Pubdate: Fri, 27 Oct 2006
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Margret Kopala
Note: Margret Kopala's column on western perspectives appears every other week.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)

IT'S TIME FOR MARIJUANA CRACKDOWN

Not a minute too soon, Mayor Bob Chiarelli is providing a much needed 
wake-up call about the problem of marijuana use in high schools. 
Forty to 60 per cent of Ottawa students may use the drug during the 
school day, he says.

 From parents to policy and opinion makers, research in this area is 
routinely ignored, but believing cannabis is harmless is no longer 
acceptable. A study by two British Columbia universities documents 
rising cannabis use among adolescents while another from Australia 
confirms an association between adolescent cannabis use and early 
adulthood psychosis. Considered together (both papers are available 
online), they, like Chiarelli, set alarm bells ringing.

A measure of its importance, the first paper was published as the 
cover story of the August edition of the Canadian Journal of 
Psychiatry. "Cannabis and Psychosis" reviews six longitudinal studies 
involving cohorts aged 15-24 years from five countries and studies 
that controlled for factors such as other drug use and personal 
characteristics. It concludes that if a drug for pharmaceutical use 
presented similar adverse effects, it would be withdrawn from the 
market or prescribed with clear warnings.

Although a relationship between cannabis and psychosis in vulnerable 
adolescents has been hypothesized, this study is the first to argue 
the biological plausibility of causality. Its bottom line finding? 
The earlier the consumption of larger quantities of cannabis by 
adolescents, the greater the risk of developing psychosis in young adulthood.

While such findings give pause, another paper, titled "Cannabis Use 
in British Columbia: patterns of use, perceptions and public opinion 
as assessed in the 2004 Canadian Addiction Survey," adds new 
dimensions. Released in September by the Centre for Addictions 
Research of B.C. in Victoria and the Centre for Applied Research on 
Mental Health and Addictions at Simon Fraser University, it confirms 
B.C. as Canada's "pot capital" and cannabis as Canada's most widely 
used illicit drug -- among B.C. youth more popular than cigarettes.

Statistics tell the tale. Between 1997 and 2003, more than 25,000 
charges were laid against grow-ops in B.C., three times the national 
average. They also demonstrate how the business has changed. Today, 
hydroponic equipment and high-intensity lighting make cannabis a 
mass-produced commodity that at $5 billion annually rivals the 
softwood lumber industry. Its psychoactive properties render B.C. 
"bud" a specialty for sophisticated adult users but potentially 
devastating to the developing young brain.

While cannabis is more accessible and more accepted in British 
Columbia than in the rest of Canada, the most alarming statistics 
apply everywhere. Use has almost doubled since 1989 in almost every 
category, but with 22 per cent of all male and 10 per cent of all 
female respondents aged 15-24 reporting cannabis use on a weekly or 
daily basis, it is young men who are the biggest users.

Because such statistics represent only those willing to answer a 
telephone survey, they do not represent variations among regions and 
districts and underestimate the real number of users, which are 
likely closer to those cited by Chiarelli.

Given how cannabis can affect the young and the amount being used by 
them, elementary logic suggests a generational time bomb is ticking.

Psychosis produces grandiose feelings, hallucinations and paranoia. 
Never mind mental illness, diminished cognitive capacity and social 
impairment, or that cannabis is a "gateway" to more devastating 
drugs, increased use among the young begs questions about increased 
violence among the young and questions about whether early cannabis 
use is a factor in mass shootings. The need for such studies is now urgent.

Other countries aren't waiting for the results. Australia's National 
Cannabis Strategy 2006-2009 received ministerial endorsement in May. 
A potential prototype for Canada, it calls for the implementation of 
cannabis supply, demand and harm reduction strategies. Giving the 
"criminal economy" no quarter, it stresses educating the whole 
community about the dangers of cannabis and increasing awareness of 
the legal consequences for drug possession. It also raises the 
question of regulating the sale of hydroponic equipment -- an idea 
whose time has surely come.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman