Learn the difference
Learn what stigma is, what it is not, and how a real concern can still be handled in a stigmatizing way.
Read the guideFree · Evidence-informed · Practical
Think clearly about cannabis after prohibition.
Learn to spot old assumptions, check the evidence of harm, and respond without reducing people to labels.
The gap after legalization
Laws can change before everyday attitudes do.
Rules may change while older beliefs, labels, and habits still shape how people understand a situation.
Old stigma is not always obvious or openly hostile. It can appear in a medical note, a workplace assumption, a housing rule, a joke, a family expectation, or a person’s fear that sharing information will change how they are treated.
This resource does not ask you to approve of cannabis. It asks you to be specific, use evidence, choose a response that fits, and be fair.
Choose your starting point
Learn. Apply. Practise.
Every part of the resource is free, self-directed, and designed to work in print as well as online.
Work through a case
Use five clear questions to separate facts, assumptions, evidence, decision-making power, and response.
Open the CLEAR toolPractise difficult conversations
Explore realistic cases from health care, workplaces, housing, family life, parenting, and cannabis business.
Browse scenariosA repeatable method
See the whole case with CLEAR.
CLEAR slows the jump from “cannabis is present” to assumptions about risk, motive, ability, or character.
- C
Capture what happened
Start with the facts you can support. Separate what someone saw from what was written down, assumed, or left unknown.
- L
Locate the label
Notice any label, motive, identity, or broad character claim that was added to the facts.
- E
Examine evidence and harm
Look for a real risk, impairment, injury, work problem, broken boundary, or unfair result.
- A
Ask who is heard and who decides
Hear the affected person. Then ask who has the power to decide and what information they truly need.
- R
Reframe and respond
State the real concern clearly. Remove unsupported character judgments and choose a response that fits the situation.
Practice case · Health careAbout 5 minutes
The sharing question
A patient seeking care for recurring nausea reports using cannabis most evenings and says it helps with sleep. The clinician writes ‘admits marijuana abuse’ before asking about dose, timing, frequency, other symptoms, or the patient’s goals.
What do the facts show, and what assumption was added?
Built-in guardrails
Be fair, even when the answer is not certain.
These principles guide every case, suggested response, and system change in the resource.
Disagreement is not always stigma
A negative opinion, unpopular rule, awkward phrase, or hard conversation is not automatically stigma. Look for a label or stereotype, a power difference, and a harmful result.
Describe first, then interpret
Do not assume impairment, irresponsibility, dependence, poor ability, criminality, or medical benefit without useful evidence.
Records are made by people
Forms, charts, reports, tests, and witness accounts can hold useful facts. They also reflect choices about what was noticed, asked, labelled, or left out.
Address the behaviour, not the person's worth
We can directly address unsafe storage, impaired driving, unwanted smoke, misleading marketing, poor work, or harmful use.
Legality does not settle the question
Legal behaviour can still cause harm or cross a boundary. Illegal behaviour does not automatically make someone a bad or unworthy person.
How people describe themselves matters
People deserve a say in how they are described, and we should hear their account. Their account still does not settle every medical, legal, or historical question.
Sharing personal information depends on the situation
Before calling silence dishonest, ask whether the information was truly needed, required, safe to share, and protected.
Use fair and consistent standards
A concern is stronger when it relates to the decision, has evidence behind it, uses the same rules for everyone, and gets a response that fits.
Start with one judgment