A BRAVE GREEN WORLD OF RISK, REWARD
Hipsters lit up that day, without looking over their shoulders. Geezers lined up to buy their first legal weed and kept the receipt for a souvenir. And a new industry sprang up, as if overnight. Over the next four weeks, we’ll look at the good, the bad, and the hazy of legalized recreational cannabis throughout Atlantic Canada.
HOW WE GOT HERE
On his way to sweeping the region and much of the country in 2015, now-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made legalizing recreational cannabis a key campaign promise. His father, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, once said pot wasn’t that big a deal and smokers shouldn’t be “hassled.” The son was set to make that view a reality. In an April 20, 2017 interview with Bloomberg, Trudeau said legalization was not about finding a new product to tax, but about protecting young people. “It’s right now easier for an underage Canadian to buy a joint than it is for them to buy a bottle of beer. Whatever you may think about the relative harms of marijuana versus alcohol or cigarettes, marijuana is not good for developing brains. It’s not good for our kids.” Other goals? Keep criminals away from millions in profits and recreational users out of jail. In this series, we will look at how that’s played out. We’ll talk with frontline participants, look at some key issues and at solutions in the making in Atlantic Canada’s budding cannabis industry.
HOW MANY OF US ARE USING CANNABIS?
According to Statistics Canada, there has been an increase in cannabis use since legalization, but perhaps not as much as you’d think. From 2004 to 2017, StatsCan says 14.8 per cent of Canadians had smoked a joint at least once a year. A survey completed after legalization said 18 per cent had lit one up in the first quarter of 2019. And the younger you are, the more likely you are to try cannabis, legal or not. StatsCan found those aged 18 to 24 have the highest prevalence of cannabis use, hovering between 25 and 30 per cent from 2004 to 2017. Teens aged 15 to 17 were the second most likely group from 2004 until 2015. Since then it’s been those aged 25 to 44. Legalization didn’t change any of those numbers much. In the three months after, 33 per cent of those aged 18-24 had smoked cannabis and just over 20 per cent of those aged 25-44 had tried it.
HOW ABOUT ATLANTIC CANADA?
Atlantic Canada has some of the highest rates of cannabis use in the country. The national average ranged from 14 per cent in the first three months of legalization to 17.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2019. Of those who responded to the National Cannabis Survey since the start of 2018, 15.6 per cent reported having used cannabis. Nova Scotians were more likely to smoke, with 21.3 per cent saying they lit up or used other cannabis products over that time period.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
Trudeau’s comments about the drug’s negative effects on young people has some science behind it. Health Canada says there is an increased risk of “developing mental illnesses such as psychosis or schizophrenia.” In particular, Health Canada says those who start using cannabis at a young age, those who use cannabis daily and those with a personal or family history of mental illness are at increased risk. “Research shows the brain is not fully developed until around age 25. Thus, youth are especially vulnerable to the effects of cannabis on brain development and function,” according to Health Canada. Whether you partake or have no interest in recreational cannabis, the country around you is a different place now that it is legal and regulated. It has different rules, different risks and different opportunities. Join us in print and online over the next four weeks for our Deep Dive on cannabis.