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MHCC to examine impacts of cannabis use on mental health, post-legalization
Over the next five years, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) will help close the research gap on the potential harms and benefits of cannabis use on mental health, providing a foundation for future policy decisions. Budget 2018 allocated $10 million over five years for this work.
“Our initial review of the literature has found that the illegal status of cannabis, which limited how a study could be done and what data could be collected, has left us with critical knowledge gaps about cannabis use and its impact on mental health,” said Ed Mantler, Vice President of Programs and Priorities at the MHCC. Cannabis use will become legal and regulated in Canada as of October 17, 2018.
The negative impacts of cannabis use on mental health outcomes, the potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis and cannabinoids, the influence of mental health problems and illnesses on patterns of cannabis use, and the experiences and needs of diverse populations who live with cannabis use disorder and/or a mental illness are not well understood. The MHCC is well positioned to engage a diversity of Canadians including youth, emerging adults and seniors as well as LGBTQ2+, Indigenous, immigrant, refugee, ethnocultural and racialized populations.
Canada has one of the highest cannabis consumption rates in the world, with more than 40 per cent of Canadians reporting they had used it at least once in their lifetime. Fifty-four per cent of youth in Canada report using cannabis before grade 12.
Since April 2018, the MHCC has held over 30 consultations and formed key partnerships to direct and help execute its work. These efforts build on previous work undertaken by experts and key organizations such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), including workshops that identified priority areas for cannabis research.
The MHCC will undertake more than 15 short- and long-term research projects to strengthen the evidence base around cannabis, including multi-year community-based research intiatives. This work dovetails with and advances CIHR’s Integrated Cannabis Research Strategy. Knowledge exchange and mobilization activities will ensure this new evidence is widely shared.
The first research projects will be selected through a funding opportunity for urgent priority areas in cannabis launched by CIHR in partnership with the MHCC and CCSA. The maximum amount per grant is $125,000 for up to one year with $750,000 set aside to fund applications relevant to cannabis and mental health. These catalyst grants are meant to build research capacity and inform the development of future, larger scale research projects.
These short-term projects are just the beginning. A further round of consultations to inform longer-term research projects, including community-based initiatives, will be undertaken in the fall and winter of 2018-2019.
“As the second country to legalize cannabis, we have an opportunity to be global research leaders. We will only succeed in this by creating a unified approach which merges the MHCC’s research incubation and policy know-how with the expertise of key partners in the field, including CIHR, CCSA, members of the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information,” said Mantler.
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The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) is increasingly garnering praise at home and abroad for its quality, comprehensiveness and influence. The Standard is a voluntary set of guidelines, tools and resources to help employers promote mental health and prevent psychological harm at work. It was developed collaboratively by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), the Canadian Standards Association and the Bureau de normalisation du Québec and launched in 2013.
An international review of workplace mental health guidelines published this August in the Preventive Medicine journal, found the Standard scored highest for both the quality (90%) and comprehensiveness of content (100%), ahead of 20 other guidelines reviewed. The review examined guidelines that were developed for use by employers to detect, prevent, and manage mental health conditions within the workplace and which took an integrated approach by combining expertise from medicine, psychology, public health, management, and occupational health and safety.
The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada, a Canadian research report published this February and partially funded by the MHCC, found that 83% of key informants identified the Standard as the most influential initiative in advancing workplace mental health over the past 10 years. The MHCC was also identified by over three quarters of the key informants as the single most influential agency in bringing about positive change within this same time frame. The study was commissioned by the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace and conducted by researchers at the University of Fredericton.
“The Standard has grown from a theoretical framework to an international sensation in just five years. No workplace is immune from mental health challenges, and now no workplace is without the resources to address them,” says Louise Bradley, MHCC President and CEO. “The Standard gives every employer the opportunity to examine their mental wellness efforts and the tools they need to improve.”
Downloads of the Standard continue at an impressive rate—over 38,000 unique downloads as of this April and counting—and contrary to typical standards, this shows no sign of abating. “The continued steady uptake of this document … speaks volumes to the interest in this area of work and the ongoing support and acceptance the Standard is receiving from our stakeholders in the industry,” said Jill Collins, Project Manager for Occupational Health and Safety at the Canadian Standards Association Group and a key informant in the Canadian study.
Workplace mental health is not just about the workplace notes Bradley. “It’s a ripple effect. From boardroom tables to dinner tables and from communities of practice to hockey practice, addressing mental health at work opens the dialogue everywhere we go. The more you learn about protecting your mental health as an employee, the more knowledge you can share with your spouse, your child, a friend or neighbour.”
