CAMH calls for legalizing pot

(Updated)

In an effort to reduce the potential harmful effects of marijuana use — the centre for addiction and mental health is pushing for pot to be legalized and regulated. But how would making it legal reduce those risks?

In a recent study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 40% of Canadians say they’ve smoked marijuana at least once in their lifetime. and some have taken it too far.

Dr. Jurgen Rehm, CAMH: “Currently in Ontario alone, in the public health system, we have around 30-thousand people in treatment for cannibas use disorders.”

That’s why those at CAMH are asking that marijuana be legalized and more importantly, heavily regulated. Other experts in addiction treatment agree.

Debbie Bang, St. Joseph’s Healthcare: “As we do with alcohol, as we do with tobacco. Then we know what people are getting. We can make decisions on who gets it when and how available it is.”

In Ontario, young people are the largest group of pot users. And many of them get it from the street. Jurgen says regulation would reduce their introduction to harsher chemicals: “When our teenagers get marijuana, and they have no problem getting marijuana as we learned in surveys, they get into contact with the illegal market, they get in contact with other illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin.”

About half a million Canadians have a criminal record after being busted for cannibas-related crimes. Having an official location to purchase pot would reduce those numbers.

For those who are already suffering, legalizing and regulating marijuana would allow them to continue their use of cannibas for its medical purposes after they ditched traditional medicine.

This is Luke Williams. He’s a registered medical user who believes legalizing pot would allow him to smoke marijuana worry free: “It’s not all about getting high, it’s about getting well. I could grow the strains that work for me.”

Earlier today, Ontario Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins was asked if Canada should legalize and regulate marijuana and he said he did not want to chime in on that topic. That’s a conversation that those in the federal government should have in the wake of this new policy framework released by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.