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This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site.

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Author: Steven Laviolette, Professor in the departments of Anatomy & Cell Biology and Psychiatry, Western University

Canada currently finds itself at the intersection of two historic social phenomena with massive implications for public health.

First, after decades of restricting public access to marijuana, on Oct. 17, Canada became the first major industrial nation to fully legalize cannabis for both medicinal and recreational usage.

Second, we find ourselves in the throes of a worsening opioid addiction crisis that has already caused the deaths of thousands of Canadians, young and old.

The interactions between opioids and cannabis have been explored at the clinical and pharmacological levels for decades. But the potential of cannabis to modulate the addictive effects of a much harder opioid class drug such as heroin or fentanyl is just beginning to be explored.