Reefer Madness? More like Reefer Sanity. Yet another study finds that cannabis legalization in Canada (where the age limit is 18 or 19 depending on the province*) did NOT result in any increase in cannabis-related psychosis. This dovetails nicely with several previous studies in both Canada and the USA.
In other words, the remaining prohibitionists and fearmongers are looking less and less like Cassandra, and more and more like Chicken Little now.
(*Quebec had initially set it at 18 in 2018, but they raised it to 21 in January 2020, with no grandfather clause. Alberta remains 18 to this day, and all other provinces are 19, mostly matching the drinking ages.)
UPDATE: A previous Ontario study found no increase in emergency room visits for "cannabis-induced psychosis" during the first phase of "restricted legalization" in 2018-2019, but did find a modest increase during the "commercialization" phase (notably, when edibles and concentrates became available) in 2020-2021. Of course, the latter increase cannot be disentangled from the effects of the pandemic and lockdowns, and many if not most of those visits are simply from inexperienced users taking too many edibles in a short time and having a bad reaction. Remember, start low, go slow!
Oh and do NOT confuse THIS either!
Cannabis should be legalized with a minimum age of 18. Penalties for driving while under the Cannabis should not be light penalties. The penalties should be at least hundreds of dollars for a fine. If a person while under the influence of Cannabis caused a car crash, then that person should be in jail for at least weeks. Exceptions should not be made because that would be wrong for themselves and for any victims. Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and Cannabis should remain legal but everything else should be illegal. No decriminalization, either because illegal drugs should remain illegal.
ReplyDeleteDecriminalization for Cannabis is not a bad policy decision, either.
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