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Mental Health and Cannabis Research

Canada is the second country in the world to legalize cannabis for non-medical use. This decision offers researchers an unprecedented opportunity to study the impacts of cannabis use in a legalized environment — including its effects on mental health. To seize that opportunity, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) was allocated $10 million over five years in the 2018 federal budget to investigate the risks and benefits of cannabis as well as the varying needs of diverse subpopulations of people living in Canada.

In 2019, an MHCC-commissioned environmental scan and scoping review, carried out by a research team at the University of Calgary, synthesized the existing research on the complex relationship between cannabis and mental health and summarized gaps and opportunities for future research. The MHCC is funding a total of 40 research projects exploring the relationship between cannabis mental health.

MHCC research investments in cannabis and mental health

In partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction

Catalyst Grants

These research grants are meant to build research capacity and inform the development of future, larger scale research projects in cannabis and mental health.

Learn more about the projects underway!

Team Grants

Five-year grants to enable teams across Canada to investigate the potential harms and benefits of cannabis, the social determinants of health, and the needs of diverse populations experiencing cannabis use disorder and/or mental illness.

Learn more about the 4 team-based grants

Partners:

  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)
  • Schizophrenia Society of Canada Foundation (SSCF)
  • Canadian Consortium for Early Intervention in Psychosis (CCEIP)
  • Canadian Centre of Substance Use and Addiction  (CCSA)

Closing the Gaps: Cannabis Research Funded Projects (Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction

The MHCC is also proud to be supporting two projects funded through CCSA’s Closing the Gaps suite of research projects exploring the impacts of cannabis and mental health.

Community-based research

In July 2019, the MHCC gathered a diverse group of experts, including people with lived experience of substance use and/or mental health problems and illnesses, service providers, family members, community-based researchers, and policy makers, to discuss research priorities for community-based research on cannabis and mental health. Our Shaping Future Investments in Community-Based Research on Cannabis and Mental Health report gives a concise account of the day’s discussions as well as key takeaways.

Building upon the recommendations from the Environmental Scan and Scoping Review and community-based forums, the MHCC launched a request for community-based research proposals on cannabis and mental health in February 2020.

In response to this request, the MHCC is funding 14 two-year projects that will be community-led, culturally safe, focused on equity, and centred on lived and living experience. These innovative projects from across the country will address knowledge gaps in the relationship between cannabis and mental health for priority populations. These include

  • people with lived and living experience of cannabis use and/or mental health problems or illnesses
  • First Nations and Métis communities
  • older adults
  • immigrant, refugee, ethnocultural, and racialized populations
  • people who identify as two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer
  • communities who experience layers of oppression.

Roundtable and conference summary reports

Inuit Forum on Cannabis and Mental Health Report – on the October 2019 meeting in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador — an event that marked the first opportunity for Inuit across Inuit Nunangat to come together to discuss cannabis. The forum was organized by representatives from the Nunatsiavut Department of Health and Social Development, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. A Summary Report of the Forum is also available.

Team-Based Grants (4 Projects)

Canadian Cannabis and Psychosis Research Team (2020-25)

Lead organizations: Université de Montréal, Dalhousie University, University of Pennsylvania, McGill University, Canadian Consortium for Early Intervention in Psychosis, Bloorview Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto)

Principal investigator: Dr. Patricia Conrod

This interdisciplinary research project joins experts in the fields of genetics with preclinical and clinical research to investigate the impacts of cannabis on adolescent neurodevelopment, with a focus on psychosis.

Adolescent Cannabis Exposure, Brain Development, and Cognitive-Emotional Outcomes (2020-25)

Lead organization: University of Calgary
Principal investigator: Dr. Matthew Hill

The aim of this study is to test the impact of cannabis on adolescent brain development, as well as to examine how early-life adversity or social stress during adolescence influences the impacts of cannabis on brain development and behavioural outcomes. These studies will help establish whether there are clear harms associated with cannabis use during adolescence in the development of mental illness.

Pharmacotherapeutic Effects of Cannabidiol in Autism Spectrum Disorder (2020-25)

Lead organization: University of Calgary
Principal investigator: Dr. Matthew Hill

as well as to examine how early-life adversity or social stress during adolescence influences the impacts of cannabis on brain development and behavioural outcomes. These studies will help establish whether there are clear harms associated with cannabis use during adolescence in the development of mental illness.

Pharmacotherapeutic Effects of Cannabidiol in Autism Spectrum Disorder (2020-25)

Lead organizations: McGill University, Carleton University
Principal investigator: Dr. Nahum Sonenberg

This study will investigate the potential therapeutic effects of CBD for treating symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which will lead to greater understanding of the effects of cannabinoids on ASD and support the implementation of clinical strategies to alleviate symptoms associated with it.

The Impact of Cannabis Legalization on the Forensic Mental Health Patient Population in Ontario (2020-22)

The aim of this study is to investigate the health-related impacts of cannabis legalization on people within the forensic mental health system in Ontario. The study will also examine the impact of legalization on forensic clinicians’ and decision makers’ attitudes with respect to cannabis use among forensic patients.