Reefer Sanity

Next week cannabis becomes legal in Canada. A political promise made is a political promise kept. Beyond the politics there are good reasons for legalization. Ultimately it boils down to what causes the least harm to our society. In 1997 the Addiction Research Foundation (ARF) released the paper Cannabis, Health and Public Policy. The paper points out there is greater harm to society in criminalizing cannabis use. In 2014 the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) came out with a paper not only saying the same thing but calling for the legalization and strict control of cannabis. With the election of Justin Trudeau Canada began the great experiment of nation-wide legalization.

The harm these papers speak to are many and include organized crime controlling the growth and distribution of cannabis as well as criminal records for those in possession of small amounts of pot. The cost to policing and our judicial system is massive. It should also be pointed out that the application of pot laws is often targeted racially or towards marginalized populations. It is estimated half a million Canadians have criminal records for simple possession.

While legalization will reduce the overall harm to society we should not underestimate the harms related to frequent cannabis use or the harm to young people who use cannabis. Numerous studies suggest a link between early psychosis and cannabis use by young people under the age of 25. One local psychiatrist estimates 60 percent of people being treated for first episode psychosis are also dealing with issues related to their use of cannabis. On the flip side there is also a growing body of evidence showing the benefits of cannabis use for people suffering from a variety of ailments ranging from PTSD to arthritis to Parkinson’s disease.

If we look to other jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis such as Colorado or Washington there has been minimal negative impact. Teen use has remained unchanged. There has been a slight uptick in impaired driving, but this statistic is suspect since cannabis remains detectable in blood for weeks after use. It should also be pointed out that no one dies of cannabis overdose. It is probably safe to say most of the negative impact from marijuana use is already present in Canada and by legalizing we are truly going to be mitigating the most harmful impacts.

For those of us who work in addiction and mental health we do see the negative impact of frequent marijuana use. Cannabis is addictive. Long-term habitual use can cause permanent cognitive impairment. We also see how lives are destroyed because of criminal records that are the result of simple possession of cannabis. Some posit that cannabis is a gateway drug, but evidence shows the vast majority of cannabis users do not use other drugs. Frankly where we see the most harm is with regards to the use and abuse of alcohol. Alcohol by a long shot is one of the most destructive and expensive controlled substances in our society.

This does not mean we should become complacent. Strict controls need to remain in place to ensure young people are denied access. We need to recognize the black market will be concentrating all its efforts on our young people and we need to ensure police and public health have adequate resources to enforce the controls. Ongoing public awareness campaigns like those used for alcohol and tobacco use need to be robust and ongoing so everyone is aware of the harms associated with cannabis; particularly with regards to impaired driving. For prohibitionists predicting a reefer madness society with the legalization of cannabis prepare to be disappointed. Beyond the initial excitement of legalization and the various incidents that will come out of enforcing a new legislative framework related to a controlled substance we should expect very little will change with regards to cannabis use.