CANNABIS CAN BE PATH TO ADDICTION BUT FOR SOME IT’S A WAY OUT
OPENING THE DOOR TO A GATEWAY DRUG A MISTAKE, SAY ADDICTIONS COUNSELLORS
FRENCHVALE, N.S. — Tom Blanchard makes no apologies for his strong stance against cannabis legalization.
“We believe a drug is a drug is a drug,” says Blanchard, a long-time addictions counsellor who serves as the executive director of Talbot House, a rural Cape Breton facility that guides the addiction recovery and rehabilitation of men from Nova Scotia and across Atlantic Canada.
“We still believe that cannabis is a gateway drug and that it’s highly addictive, and we still believe it can cause mental health issues for youth, that is people between 14 to 21, and that it has relapse potential for our clients if they go back smoking it recreationally.”
And he should know. After all, the sole purpose of Talbot House, operated by a non-profit society, is to help chronic addicts through the recovery process. It’s been doing so since 1959.
Blanchard isn’t saying the legalization of recreational cannabis has undermined 60 years of addictions services, but he does concede that the public perception of pot being less harmful than other drugs has made it more challenging.
“I think it’s very dangerous to think that cannabis is good for everybody — it's like when opioids started, they were great for cancer patients, but all of a sudden it became chronic and now it’s killing people across this country,” he says, adding that the hype surrounding marijuana legalization, both recreationally and business-wise, has contributed to minimizing past awareness campaigns about the now legal substance.
“In the early stages of grassroots addiction services, marijuana was considered a drug and pamphlets were distributed that stressed how it affected the body, mind, spirit and soul and now that’s all gone away.”
Neither Blanchard or Talbot House clinical therapist Dale Sharkey expect the Cannabis Act to be repealed, but they said they would like to see a more accurate portrayal of the dangers of cannabis use. Sharkey said one claim he takes issue with is that marijuana is less damaging than alcohol.
“I think the government and the media are making a mistake trying to differentiate it from alcohol,” he said.
“It’s the same, it’s a drug that you take, and you can become addicted to either one and either one can have negative consequences — it’s not a harmless drug like it’s being portrayed.”