Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made many disastrous decisions that have been extremely harmful to Canadians. Perhaps one of the most harmful was his decision to legalize cannabis. It became legal on October 17, 2018. This decision has had a negative impact on our children and young people that will continue all their lives.
At the time Trudeau legalized cannabis, the government did so claiming that this decision would keep the drug out of the hands of children and youth, and also reduce the black-market sale of cannabis. Exactly the opposite has occurred. High government taxes on legal cannabis have encouraged many users of the substance to purchase it on the black market where it is cheaper. The black market is now flourishing. Further, the decision to legalize cannabis led to many retail stores in cities across Canada selling cannabis, normalizing it, and providing easy access to the product. For youth, the easy availability has lessened their perception of its risks. This cultural and social acceptance of cannabis has led to many more youth and young adults using it. In 2023, 40% of Canadians aged 16-20, and 47.6% of those aged 20 – 24 had smoked cannabis. This is of particular concern since cannabis has specific health consequences for youth, owing to the fact that the human brain does not develop fully until 25 years of age. Exposure to cannabis during this sensitive period has been linked to problems with attention, memory and learning, as well as to increased links to paranoia and schizophrenia.
Mounting Evidence of Harmful Effects of Cannabis
There is a growing body of research indicating that cannabis use seriously impacts mental health. Its use increases the risk not only of schizophrenia, as mentioned above, but also depression and anxiety disorder. Further, hospital emergency departments are seeing a spike in the side-effects of chronic cannabis use, such as violent repeated vomiting lasting many days. This occurs in those who are chronic users of cannabis, that is those who use it three days a week or daily. It is a gastro-intestinal tract problem that includes morning nausea and intense abdominal pain. It is increasing especially among teens and young adults.
Growing Potency of Cannabis
Cannabis on the market today, has a greater potency due to higher THC, the active component in cannabis. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s THC content used to be 2% or 3% according to Health Canada. In 2023 it is 15% with some strains at 30% THC content. THC levels, therefore, are many times higher than before, which is reflected in the increase in serious side effects.
Lack of Enforcement
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2021, found more than 80% of Canada’s cannabis companies examined, violated at least one regulation. About half of Health Canada’s 89 inspections from April 2021 to March 2022 found many infractions by cannabis companies.
The federal Minister of Health appointed a panel of experts to review cannabis legalization. The panel reported in March 2024. In its report it flagged not only concerns about dangers to youth, but also its high potency, and the lack of enforcement of the regulations. The panel made 54 recommendations which the government is currently reviewing. Unfortunately, although the panel recommended that the government step-up enforcement, it did not request that the cannabis law be reversed because of public safety problems. Instead, it simply started from the standpoint of only improving the legislation and failed to reject the legalization of recreational use of cannabis. Also, the panel did not even object to the legalization of edible cannabis in the form of look-alike candy such as gummy bears or brownies. There have been numerous studies disclosing that children are eating such edible cannabis, which has serious implications for children due to their smaller bodies and weight. Adults have also had serious side effects from edibles as they are unable to gage the amount of THC they are consuming. Cannabis legalization has been an absolute disaster for this country, but the Liberal government apparently has no interest in changing this dire situation.