How are opioid medications regulated?
Before authorizing a drug for sale in Canada, Health Canada rigorously assesses all available scientific data to determine whether the drug’s potential benefits outweigh its potential risks for the proposed indication or use. All drugs, including opioid medications, are regulated under the Food and Drugs Act and the Food and Drug Regulations, which work to ensure products (including food, drugs, and therapeutic devices), are safe, effective and appropriately labelled. Because of their psychoactive properties (properties that affect the mind and mental processes) and their potential for abuse, opioid pain medications are also subject to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). The CDSA provides for the control of substances that can alter mental processes and that may produce harm to health and to society when diverted or abused. With the exception of authorized use all activities involving controlled substances (i.e., possession, possession for the purposes of trafficking, traff
