-responsibly/cannabis-basics