
Cannabis
CALL FOR PAPERS: Special Issue
Cannabis in Canada in the Post-Legalization Period
Guest Editor: James MacKillop, Ph.D., CPsych, FCAHS
October 2023 marks the 5-year anniversary of Canada’s legalization of recreational cannabis, and it remains the only G7 nation to have taken this step. To coincide with this milestone and further expand Cannabis’s international scope, we are announcing the publication of a special issue focused on cannabis in Canada during the post-legalization period. For this national natural experiment, the impacts of legalization and post-legalization patterns of recreational and medical use are important for Canadian public health but also can help to inform other countries as they consider legalization policies.
We will consider original reports, brief reports, reviews, and opinion pieces that focus on cannabis use in Canada during the 2018 to 2023 time period. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
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Empirical evaluations of impacts of recreational cannabis legalization
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Empirical evaluations of impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on cannabis use
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Changes in recreational and medical use over time
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Cannabis use in special populations, including veterans, indigenous individuals, and older adults
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Patterns of overlap between cannabis use and other psychoactive drug use, as well as psychiatric co-morbidities
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Sex/gender differences in cannabis use
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Research with underrepresented populations (e.g., sexual and gender minority individuals, racial and ethnic minority individuals, intersections of identities)
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Innovations in prevention and treatment of cannabis misuse and cannabis use disorder
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: JANUARY 31, 2024
EXPECTED PUBLICATION DATE: NOVEMBER 2024

Cannabis is an open access peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the scientific study of marijuana/cannabis from a multidisciplinary perspective. Consistent with the mission of the Research Society on Marijuana (RSMj), the journal publishes empirical research of the determinants, correlates, consequences, contexts, and assessment of marijuana use as well as the treatment of problematic marijuana use, including cannabis use disorder. The journal covers research across the human spectrum (note that we currently do not accept animal model research).
The journal seeks to publish the following (but not limited to these topics specifically):
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Etiological mechanisms of use
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Issues related to clinical factors (i.e., diagnosis)
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Medical relevance (i.e., treatment effects/implications)
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Clinical trials
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Social and behavioral aspects of use (both positive and negative)
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Sociopolitical, economic, legal, ethical, and regulatory issues
Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief
Eric R. Pedersen
Associate Editors
Adrian Bravo
Anita Cservenka
Julie Johnson
LaTrice Montgomery
Mark Prince
Managing Editor
Keegan Buch
Consulting Editors
Shanna Babalonis
Robert Dvorak
Caislin Firth
Joel Grube
Rachel Gunn
Lauren Micalizzi
Yifrah Kaminer
Jamie Parnes
Godfrey Pearlson
Kristina Phillips

Dr. Pedersen is a member of the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors.
The Journal is open access and publishes under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license. This allows broad global dissemination while also ensuring the author maintains appropriate credit for their work.