Facts

  • 7,517: Number of Canadian physicians who supported an application to Health Canada for an authorization to possess marijuana for medical purposes.
  • 450,000: Number of Canadians the Conservative government wants to provide with quality medical marijuana by 2024.
  • 171: Number of firms that have applied for producer or distributor status under the new Canadian market scheme.
  • 92% of patients say that their medical marijuana treatment works
  • As of Dec. 31, 129,876 Canadians are authorized to possess dried marijuana for medical purposes.
  • About 10% of all Canadians have used cannabis at least once in the past year according to the 2012 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey
  • 28 states have legalized cannabis for medical use
  • 25% decrease in deaths from painkiller overdoses in states where medical marijuana is legal
  • 92% of patients say that their medical marijuana treatment works
  • 52% of Americans say the drug should be made legal
  • 69% Americans believe alcohol is more harmful to a person’s health than marijuana
  • 47% of Americans say they have tried marijuana
  • A chemical found in marijuana stops cancer from spreading
  • Marijuana eases the pain of multiple sclerosis
  • In North America, 29.5 million people used marijuana at least once in 2008
  • In 2013, Health Canada introduced new regulations regarding the use of medical marijuana in Canada.
  • 8,165: Number of persons in Canada who have indicated they will access dried marihuana and/or marihuana seeds from Health Canada for medical purposes
  • The medicinal use of cannabis dates back at least 3,000 years. It was introduced to Western medicine in the 19th century, as it was believed that the drug could be a useful pain reliever, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, and anti-convulsant
  • More than 90% of medical marijuana users in Colorado use the drug for the management of “severe pain.” Nearly 20% use the drug for “muscle spasms,” the second-most reported ailment the drug is used to treat.
  • California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana with Ballot Proposition 215, approved on November 5, 1996.
  • The effects from smoking marijuana are felt as soon as the THC enters the bloodstream and last from one to three hours.