Educating teenagers about the safety of recreational drug use is an age-old conundrum for Canada, one at the forefront as the country pushes ahead with legalizing marijuana by next year The ad shows four pretty young women laughing as their convertible rips past the picturesque Rockies on a warm sunny day, the driver - eyes narrowed slightly - joyfully passing a doobie to her friend. In the next one, a hip young guy with high-top dreadlocks pinches a smouldering joint (backwards) in one hand and adjusts the car stereo with his other as his date leaves her house and approaches in a red party dress. [continues 1238 words]
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed last week against a south Georgia sheriff offers new details of the bizarre school-wide search of hundreds of students where deputies allegedly touched girls' breasts, vaginal areas and groped boys in their groins. One of the nine Worth County High School students who filed the lawsuit, identified as K.P., told the AJC that the April 14 search was "very, very scary." She said the incident was stuck in her memory and it colored the rest of her senior year. The day of the search, she said, students didn't know what was happening when an announcement was made early in the day that the school was on lock-down. [end]
Re: Legalizing weed will harm youth, warns CMA editorial, Brian Cross, May 29 The Liberal federal government wants to bring the proposed Cannabis Act (Bill C- 45) into force by July 2018 legalizing the use of marijuana beginning at age 18. It is irresponsible, foolish and dangerous for the government to condone the use of marijuana at the age of 18 knowing the evidence indicates that the use of marijuana is harmful to the still developing brain which, according to the CMA, doesn't reach maturity until around age 25. [continues 81 words]
Drug use among teens is nothing new. But street drugs are a bigger threat than ever, because they can be laced with deadly substances. The Spectator investigates what youth are using, and how to identify the dangers A GIRL is hanging out with friends after school. One of them has stolen a gram of marijuana from an older brother. They pass around a pipe. It is her first time getting high. She is 14. A 15- YEAR-OLD walks through the hall at school. He sees a classmate selling cannabis-edibles out of a backpack and a friend making a purchase. A GIRL is invited to meet up with friends behind her school. Someone lights a joint and passes it to her. She is in Grade 7. [continues 1911 words]
High school students in North Bay are vaping marijuana juice and crushed Oxycontin before and during school. The startling news came in March when Almaguin Highlands Secondary School principal Donna Breault made a presentation to the Near North District School Board about vaping and its dangers. Board chairman David Thompson says parents need to be aware of what their kids are doing. "I think parents would be shocked," Thompson says. "Students are vaping marijuana juice, crushed Oxycontin and sharing filters, which is putting them at risk of some serious health concerns like hepatitis." [continues 386 words]
It's hard to imagine that a year has passed since May 21, 2016, when I received the news that is every parent's worst nightmare. I was told over the phone by the RCMP that my only child, Robby, had passed away from an overdose. He was only 24, and a week later we learned from the coroner that he had died from an accidental fentanyl overdose. Losing a child to an overdose is no different than losing a child to a disease such as cancer, or to a vehicle accident, or violence. You have joined a club that you never planned or wanted to be part of. Suddenly, the empathy you have felt for other parents' losses over the years has become a real and tangible thing in your own life. [continues 616 words]
Motor-vehicle collisions kill more Canadians aged 16 to 25 than any other cause. More than half of these deaths are related to the use of drugs or alcohol. For many young people, this statistic may seem far removed from their day-today lives. For many parents, it may seem to represent something that happens to other people's children. But the research tells a different story, and our recent study out of the University of Waterloo has found that almost half of Grade 11 and 12 students across Canada - representing 351,900 teens - reported engaging in at least one alcohol-or marijuana-related driving or passenger behaviours that may put them at risk. [continues 635 words]
Author cites 'toxic' effect on developing brain The interim editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal is pleading for the defeat of a federal government plan to legalize marijuana, fearful youth will have easier access to a drug that damages their developing brains. "Simply put, cannabis should not be used by young people," Dr. Diane Kelsall writes in an editorial published Monday in the journal. "It is toxic to their cortical neuronal networks, with both functional and structural changes seen in the brains of youth who use cannabis regularly." [continues 545 words]
One in three high school students reports riding with a driver who has been drinking and one in five got in a car with a driver that consumed marijuana, according to a new University of Waterloo study. Half of all students in Grades 11 and 12 admitted to at least one risky behaviour, either driving after drinking or using marijuana or being a passenger in the car of an impaired driver. "For half of kids to be putting themselves in that kind of risk seems really high," said Leia Minaker, lead author on the paper and an assistant professor at Waterloo. [continues 317 words]
Re: "Marijuana law doesn't protect kids," April 21, Opinion - Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan MP Garnett Genuis, The News: Genuis' bold claim is that the "new proposed marijuana legislation will allow anyone under age 12 to 17 to possess and distribute up to five grams of marijuana." This is, quite simply, a falsehood. The new proposed legislation does not only go on "at length about the importance of keeping marijuana from children," but it has made it clear that the purpose of legalizing marijuana is to, in fact, keep it out of the hands of Canadian youth. [continues 267 words]
High schoolers who smoke weed are dazed and confused, UW study finds WATERLOO - What happens if you start smoking marijuana in high school? Do you risk turning into a laid-back stoner, your grades and university ambitions fading in a haze? The answer is 'yes' according to public health research out of the University of Waterloo. It calls on high schools to help prevent this from happening. The study tracked 26,475 Ontario and Alberta students over time, measuring changes as some students began to smoke marijuana rarely, or more often. [continues 508 words]
Study indicates teens smoking marijuana more than tobacco Mary Jane appears to be overtaking the Marlboro Man as the plant of choice among high-school students. "We all know about the problems with cigarettes," said Orillia high school student Brayden, 17. "They're bad for your health, but the long-term effects of marijuana are way better." A new study by the University of Waterloo's Propel Centre for Population Health Impact suggests cannabis has replaced cigarettes as the inhalation product of choice among students in grades 7 to 12. [continues 617 words]
Several young children were found living in drug houses on the city's westside, while five people face charges under Alberta's Drug Endangered Children's Act after ALERT recently seized nearly $100,000 worth of drugs and cash. ALERT's organized crime and drug unit in Lethbridge, along with Lethbridge Police Service members, executed four search warrants on vehicles and homes in west Lethbridge late last week to conclude an investigation that began in late 2016. [continues 307 words]
About 43,000 Canadian students use pot every day: report WATERLOO - Just as many teenagers use marijuana every day as smoke cigarettes, according to a new University of Waterloo report. Two per cent of Canadian students in grades 7 to 12 - equivalent to more than 43,000 students - use marijuana every day. That's compared to daily smoking at 1.8 per cent. Among Grade 12 students, daily marijuana use jumps to five per cent. "The myth is marijuana smoke is not as bad for you," said David Hammond, a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at Waterloo and co-author of the supplement to Tobacco Use in Canada: Patterns and Trends. "It's just as harmful." Occasional cannabis use remains high among youth with one in five students reporting trying it, and one in 10 reporting use in the last 30 days. [continues 240 words]
"We are moving forward to ensure that we keep ... cannabis out of the hands of young people." - Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, May 1 The Canadian Press OTTAWA -During the 2015 election, the federal Liberals campaigned on a plan to greenlight marijuana for recreational use to keep it of the hands of children and the profits out of the hands of criminals. The party's election platform said Canada's current approach - criminalizing people for possession and use - traps too many Canadians in the justice system for minor offences. [continues 934 words]
Colorado's edible pot industry goes from public enemy to public-health leader, and wants Canada to take note BOULDER, Colorado - A tray of tempting pastel-coloured candies sits on a countertop inside AmeriCanna's production facility. Although shaped like pot leaves and stamped with Colorado's universal symbol for the mind-altering ingredient in cannabis - a diamond containing the letters "THC" - the gummies would only provide a sugar high at this point. Working with precision and speed, the kitchen supervisor uses a device to soak each candy with marijuana extract, so that each piece contains exactly 10 milligrams of THC, a single dose under the state's regulations. [continues 815 words]
MODI'IN, ISRAEL - When Noa Shulman came home from school, her mother, Yael, sat her down to eat, then spoon-fed her mashed sweet potatoes - mixed with cannabis oil. Noa, who has a severe form of autism, started to bite her own arm. "No sweetie," Yael gently told her 17-year-old daughter. "Here, have another bite of this." Noa is part of the first clinical trial in the world to test the benefits of medicinal marijuana for young people with autism, a potential breakthrough that would offer relief for millions of afflicted children - and their anguished parents. There is anecdotal evidence that marijuana's main non-psychoactive compound - cannabidiol or CBD - helps children in ways no other medication has. Now this first-of-its-kind scientific study is trying to determine if the link is real. [end]
OTTAWA - The federal government has tailored its highly anticipated marijuana legislation to ensure younger teens don't wind up with criminal records for pot possession. Currently, people between 12 and 17 can be charged for having any amount of marijuana, but the newly tabled legislation proposes that people under age 18 would not face criminal prosecution for possessing or sharing up to five grams. Bill Blair, a Liberal MP working with federal ministers on the legislation, said Monday the ultimate goal is to give provinces and territories flexibility to prohibit young people from possessing any amount of cannabis, with the option to introduce non-criminal sanctions for having a small amount. [continues 216 words]
Currently, kids between 12 and 17 can be charged for having any amount of marijuana OTTAWA - The federal government has tailored its highly anticipated marijuana legislation to ensure younger teens don't wind up with criminal records for pot possession. Currently, people between the ages of 12 and 17 can be charged for having any amount of marijuana, but the newly tabled legislation proposes that people under age 18 would not face criminal prosecution for possessing or sharing up to five grams. [continues 494 words]
So the new liberal marijuana laws legalizing the drug will protect our "youth," Liberal cabinet ministers say, noting their proposed increased penalties for providing pot to minors. Could they not have just increased and enforced these laws, anyway? Also, now that we will be able to have three plants in the homes, the kids will be able to pick off a leaf or two instead of finding it outside. How convenient! Bill Davis, New Westminster [end]
Youth
