Many people wrongly assume that cannabis use during pregnancy is safe. Research is increasingly documenting a host of serious health harms from prenatal exposure to cannabis and other substances.
Like Dry January for alcohol users, the idea of taking a month off weed is also worth considering for those who use cannabis.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A Weed-Free January could do more good than cannabis users may realize. Regular cannabis users could expect to experience a number of positive physical and lifestyle changes from a 31-day pause.
The recent review found that both high and low frequency cannabis users were six times more likely to develop schizophrenia.
Much of what is known about the health effects of cannabis legalization in Canada is based on outdated and often irrelevant data.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Daniel Myran, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
The government’s advice to cannabis users is to start low and go slow. Given the potential harms of a rapidly expanding retail market, it should heed its own advice and move slowly on regulatory changes.
Marijuana use among college students during the pandemic reached record highs, data show.
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In their quest to feel high and relax, college students who use marijuana may be setting themselves back, research consistently shows.
People gather in Trinity Bellwoods park for a weed bubble blowing event in Toronto on Oct. 17, 2018, the day cannabis became legal in Canada.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
If the goal of cannabis legalization was to protect public health and safety, education and awareness campaigns must normalize safe cannabis use, not stop cannabis consumption.
A lone cyclist rides past the University of Toronto campus during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on June 10, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
University students had high rates of mental health issues before the pandemic. The additional stressors of COVID-19 and social isolation will make them even more vulnerable over the winter.
New Zealand will hold the world’s first national referendum on legalising recreational use of cannabis in September. It must learn from mistakes in implementing earlier drug law reforms.
Young New Zealanders are less likely to use cannabis than their 1990s counterparts. But if New Zealand decides to legalise recreational use, teens will have easier access.
Alcohol companies are part owners of cannabis production overseas already, and they have the resources to influence policy development.
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The draft New Zealand cannabis law proposes a ban on advertising, but includes no reference to marketing via social media, where most alcohol marketing now takes place.
What will the new legislation mean for cannabis users in the ACT? And will other jurisdictions follow?
Evidence suggests that Muslim men in France have been disproportionately arrested and jailed for cannabis-related crimes since the drug became illegal in 1970.
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Muslims make up 9% of France’s population and half of all its prisoners – many convicted on drug charges. But social justice isn’t part of the country’s growing debate on legalization.
A man celebrates the landmark marijuana ruling.
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