Pubdate: Fri, 02 Feb 2018 Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON) Copyright: 2018 Sun Media Contact: http://www.thewhig.com/letters Website: http://www.thewhig.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224 Author: Elliot Ferguson Page: A1 POT'S IMPACT ON BRAIN A CONCERN University students develop campaigns to educate high school students about cannabis Three teams of Queen's University students have put together a series of marketing campaigns to educate high school pupils about cannabis. The legalization of cannabis is set for July 1, and students of psychiatry professor Oyedeji Ayonrinde and business professor John-Kurt Pliniussen developed ways to give high school-age young people some of the information they need to make informed decisions. The campaigns were developed by students working in teams, and their messages were delivered through social media to reach the younger audience. "That's really exciting and for me that is where the challenge lies," Ayonrinde, who in addition to psychiatry has a background in business, said. "We know young people, and we've all been young ourselves, synthesize information in different ways." Ayonrinde said the Canada's changing position on cannabis has been accompanied by very strong positive messages about the drug. What he said has been largely absent from the debate about recreational use is discussion about its impact on the health of young people. "We are in a very unique position, actually a social phenomenon, where you have a psychoactive substance that is now medicinally available, therefore is good for you, it can treat illnesses, and is at the point, through legislation, of being made available for recreational use," he said. "The concern is about young people with developing brains, and the evidence is that young people with developing brains have significantly increased risk of developing psychosis," he said. "The brain keeps developing for many people up to age 25, and if you want to liken the brain to being like a fresh egg, you can do a lot more damage to a fresh egg than a boiled egg, which is the mature brain." The Queen's students worked in teams called Disjointed, Legit Services and Project Flux to create a short YouTube video and a written report about their experiences. The groups were encouraged to use local landmarks and identities to reach local youth. The Project Flux group created an Instagram campaign called "We all know a Rachael," which followed the experiences of a fictitious 17-year-old girl with cannabis. Legit Services's "What's Your High" presented activities that provided natural highs as alternatives to drugs. Disjointed presented interviews with people from the university about their experiences and opinions about marijuana. The students' work is meant to provide a counter to what Ayonrinde described as slick, well-funded marketing campaigns being delivered in very sophisticated ways to sell cannabis in a variety of forms, including pre-rolled joints, cannabis-infused drinks, chocolates, candy and sprays. "There is a lot more to marijuana than smoke," he said. In many cases, the advertising campaigns are delivered with accurate medical information. Ayonrinde said young people need to be educated on what all the information means. "The term marijuana or cannabis is just like saying dog. It doesn't tell us that much," he said. "It's really important with cannabis literacy, it's really important to know what breed of dog, because it's a whole world of difference. What we are most concerned about is the chemical compound in marijuana called THC." THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis. Different strains of cannabis have different amounts of THC: the higher the THC level, the more potent the cannabis. The flip side of THC is CBD, cannabidiol, which has been shown to have antipsychotic properties. "THC is like the attack dog, or the dog on the leash. CBD is the leash," Ayonrinde said. "But you've got to know what breed." More sophisticated young people are starting to talk about cannabis in terms of the ratio to THC and CBD, and Ayonrinde said enabling that level of discussion should be the goal of cannabis education. "That is really knowing your product," Ayonrinde said. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt