IT'S TIME FOR MARIJUANA CRACKDOWN

Not a minute too soon, Mayor Bob Chiarelli is providing a much needed
wake-up call about the problem of marijuana use in high schools.
Forty to 60 per cent of Ottawa students may use the drug during the
school day, he says.

From parents to policy and opinion makers, research in this area is
routinely ignored, but believing cannabis is harmless is no longer
acceptable. A study by two British Columbia universities documents
rising cannabis use among adolescents while another from Australia
confirms an association between adolescent cannabis use and early
adulthood psychosis. Considered together (both papers are available
online), they, like Chiarelli, set alarm bells ringing.

A measure of its importance, the first paper was published as the
cover story of the August edition of the Canadian Journal of
Psychiatry. "Cannabis and Psychosis" reviews six longitudinal studies
involving cohorts aged 15-24 years from five countries and studies
that controlled for factors such as other drug use and personal
characteristics. It concludes that if a drug for pharmaceutical use
presented similar adverse effects, it would be withdrawn from the
market or prescribed with clear warnings.

Although a relationship between cannabis and psychosis in vulnerable
adolescents has been hypothesized, this study is the first to argue
the biological plausibility of causality. Its bottom line finding?
The earlier the consumption of larger quantities of cannabis by
adolescents, the greater the risk of developing psychosis in young adulthood.

While such findings give pause, another paper, titled "Cannabis Use
in British Columbia: patterns of use, perceptions and public opinion
as assessed in the 2004 Canadian Addiction Survey," adds new
dimensions. Released in September by the Centre for Addictions
Research of B.C. in Victoria and the Centre for Applied Research on
Mental Health and Addictions at Simon Fraser University, it confirms
B.C. as Canada's "pot capital" and cannabis as Canada's most widely
used illicit drug -- among B.C. youth more popular than cigarettes.

Statistics tell the tale. Between 1997 and 2003, more than 25,000
charges were laid against grow-ops in B.C., three times the national
average. They also demonstrate how the business has changed. Today,
hydroponic equipment and high-intensity lighting make cannabis a
mass-produced commodity that at $5 billion annually rivals the
softwood lumber industry. Its psychoactive properties render B.C.
"bud" a specialty for sophisticated adult users but potentially
devastating to the developing young brain.

While cannabis is more accessible and more accepted in British
Columbia than in the rest of Canada, the most alarming statistics
apply everywhere. Use has almost doubled since 1989 in almost every
category, but with 22 per cent of all male and 10 per cent of all
female respondents aged 15-24 reporting cannabis use on a weekly or
daily basis, it is young men who are the biggest users.

Because such statistics represent only those willing to answer a
telephone survey, they do not represent variations among regions and
districts and underestimate the real number of users, which are
likely closer to those cited by Chiarelli.

Given how cannabis can affect the young and the amount being used by
them, elementary logic suggests a generational time bomb is ticking.

Psychosis produces grandiose feelings, hallucinations and paranoia.
Never mind mental illness, diminished cognitive capacity and social
impairment, or that cannabis is a "gateway" to more devastating
drugs, increased use among the young begs questions about increased
violence among the young and questions about whether early cannabis
use is a factor in mass shootings. The need for such studies is now urgent.

Other countries aren't waiting for the results. Australia's National
Cannabis Strategy 2006-2009 received ministerial endorsement in May.
A potential prototype for Canada, it calls for the implementation of
cannabis supply, demand and harm reduction strategies. Giving the
"criminal economy" no quarter, it stresses educating the whole
community about the dangers of cannabis and increasing awareness of
the legal consequences for drug possession. It also raises the
question of regulating the sale of hydroponic equipment -- an idea
whose time has surely come.