Dr Richard E Bélanger trained as a Pediatrician (CHU de Québec, Québec, Canada) and as a clinical fellow in Adolescent Medicine (Ste-Justine University Hospital, Montréal, Canada) before moving to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he teamed up with the Research Group on Adolescent Health (2008-10) under the supervision of Dr Joan Carles Suris. As an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, he now shares his time between the Adolescent Health Clinic at Centre mère-enfant Soleil du CHU de Québec - Université Laval and research. He is a well-recognized clinical-scientist in the adolescent medicine field in Canada, with his principal interests being substance use and misuse, youths with chronic conditions, and aboriginal health. He is the co-leader of COMPASS-Quebec, a partnership between school boards, regional public health agencies and researchers now following, on an annual basis, over 20 000 adolescents on their global health and behaviors. He is also co-leading the scientific work of the youth cohort from the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2017. Dr Belanger has repeatedly been consulted by governmental and public health agencies around youth issues surrounding the ongoing legalization of cannabis in Canada