https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2018/04/16/cannabis-debate-...

Cannabis debate: Legal pot is far safer for youth than relying on black market marijuana

Most of the harms associated with cannabis are attributed to heavy use. Happily, of the roughly 25 per cent of Canadian youth who report using cannabis in the past year, only 1 to 2 per cent are daily consumers.

Some remain skeptical the proposed Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) will achieve one of its primary objectives: protecting youth from cannabis-related harms. Some feel the minimum age should be higher than the minimum age for alcohol, worried that those under 25 seem more vulnerable to dependence and health problems linked to long-term, heavy use.

Critics of the proposed minimum age may be overlooking another primary objective: displacing the black-market. Young adults aged 18 to 24 represent one third of the market. The act attempts to strike a balance between keeping marijuana away from minors and cash away from criminals.

Bill C-45 enables the provinces to harmonize their minimum age for cannabis and alcohol. Setting the minimum age for cannabis higher would send a dangerously misleading message that alcohol is safer.

See also: Not enough is being planned to protect youth from effects of marijuana

The minimum age won’t delineate consumers from abstainers, but rather consumers who obtain labelled, quality-controlled cannabis from licensed sources from those who continue to purchase nondescript cannabis of unknown potency, purity and provenance on the black market.

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Some have misinterpreted the plan to decriminalize possession of 5 grams or less by youth 12 to 17 as “allowing” them to possess personal amounts, but the provinces are implementing more age-appropriate remedies, such as they employ with minors in possession of alcohol; confiscation, fines, referral to parents and health professionals, etc.

Most of the harms associated with cannabis are attributed to heavy use. Happily, of the roughly 25 per cent of Canadian youth who report using cannabis in the past year, only 1 to 2 per cent are daily consumers.

Daily consumers are often self-medicating psychological problems, such as ADHD and PTSD, they might otherwise treat with more dangerous drugs. Indeed, contrary to the “gateway theory,” there is a growing body of evidence that cannabis is an economic substitute for alcohol, opiates and pharmaceuticals.