Concerns raised over cannabis and youth

“The main message that I want to say is that we recognize that people do find some helpfulness with CBD, but nonetheless, cannabis is not benign and it does carry risks with it,” Summerville told paNOW.

“Between conception and age 25, one’s brain is still under major development and a major part of that development is your endocannabinoid system, which helps with pre-frontal lobe – in terms of memory, execution and your executive skills.”

Summerville noted those who use cannabis, a plant form of a cannabinoid, could potentially cause interferences with an individual’s natural cannabinoid system, stemming from the THC in cannabis products.

“If you have a history of mental illness in your family, or yourself, using cannabis increases your risk of developing psychosis five-fold,” said Summerville.

“Depression can result from using cannabis, not for everybody, and anxiety as well. There is a clear link, after 30 years of research, between the THC of cannabis and psychosis.”

Summerville said his concern with the legalization of edibles is the delay in the high resulting from these products, which can take upwards of two hours. He added there was increased difficulty in knowing what amount of THC an individual is consuming.

“What we want to put a strong emphasis on right now is youth having this important information, and that the risks are true,” said Summerville.

“The younger you are, the frequency you use cannabis and the potency of that cannabis determine what risk youth are at.”

Summerville also emphasized the the next step forward regarding public awareness was youth leading youth, not adults trying to teach youth.

“Stronger education is what we need. But it has to be youth talking to youth, not someone who is 67 with a title of Dr. before his name,” Summerville said.

“The unfortunate thing about the legalization process is that all of the professional mental health organizations and non-profits asked for the Prime Minister to delay for another year the actual legalization because organizations weren’t prepared, and didn’t have educational material for the population that relates to them.”

Summerville said current statistics show one in five teens between the ages of 15 to 19 have used cannabis within the last year.

The Schizophrenia Society of Canada has received a contribution from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program for a three-year youth engagement and public health awareness projecting, which aims to promote harm reduction and informed decision making for youth.

Local agencies want increased awareness

Dawn Robins, Executive Director for the West Flat Citizen Group in Prince Albert, which works with local youth, told paNOW as both a grandparent and professional she believed strong regulation and education is important.

“I really believe the people that are putting it out for sale should be working with schools and parents and the community about the harm it could do to children. There’s ways of getting it out there for sale, but there’s ways to add that children can be highly affected,” Robins said.

“The issue is there is no difference in looks between candy, and a cannabis edible. We need to make sure that they remain out of reach of children, and are talked about at home, in our schools and in our community.”

Robins agrees that peers need to speak with peers, in terms of youth interacting with other youth about the dangers of cannabis edibles, rather than adults alone speaking to the younger generation.

Doug Kinar, with the Canadian Mental Health Association Prince Albert chapter, told paNOW he knew of concerns within the community.

“With the edibles that are out there, it’s not the same reaction as if you were smoking. With the way our eating habits are, it’s normal to eat a lot of food. It wouldn’t be unheard of to eat a whole package of gummy bears, and if you found out they were edibles it would be easy to overdose,” he said.

“A lot of youth have also lost a lot of coping skills as well. Everyone has a sense of ‘I’m never going to die’, or ‘I’m never going to get hurt.’”

Kinar noted he’d like to see parents be aware of a lack of coping skills within the younger generations.

“When we were young, you might have had one or two drinks, and that would be the end of it. Over time you would build up a tolerance,” Kinar said.

“With edibles, kids could gulp down handfuls, and by the time they know it they’ve taken too many.”

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Brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy

by Brady Bateman

Concerns raised over cannabis and youth

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