Prof. Andrew Papadopoulos, Department of Population Medicine, spoke with the Winnipeg Free Press for a weekend article about the arrival of legal cannabis edibles in Canada.

Papadopoulos, who recently completed a literature review on edibles, noted that current cannabis users are most likely to use edibles, but they also appeal to people who are new to the drug. He warned, though, that for first-timers, it’s easy to over-consume.

“That’s where you where get a lot of the emergency-room visits, 911 calls,” he says. “People start to panic.”

He added he’d like to see potency regulations on edible products, as well as an increase in public education about their risks.

A faculty member in the Ontario Veterinary College, Papadopoulos is a public health policy expert and coordinates U of G master of public health program.