In spring 2017, the Canadian government is expected to introduce legislation legalizing the consumer use of marijuana, and the country’s leading medical marijuana association is making a change to keep up with government policy.

We’re changing too! Now called Cannabis Canada Association, still the voice of licensed cannabis producers in Canada pic.twitter.com/JWuyO9xjW0

— Cannabis Council of Canada (@Cannabis_Canada) May 18, 2016

The Canadian Medical Cannabis Industry Association has changed its name to Cannabis Canada Association, as well as introduced a new logo and tagline—“Licensed, regulated and trusted.”—in order to incorporate all regulated marijuana use into its mission.

“The Canadian cannabis landscape is evolving rapidly, and so is the scope of our association’s work with government and a multitude of stakeholders throughout the sector,” Cannabis Canada Executive Director Colette Rivet said in a statement. “As Cannabis Canada, we are positioned to continue to be an authoritative source of accurate, balanced information and the primary representative of the regulated cannabis industry—both for Canada’s existing medical cannabis system, and for the future legal and regulated consumer system.”

To prepare for potential legalization, the group will also expand its membership to include other organizations involved in the production and sale of marijuana that possess licenses other than the producers license currently required for membership. Member categories will cover associate members, partners, supporters, and donors.

Rivet told Associations Now that the association needs to evolve with government policy because, as the most experienced association acting in the cannabis industry, it needs to address all issues associated with the distribution of marijuana in Canada—namely it needs to now work in consumer-use issues in addition to medical use.

Consumers also need to have their health protected. If they’re going to be using cannabis, it should be a quality and safe product.

“We need to educate people of the proper use of cannabis,” she said in the interview. “We need to educate people on the content of it and the various products you can make from it. And we also need to be able to show that there are quality products.” Cannabis Canada is well-positioned to provide information on cannabis quality because it tracks the product through the production and distribution process.

While meeting in January 2016, members considered the responsibility of the association to protect all cannabis users, a sentiment that led to this branding and membership change. “Consumers also need to have their health protected,” Rivet said. “If they’re going to be using cannabis, it should be a quality and safe product.”

As Cannabis Canada makes the membership changes and begins focusing on educating the public and government representatives about marijuana, the association continues to serve its original members: medical cannabis producers. It’s aiming to develop educational courses for healthcare professionals, promote research on medical marijuana, educate the public on how medical marijuana is used, and advocate to lower taxes on medical marijuana and make it a prescription drug.

But these changes could just be the beginning. Once the legislation is introduced and should legalization pass, Rivet said Cannabis Canada will look ahead to continue evolving with cannabis regulation.

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