Cannabis vape products soon to hit PEI shelves, raising concerns among health officials, police

Legal prefilled cannabis vaping products may soon be coming to store shelves in PEI, raising concerns among the island’s health officials and RCMP officers.

Last fall, the province made legislative changes to allow prefilled cannabis vape products, making it the last province to do so. They were banned in PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec six years ago, when other products such as foods and beverages were approved.

PEI RCMP Chief Superintendent Kevin Lewis said legalizing these cannabis products on the island could create more challenges for police, especially when it comes to enforcement around impaired driving.

“With cannabis vapes, it’s another mechanism of delivering cannabis into a person’s body, and certainly, through the drug, potentially, creates another challenge for law enforcement in terms of seeing increased impaired driving, which is certainly a concern,” Lewis said.

According to Lewis, there have been 77 fatal collisions on PEI since 2019, resulting in 90 deaths – 25 of those collisions involved drugs or alcohol.

He said about 45 per cent of RCMP impaired driving arrests on the island are due to drug impairment.

Lewis said he is concerned that the legalization of cannabis vape products could lead to more impaired drivers.

Lewis said, “Traditionally people only used alcohol during certain hours of the day, especially in the evening. Now with drugs, especially cannabis, we’re seeing people use in the morning, in the afternoon, at lunchtime. So it’s more widely accepted to use throughout the day.”

Provincial health officials are also concerned.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for the Chief Public Health Office said, “It is important to recognize that vaping any substance carries health risks. Legalization allows for stronger regulation and quality control, but it does not make cannabis vaping risk-free.

CPHO will monitor the potential health effects of cannabis vaping products – particularly on young people – and will continue to collect data about cannabis use and update public education campaigns to ensure people understand the risks.

Regulated products can curb the illegal market

Paul Crabbe, director of operations for PEI Cannabis, said the organization worked closely with the Department of Health and Wellness when deciding to bring cannabis vapes to the PEI market.

He said he hopes that legalization and regulation of prefilled cannabis vape products will reduce the number of vapes purchased through illegal markets.

Crabbe said currently people on PEI can purchase cannabis-infused vapes online, often from illegal websites. But it’s hard to know what’s actually inside those products, he said.

“The concern was in the illegal market, after some testing was done, we know very well that the levels of pesticides are very high, heavy metals, that kind of thing, so there’s definitely a concern,” Crabbe said.

It’s also difficult to know the concentration of THC in illegal products, he said.

The changes being made on PEI mean that products sold in stores will be regulated and approved by Health Canada.

“But this is really about protecting the public health and safety of Islanders and making sure they have safe, tested products on the shelves.”

Crabbe said PEI Cannabis is sorting through about 200 products — some of which are made on the island — to establish what the stores will offer. He said the hope is to have the first prefilled vapes on shelves next month.