The following is the first of a four-part series on cannabis legalization and its potential impacts in and around Wellington County.
For Ontarians 19 and older, recreational cannabis will be legal in a little less than a month.
“We’ve been talking about this for two years and we’ve been planning for it for two years,” said Allan Rewak, executive director of the Cannabis Council of Canada.
“This is a significant policy change and we’re ending a prohibition’s veil after 95 years.
“But we’ve all been working very hard both from a private sector perspective and a public sector perspective trying to meet the really important task Canadians have put in front of us and I do believe we’re ready.”
Yet not all stakeholders feel the same way.
“I’m waiting to see what the outcome ultimately is because Canada already has the highest rate of marijuana use in the developed world,” said Paul Bowser, clinical lead for mental health and addiction recovery for the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Waterloo Wellington.
“It’s something that’s already out there. The effect of legalizing it and making it more available is certainly going to change things, but to what degree time will tell.”
Cannabis will be legalized in Canada on Oct. 17, which Rewak said is an acknowledgement that prohibition of the substance has failed.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) sent out surveys to collect pre-legislation data on cannabis use. The survey ran from June 7 to July 7 and 3,095 individuals responded from Wellington and Dufferin counties and the City of Guelph.
Some preliminary, local results include:
– 16 per cent of respondents who have not used cannabis in the past 12 years say they are likely or very likely to do so when it is legalized;
– 65% of respondents believe that frequent cannabis use can result in problems with memory, learning, and decision making; and
– 28% of respondents believe that cannabis is a problem in their community.
Public health officials caution that the preliminary survey results are not representative of the general population, due to a large number of young respondents, female respondents and highly educated respondents.
In addition, many people who responded to the survey used marijuana in the past year; respondents’ rate of use exceeds 50%, when the expected rate is actually 15 to 25% based on other recent surveys in Canada and Ontario.
The full survey results will be released the week of Oct. 17.
Included in the survey group were Grade 7 and Grade 10 students.
“We did ask a question of Grade 7 and Grade 10 on cannabis use,” medical officer of health Nicola Mercer said at the Sept. 5 board of health meeting. “We … survey all Grade 7 and Grade 10 children, a very high percentage anyway, locally.
“It’s done every three years so we’ve got one in before the legalization and we will, next time, re-ask that question … after legalization of cannabis. I think that locally we’ll be able to track and monitor the impact on our youth as this comes into place.”
It’s youth that Bowser said can be most impacted by marijuana use.
“We’ve certainly seen the effects of cannabis use on the mental health of many young people,” Bowser said. “It often is a contributing factor to the development of the symptoms that bring them into mental health treatment.
“And unfortunately it’s often something that affects their recovery and contributes to relapses.”
The WDGPH survey shows that 26% of respondents believe cannabis poses the same risk to youth as it does to adults.
According to the government of Canada, in some cases using cannabis increases the risk of developing mental illnesses like psychosis or schizophrenia, especially in people who start using at a young age, use it daily or almost every day, and have a personal or family history of psychosis or schizophrenia.
The government also says frequent use of cannabis can increase the risk of suicide, depression and anxiety disorders.
“At this point we cannot say it’s a causal factor on its own, but certainly it’s a contributing factor to a wide range of mental health issues,” Bowser said.
“We see it as a co-morbid or a co-occurring issue along with mental health symptoms. People come to us struggling with addiction and that includes addiction to marijuana.”
Rewak said ending prohibition and legalizing marijuana will help keep the substance out of the hands of children. Currently, youth are buying drugs illegally, but Rewak said legal dispensaries and online sales will slowly push out the illicit sellers.
“There’s still an illicit cannabis trade, there’s still drug dealers in high schools,” he said. “If you take away that market, those people will need something else to do and they won’t be selling cannabis to kids.
“If you break the supply chain, the illegal supply chain, you create a legal market – just like we did when we ended prohibition for alcohol; we created a controlled distribution system.”
He added that 15 to 20% of the Canadian population is already using cannabis and regulating the drug will keep it out of the hands of criminals.
There are a number of myths that surround marijuana use, Bowser explained. While it is understood medicinal marijuana can be beneficial for treatment of multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, cancer etc., cannabis is not recommended for use in addressing mental illness.
Bowser said it can impact the developing brain and increase the chance of relapse.
Marijuana is also an addictive substance.
“The evidence is that it seems like it leads to disruptions in work or school or home,” Bowser said. “People use it despite knowing there will be negative consequences.
“Like with alcohol and other drugs, people will develop a tolerance over time and need more just to have a response; they’ll have withdrawal systems, they might binge, they might not be able to quit, despite wanting to.
“So all the types of things we would look at with other addictions apply to cannabis.”
Only 52% of WDGPH survey respondents believed cannabis use can result in dependence or addiction.
Tracking emergency department visits in relation to cannabis use is something public health is planning for in the future.
“It doesn’t affect everybody but … if you see somebody come into an [emergency department] … who can’t stop vomiting you have to ask them if they’ve smoked cannabis because it is one of the things that causes vomiting,” Mercer said.
“All emergency departments are beginning to see (more) because there’s more cannabis around now than there was a few years ago.
“That is just steady increase in diagnosis for people who have consumed too much.”
Various stakeholders are ramping up awareness programs to educate the public on the affects of cannabis.
Public health is creating information videos for both children and adults.
“They’re very short, 30 second videos, which will lead someone to a splash page which will have all sorts of information on cannabis, the health issues related to it and sources to go for further information or for help if someone feels they have a dependency issue,” said WDGPH communications director Chuck Ferguson.
Bowser said CMHA Waterloo Wellington is also ready to respond if the need is there.
“The agency has been keeping staff informed about the legalization process as it has been playing out provincially and federally,” Bowser said. “As a service agency we are well versed and well equipped to support people and help people with addictions, including helping them address any problems related to marijuana use.”
He cited the organization’s 24-hour crisis line at 1-844-437-3247 (HERE-247), 1-877-688-5501 or www.here247.ca.
“They will talk to professional mental health and addictions staff,” Bowser said.
A popular cannabis misconception is that marijuana is harmless and safe to smoke.
“It’s unfortunately something that a lot of people use without knowing the physical health risks associated with it,” Bowser said.
“There’s an unfiltered carcinogen so it does affect the lungs, it affects the heart, there’s research that shows it affects women during pregnancy, it affects infants who are breastfeeding … It leads to higher rates of cancer.
“So there are numerous physical health concerns associated with frequent and regular and prolonged use.”
However, Rewak said cannabis is not a class one carcinogen according to the World Health Organization, yet tobacco and alcohol are.
“We’ve been looking for 95 years to try to find some linkage and it just does not exist,” he said.
“Now that being said, no product is free of harm and cannabis is an intoxicant and while at a lower level than tobacco or alcohol, it still can be addictive psychologically and we do know there are interaction points with specific parts of your body that can be problematic.”
Just under half of the WDGPH survey respondents (47%) believe cannabis smoke has many of the same cancer causing chemicals as tobacco smoke, and 88% believe using cannabis while pregnant can harm the fetus.
Most stakeholders agree caution is key.
“If you’re going to consume cannabis for adult consumer use as a recreational usern go slow, be prepared for this and be cautious,” Rewak said.
“This is still an intoxicant and people have to treat it with the respect it deserves.”
