The government messaging regarding the legalization of recreational cannabis requires a delicate touch. A celebratory approach will give the impression of promoting use The federal government has committed to legalize the recreational use of marijuana and is expected to table legislation this week, before Parliament rises for its spring break. Are we ready for this? Does the government have a clear and consistent message for young people and their families? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been clear on his rationale for legalization: to minimize underage access to marijuana and to reduce criminal activity surrounding illegal marijuana trade. "Our focus is on protecting kids and protecting our streets," Trudeau said at The Economist magazine's Canada Summit in Toronto last June. [continues 507 words]
As Ottawa readies legislation, researchers say there are gaps in understanding its effect on brain After punching a string of numbers into a bolted-down, fireproof, alarm-protected safe - the location of which can't be divulged for security reasons - Steven Laviolette pulls out a tiny vial. Inside that vial is an even tinier dab of dark tar. The tar is purified THC, the mind-altering compound in marijuana. The street price for a gram of weed is about $10. A gram of this stuff costs about $2,000, not counting the cost of the researcher's time acquiring it. Laviolette, a professor in the departments of anatomy and cell biology and psychiatry at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, studies the effects of marijuana on the brain. His lab is investigating the troubling brain changes associated with THC, and also - a rapidly growing avenue of research - the very different and perhaps protective brain changes associated with cannabidiol, or CBD, another compound found in the plant. [continues 2308 words]
Medical marijuana shops in the Sea to Sky are gearing up for a future of legalized weed. When you walk into Grass Roots Medicinal in Squamish you only get access to the waiting room. There, a small counter offers bongs and other glassware for sale. All the good stuff - the grass the store gets its name from - is locked up behind a second door, out of reach. To get there, you have to sign up to become a member, which means providing some proof of an ailment that cannabis might help you with. [continues 3513 words]
A large number of Canadians let out a cough of relief this week as the Trudeau government announced that it will finally reveal its intentions with regard to legalization of the recreational use of marijuana within the next few weeks that will come into effect on July 1, 2018 (Cannabis Day?). Although final details of the plan have yet to be released, informed sources are saying that the Bill will reflect the recommendations of a Parliamentary committee headed by former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair and will allow (force?) provincial governments to set up the kind of regimes they want in order to comply with the law. [continues 929 words]
New law will require strategy to deal with use of pot and its effects on student life, learning There is reason to be concerned about legalizing marijuana when it comes to youth, a McMaster University health forum heard. Psychologist and cannabis-use researcher Franco Vaccarino told Tuesday's Cannabis on Campus forum that young people need special attention because their brains don't fully develop until age of 25. Vaccarino, a principal editor of "The Effects of Cannabis Use during Adolescence" report in 2015, said brains undergo dramatic changes during adolescence and youth are vulnerable to drug use. [continues 401 words]
"Six workers arrested in marijuana dispensaries raid," March 11 Just this week a report was released saying smoking marijuana can do the same serious damage to lungs as tobacco, which is common sense. The U.K. has done extensive studies showing young people who smoke marijuana have a greatly enhanced chance of suffering psychosis and other mental issues later in life. There is no easy roadside test for drivers in Canada believed to have smoked up. (In Colorado, traffic deaths have gone up substantially since it legalized pot). [continues 208 words]
Dr. Mark Ware has been studying the safe and effective use of medical marijuana for 16 years. His research is done at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Last June, Ware was named vice-chair of the federal task force studying the recreational use of marijuana. So he has studied the subject of cannabis from both ends of the spectrum. When told that a 40,000-square-foot medical marijuana production facility was poised to open in Pointe-Claire, he put on his research cap. [continues 204 words]
When Trudeau first floated the idea of legalizing marijuana, he obviously had two things in mind: getting the votes of those wanting to smoke it legally and the billions it would bring his government. He obviously neglected to realize that if we cannot keep legalized tobacco products and alcohol out of the hands of our youth, how on earth does he think legalizing this drug will accomplish that? Once you make marijuana more easily accessible with legalization and remove the stigma from it more youths will get involved. Studies are finding young kids are getting marijuana in Colorado where it is legal and a big increase in traffic deaths since pot legalization took place. [continues 296 words]
If the federal Liberals keep their campaign promise, legal pot is around the corner. The Village of Queen Charlotte is rightly preparing now for how to regulate marijuana retailers once it's legalized.Legal or not, marijuana is a drug that affects the brain. We have a responsibility as a community to regulate access to this drug and to minimize harms from its use and distribution. According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, cannabis harms brain development during adolescence, making access for youth a matter of health. The society writes that "cannabis use during adolescence can cause functional and structural changes to the developing brain, leading to damage." Doctors also raise concerns about marijuana dependence and associations between pot use and depression, anxiety,and psychosis. [continues 591 words]
Regarding Bob Jaenicke's letter (Penticton Western News, Feb. 17, Not thumbing our noses at council) about his frustrations at Okanagan Cannabis Solutions - I feel obliged to comment as a licensed pharmacist,with a master of pharmacy degree from the United Kingdom. As all of our Penticton marijuana dispensaries certainly may mean very well, you are absolutely not in a position to practice any form of medicine, nor dispense medicine.It is not ethical for you to be talking about marijuana, an unlicensed drug, as a medicine whilst earning money from the sale of it. I amvery much pro-legalization of all recreational drugs, but medicinal drugs should not be touched by anybody bar a doctor or pharmacist, as is the legal consensus in North America. [continues 171 words]
Another week, another massive study by top doctors and scientists finding limited medicinal value to marijuana. When liberal politicians such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson claim to be implementing "evidence-based" public policy, I find it odd they have such a blind spot with pot. A new report by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research - reviewed 10,700 studies on the medicinal qualities of marijuana and concluded there is "conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective" for only three conditions: chronic pain in adults, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity. [continues 414 words]
Here we go again. Another week, another massive report by top doctors and scientists finding very limited medicinal value to marijuana. In an age when liberal politicians such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson claim to be implementing "evidence-based" public policy, I find it odd that they have such a blind spot when it comes to pot. A new report by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research - that reviewed the results of 10,700 studies on the medicinal qualities of marijuana concluded that there is "conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective" in treating only three conditions: chronic pain in adults, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms (although there was "limited" evidence of "clinician-measured" spasticity relief). [continues 613 words]
Depressed, withdrawn and coping with a death in the family, Joseph thought getting high would help him feel better. Instead, he said, his marijuana smoking grew into a daily habit that made him paranoid and constantly question how others saw him. He went days without going home, showering or eating much besides potato chips. "I always thought (marijuana) would bring down my anxiety, but it just made it that much worse," the Rockford-area man said. One day, after getting so high that he was pacing around, alarmed by his own gaunt appearance and generally "freaking out," Joseph was taken by his brother to a Rosecrance drug treatment center in Rockford, where he entered an inpatient program. [continues 1228 words]
This is a direct reply to "Heed Cigarette Lessons For Pot," a letter written by John Fefchak of Virden. I totally agree with you on one point. We can't find intelligent life, especially when we have people like you comparing the scourge of cigarettes to something like marijuana. It is truly ignorant and quite closed-minded to say marijuana is anything like cigarettes. There is no single recorded death in history linked directly with the use of this beneficial substance. [continues 160 words]
A new U.S. government-funded report showing clear evidence cannabis is an effective remedy for those with chronic pain underscores the need for more research into how marijuana can help fight the deadly opioid crisis ravaging North America, according to one of Canada's leading pain researchers. A report released Thursday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine outlined nearly 100 conclusions about the benefits and harms of cannabis on a range of public health and safety issues. [continues 606 words]
Marijuana's health effects A new report says the precise health effects of marijuana on its users remain something of a mystery. (Jan. 13, 2017) More than 22 million Americans use some form of marijuana each month, and it's now approved for medicinal or recreational use in 28 states plus the District of Columbia. Nationwide, legal sales of the drug reached an estimated $7.1 billion last year. Yet for all its ubiquity, a comprehensive new report says the precise health effects of marijuana on those who use it remain something of a mystery -- and the federal government continues to erect major barriers to research that would provide much-needed answers. [continues 1147 words]
Margaret Trudeau gives impassioned speech on mental illness at UFV Margaret Trudeau, a self-described hippie child of the 60s and 70s, has spent much of her 68 years in the spotlight - a light whose glare has been less than flattering at times. Her name was first plastered across Canadian headlines in 1971, when she married Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, a man nearly 30 years her senior. She remained in public view for many years after, as that marriage fell apart, as she partied with celebrities, when her youngest son died and, more recently, when her son Justin Trudeau, followed his father's path to the prime minister's office in 2015. [continues 746 words]
Marijuana and its derivatives can be effective medicines for treating pain, nausea, vomiting, muscle spasms and other conditions, but cannabis is not harmless, and more research is needed, the nation's top scientists concluded in a landmark review of research released Thursday. The nonprofit National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued their report, "The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids," summarizing the current state of evidence for the efficacy of medical marijuana and recommending new studies. The 395-page report will stand as the most official medical review of the botanical drug, which an estimated 8 percent of Americans used in the last month. [continues 1174 words]
Prime Minister Trudeau's pot legalization plan bad for the country's young people Last summer the Trudeau government established a task force to study marijuana legalization and regulation. Their mandate was to consult with Canadians about developing a framework for legal access to marijuana (cannabis). The task force's report was released shortly before Christmas and provided numerous recommendations regarding legalization. Regrettably, however, it did not comment on whether the government is taking Canada in the right direction since this was not part of its mandate. [continues 474 words]
Researchers combed through more than 10,000 scientific studies to examine the various health effects of marijuana use. More than 22 million Americans use some form of marijuana each month, and it's now approved for medicinal or recreational use in 28 states plus the District of Columbia. Nationwide, legal sales of the drug reached an estimated $7.1 billion last year. Yet for all its ubiquity, a comprehensive new report says the precise health effects of marijuana on those who use it remain something of a mystery -- and the federal government continues to erect major barriers to research that would provide much-needed answers. [continues 1123 words]
