Taxation: Taxation should be a cornerstone of the province’s strategy to reduce tobacco and cannabis use, as its effectiveness in reducing consumption has been well documented. When implementing a cannabis tax framework in Alberta, tobacco taxes should also be increased to match tobacco product affordability levels in neighboring provinces and to reduce the likelihood of mixed/joint use of cannabis and tobacco. A significant portion of any new cannabis and tobacco tax revenue should be earmarked for research, programming and education to prevent and reduce the harms of substance use.
Retail Licensing: Evidence indicates that when strong retail licensing requirements are implemented and actively enforced, they are effective at reducing tobacco product sales to minors and can help reduce consumption among youth. Alberta’s regulatory framework for alcohol (managed by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission) is a possible working model that could be used to develop a regulatory framework for cannabis and tobacco.
Protecting Youth: Several additional policy measures have been proven to protect youth from the dangers of tobacco use which can be applied to cannabis regulation. These measure also have the potential to decrease the negative impact of cannabis legalization on tobacco control. These measures include actively implementing and enforcing sales-to-minors restrictions, prohibiting flavoured products, maintaining smoke-free public spaces including a ban on cannabis smoking in public settings, prohibiting the colocation of tobacco, cannabis and alcohol retail sales, discouraging joint use or poly-substance use (the use of tobacco, cannabis and alcohol together is common among youth), and prohibiting the sale of mixed products.