Re: High-potency pot poses risks to the developing brain, Opinion, May 16 While we were pleased to see The Sun devote attention to the important topic of adolescent cannabis use, we were disappointed to read Dr. Diane McIntosh's op-ed in which she stated that adolescent cannabis use increases the risk of developing schizophrenia. After intense study, scientists have concluded the evidence to date does not support the claim that cannabis causes schizophrenia. While the correlation between living with schizophrenia and using cannabis has often been observed, much of the research has suggested that the association can be explained, at least in part, by the use of cannabis as a means of self-medication among individuals predisposed to, or living with, schizophrenia. [continues 67 words]
Medical professionals worry about marijuana's effect on young people Even as the federal Liberal government moves toward legalizing marijuana, medical professionals hope that tight regulations will decrease its use and protect young people from what studies have proven can be significant damage to their brains. "Regular use of marijuana before the age of 25 has been shown to negatively affect brain development leading to lower IQ in adulthood," says Dr. Raina Fumerton, the Northern Health Authority's Terrace-based medical health officer for the northwest. [continues 714 words]
The THC Potency Of Street Marijuana Has Increased, Writes Diane McIntosh In my psychiatric practice, I treat patients with psychotic illnesses including schizophrenia. Most were born with a genetic vulnerability to develop the disorder, but many share another important life experience: they smoked pot from an early age. Debate has raged across Canada about the impending legalization/decriminalization of marijuana. Canadian physicians, in their role as advocates for physical and mental health, have been conspicuously absent from the debate. This troubling void in leadership is apparent from the lack of informed discourse exhibited across all forms of media. Our failure to educate Canadians regarding the potential risks of street pot, particularly for a developing brain, has important social, physical and psychological implications. [continues 916 words]
On a recent bright afternoon, two teenage boys in boat shoes and shorts strolled up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in a crowd of passers-by. At 56th Street they paused as one pulled an electronic pipe out of his pocket and held it to his friend's lips. Inside was a potent and little-studied drug made from distilled marijuana; they were emboldened, they said, by the fact that the gooey wax hardly has a smell, and is so novel in New York that, even if discovered, parents, teachers or even the authorities hardly seem to know what it is. [continues 1085 words]
The three sons of a woman shot to death in 2014 have filed what appears to be the country's first wrongful-death lawsuit against the recreational marijuana industry. The lawsuit claims that the company that made the marijuana edible and the store that sold the candy to Richard Kirk recklessly and purposefully failed to warn him about the bite-sized candy's potency and possible side effects - including hallucinations and other psychotic behaviors. Hours after Kirk purchased the marijuana candy April 14, 2014, Kristine Kirk, 44, called 911 terrified of her husband, who was ranting about the end of the world and jumping in and out of windows. All three of the couple's young sons heard the gunshot that killed their mother. Their youngest son, who was 7 at the time, watched his mother die, according to an amended complaint filed Monday night. [continues 1068 words]
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit Calls on PM to Keep Tight Grip on Legal Marijuana The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, hoping to spark up a conversation about the pending legalization of marijuana. The local health unit is the latest to call for strict regulations controlling how legal marijuana is grown, promoted, sold, distributed and used. Janice Greco, the health unit's injury and substance misuse manager, said the government needs to take a public health approach to cannabis legalization. [continues 524 words]
With a proposed constitutional amendment on the horizon, the House voted 71-26 on Tuesday to potentially make Ohio the 26th state to give residents legal access to medical marijuana. Some members expressed reluctance about the bill - a vote on which would have been near unfathomable just a few years ago - but after hearing of the drug's benefits and facing the prospect of a less-restrictive constitutional amendment on the November ballot, the bill was sent to the Senate. Hearings will start this morning. [continues 716 words]
My father is 84 and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The medication he has been prescribed for pain isn't working. He wants to try medical marijuana. But getting a doctor to prescribe cannabis is like pulling teeth. His doctor says there isn't enough scientific evidence to support its use, even though it's legally permitted by the Canadian government. What can I do to get my father cannabis? I'm surprised the doctor didn't comply with your father's wishes. [continues 730 words]
Western University Researchers Find Link to Psychosis A London scientist whose research on marijuana has also paved the way to a commercial enterprise has discovered that when it comes to schizophrenia, the use of pot can be the best and worst of times. It turns out that though one of the major chemicals in marijuana is linked to psychosis, another may serve as an effective treatment, said Steven Laviolette, an associate professor at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. [continues 299 words]
A London scientist whose research on marijuana has also paved the way to a commercial enterprise has discovered that when it comes to schizophrenia, the use of pot can be the best and worst of times. It turns out that though one of the major chemicals in marijuana is linked to psychosis, another may serve as an effective treatment, said Steven Laviolette, an associate professor at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. "Within the same plant, you've got two different chemicals that are producing opposite effects," said Laviolette, whose study was published in the journal Neuroscience. [continues 275 words]
High- Profile Coalition Will Submit 600,000 Signatures to Give Voters a Chance to Legalize Marijuana. SACRAMENTO - A measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use in California appears headed for the Nov. 8 ballot. A coalition that includes former Facebook President Sean Parker on Tuesday said it had collected 600,000 signatures, more than enough to qualify the initiative. Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other supporters of the measure plan to kick off a campaign for voter approval of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act on Wednesday in San Francisco. [continues 605 words]
Last week, on April 20 no less, the federal government announced that legislation legalizing and regulating the recreational use of marijuana will be ready next spring. It's been a long time coming. The history of marijuana prohibition is a long and complicated one, but its origins can be summarized as a part of a widespread movement of white middle class progressives who believed in the benefits of social engineering based on ethnic, class, and Victorian moral grounds. It was a movement designed to 'uplift' society and advocated for things like women's suffrage, improved working conditions, and public health and education reform. Sadly, they also supported things like eugenics, and forced sterilization, and residential schools. [continues 969 words]
Annual Pot Celebration Leaves 'Organized Chaos'; Crowd Was 'Mellow' The heap of garbage left behind after Wednesday's 4/20 pot event at Sunset Beach seemed to be the main concern for authorities, who said there was no major damage done and no arrests. Vancouver's director of parks Howard Normann surveyed the beach early Thursday morning, calling it "organized chaos" because while vendors collected most of the rubbish, they left two big piles of garbage bags for the city to remove. [continues 664 words]
VANCOUVER - Stoner subculture will likely take a hit with the incoming legalization of marijuana in Canada because as the cause vanishes, so will celebration of the drug, say experts. The declaration comes as the federal government announced a spring 2017 deadline for introducing new marijuana laws and while thousands of people gathered across Canada for the annual April 20 'Weed Day' protest, also known as 4-20. Protesting against cannabis prohibition has become a social movement with its own ideology and symbols, but that will likely change with the repeal of criminalization, said Benedikt Fischer, a senior scientist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. [continues 499 words]
Optimism mixed with thick clouds of pot smoke in downtown Vancouver last year as tens of thousands of people gathered for the annual "4-20" marijuana legalization rally under a massive banner featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's face on a rolling paper. But this year, the event's chief organizer, Jodie Emery, says that "inaction" by the newly elected federal Liberals makes the protest "more necessary than ever." "Last summer, I was joking I'm going to be out of work as an activist because we don't have debates anymore, there's no one fighting to keep it illegal," said Ms. Emery, who is the wife of "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery. "But fast forward to today and the mood is different." [continues 367 words]
Professor Doug Sellman is wrong to believe "the days of cannabis prohibition in New Zealand appear to be coming to an end." New Zealanders need to be aware of a smokescreen around this issue. Politicians need to reject knee-jerk law changes and understand the real agenda behind liberalising drug laws and also the potential abuse of medicinal marijuana. The Government is right to be cautious around this issue, but there must also be a compassionate response to those in real need. [continues 559 words]
Drugs policy in the UK is not actually made in smoke-filled rooms but it might as well be. The mixture of befuddled optimism with a lack of urgency that characterises official thinking about cannabis has had dangerous results. Getting on for 50 years of prohibition, vigorously defended in principle but lackadaisically enforced in practice, have produced a situation that combines the disadvantages of tolerance and criminalisation. Two generations of parents now know that it is not as dangerous as official propaganda told them, but this leads to a reluctance to admit that the habit has any real dangers at all. That in itself is dangerous to their children. [continues 473 words]
Forum Offers Sobering Opinions on Push for Legalization of Marijuana The increasing speculation that Rhode Island will further ease restrictions on the use of marijuana had area prevention coalitions raising a flag of caution at a recent Town Hall Meeting, hosted on the campus of Amica Insurance, to talk about how those changes could affect young people. The forum on marijuana focused on how the drug affects adolescents and the developing teenage brain with the help of Dr. Lilia RomeroBosch, a psychiatrist, and also presented information on existing trends in drug use among teens from Margaret Johnson, a student assistance counselor for the Warwick school department. There was also a youth panel of students who gave first-hand accounts of what is happening in their schools in North Smithfield, Lincoln, Cumberland, Woonsocket and Scituate. The discussion was moderated by Nancy Denuccio, chairwoman of the Ocean State Prevention Alliance. Romero-Bosch related her experiences in counseling family members with substance abuse problems, and her experiences with patients who are trying to quit substance abuse while also participating in marijuana production. [continues 1692 words]
UN Meeting to Discuss Growing Drugs Problem Up to Quarter of Psychosis Cases Could Be Prevented The risks of heavy cannabis use for mental health are serious enough to warrant global public health campaigns, according to international drugs experts who said young people were particularly vulnerable. The warning from scientists in the UK, US, Europe and Australia reflects a growing consensus that frequent use of the drug can increase the risk of psychosis in vulnerable people, and comes as the UN prepares to convene the first special session on the global drugs problem since 1998. The meeting in New York next week aims to unify countries in their efforts to tackle issues around illicit drug use. [continues 1160 words]
