The process of legalizing marijuana is a bit like driving a car down a road at night with the lights off 鈥� we鈥檙e not sure what dangers lie ahead and we鈥檙e not sure where this journey will end.
The use of marijuana is becoming more widespread, and legalization 鈥� whatever form it takes 鈥� seems inevitable. The federal government has promised to table legislation next spring that will legalize and regulate marijuana, leaving other levels of government to wrestle in the meantime with a proliferation of marijuana dispensaries.
Victoria鈥檚 new regulations concerning marijuana dispensaries come into effect this month. Mayor Lisa Helps says the bylaws are intended to ensure people have access to their medicine, and not to enable recreational consumption.
鈥淲e expect that there will not be consumption of cannabis at any of the places that are going to be open as a result of this new licensing regime,鈥� she said.
Regardless of the bylaws鈥� intent, until the federal government enacts its legislation, the issue will continue (pardon the pun) to be hazy. Ottawa鈥檚 new laws, we hope, will bring order and structure to the production, distribution and consumption of marijuana.
We hope also that Ottawa will heed the advice of a group of doctors, patients, health charities and scientists who have urged the government to study the health effects and potential therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana.
The Medical Cannabis Research Roundtable issued a report in May that calls on the government to invest $25 million over the next five years for the research. That amount is probably too modest.
鈥淎s our country embarks on a debate about the legalization of recreational marijuana, we should not lose sight of the need to invest in medical science and proper trials to better understand the impacts and effects of medical cannabis,鈥� said roundtable chairman Dr. Jason McDougall, a professor of pharmacology and anesthesia at Dalhousie University in Halifax. 鈥淧hysicians and patients are left with uncertainty about the potential therapeutic benefits of medical cannabis and particularly the potential to bring relief to those living with chronic pain.鈥�
We鈥檝e come a long way since Reefer Madness, a ridiculous 1930s propaganda film that portrayed marijuana as a potent narcotic that instantly turns users into addicts prone to homicidal rages. We know now that alcohol, so widely accepted, is a far more dangerous drug, the misuse of which has resulted in untold misery.
We know also that someone who smokes a joint of marijuana should not be prosecuted as a criminal, any more than someone who has a beer or a cocktail.
And we know that many people have found relief from pain and other health problems through the use of cannabis. Studies indicate that medical marijuana might offer some relief for nerve pain, cancer-related pain or muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis.
The drug might help relieve arthritis symptoms, but Canada鈥檚 Arthritis Society wants to know for sure 鈥� it has committed at least $120,000 a year toward medical-marijuana research.
As science increasingly points to evidence that marijuana can help, it is also finding that it can harm, particularly the brains of young users and those prone to schizophrenia. The effects, good and bad, need to be studied and quantified over the long term.
When Europeans first became aware of tobacco, they saw it as a panacea, to the extent it was called the 鈥渉oly herb鈥� and 鈥淕od鈥檚 remedy,鈥� echoing claims we hear about marijuana today. It took several hundred years 鈥� and millions of lives cut short 鈥� to reveal tobacco鈥檚 harms.
That isn鈥檛 to say marijuana will be as harmful as tobacco, but let鈥檚 not wait that long to find out. As we drive down the road to marijuana legalization, let鈥檚 get a better understanding of where we鈥檙e going.
