- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,190
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
If the federal government will let people grow pot in their homes, Health Canada better explain how to do it safely.
That’s one of the pieces of advice from Ottawa Public Health, months before marijuana hits the legal retail market and the federal government relaxes cannabis laws across the country.
The feds will allow adults to grow up to four marijuana plants in their homes for personal use.
Vera Etches, the acting medical officer of health at OPH, wrote to Health Canada earlier this month as the federal agency collected feedback on the proposed cannabis regulations ahead of legalization this summer.
“At this time, there do not seem to be measures to ensure the safe production of home-cultivated cannabis,” Etches wrote. “This is a public health concern.”
Etches pointed to potential problems with altered electrical wiring, mould and chemical hazards, which are often discovered in larger grow-ops.
Health Canada “should ensure that Canadians have the knowledge and tools for safe home cultivation of cannabis,” Etches told the agency.
The board of health is scheduled to receive OPH’s cannabis harm-reduction plan during a meeting on Monday.
In recent years, OPH has been worried about the high level of alcohol and opioid use in Ottawa. Now, health officials will turn their attention to cannabis use by trying to encourage people, especially youths, to avoid it or at least curb their cannabis intake.
Gillian Connelly, the health unit’s manager of healthy communities, said OPH is working with the school boards, addictions agencies and police on messages they can share with parents.
A random telephone survey of 400 Ottawa residents commissioned by OPH in December helped health officials understand people’s perceptions of marijuana. OPH learned half of Ottawa adults have consumed cannabis in their lives and 19 per cent have consumed cannabis in the past 12 months.
For those who said they hadn’t consumed cannabis in the past 12 months, 13 per cent said they would at least be “moderately likely” to try it if cannabis was legal.
In an interview, Connelly said she’s pleased that 90 per cent of survey respondents recognized that cannabis impairs driving ability. She also likes that four out of five parents have discussed cannabis use with their teenagers.
OPH has been paying special attention to the rate of high school students who use cannabis. The 2014 Ottawa Student Drug Use and Health Report showed that 32 per cent of students between Grade 9 and 12 used cannabis at least once in the past year.
Connelly said OPH has been in schools for years talking about cannabis, “but now the conversation is, yes it’s legal, it’s still harmful.”
The biggest challenge for OPH when it comes to legalization will be debunking myths, Connelly said.
According to the survey results, those who have used cannabis in the past 12 months were “slightly” less likely to think occasional cannabis use was harmful to pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers than those who had not used in the past 12 months or had never used cannabis.
Survey responses to questions about the effects of second-hand marijuana smoke and cannabis edibles were also telling, Connelly said.
Those who had used cannabis in the past 12 months were less likely to agree that second-hand smoke from cannabis has similar health harms to cigarette smoke. This is compared to those who had used before, but not in the past 12 months and those who have never used.
OPH still hasn’t determined how much money its cannabis awareness program will cost. If there’s funding available from the upper-tier governments, OPH will almost surely ask for assistance.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
That’s one of the pieces of advice from Ottawa Public Health, months before marijuana hits the legal retail market and the federal government relaxes cannabis laws across the country.
The feds will allow adults to grow up to four marijuana plants in their homes for personal use.
Vera Etches, the acting medical officer of health at OPH, wrote to Health Canada earlier this month as the federal agency collected feedback on the proposed cannabis regulations ahead of legalization this summer.
“At this time, there do not seem to be measures to ensure the safe production of home-cultivated cannabis,” Etches wrote. “This is a public health concern.”
Etches pointed to potential problems with altered electrical wiring, mould and chemical hazards, which are often discovered in larger grow-ops.
Health Canada “should ensure that Canadians have the knowledge and tools for safe home cultivation of cannabis,” Etches told the agency.
The board of health is scheduled to receive OPH’s cannabis harm-reduction plan during a meeting on Monday.
In recent years, OPH has been worried about the high level of alcohol and opioid use in Ottawa. Now, health officials will turn their attention to cannabis use by trying to encourage people, especially youths, to avoid it or at least curb their cannabis intake.
Gillian Connelly, the health unit’s manager of healthy communities, said OPH is working with the school boards, addictions agencies and police on messages they can share with parents.
A random telephone survey of 400 Ottawa residents commissioned by OPH in December helped health officials understand people’s perceptions of marijuana. OPH learned half of Ottawa adults have consumed cannabis in their lives and 19 per cent have consumed cannabis in the past 12 months.
For those who said they hadn’t consumed cannabis in the past 12 months, 13 per cent said they would at least be “moderately likely” to try it if cannabis was legal.
In an interview, Connelly said she’s pleased that 90 per cent of survey respondents recognized that cannabis impairs driving ability. She also likes that four out of five parents have discussed cannabis use with their teenagers.
OPH has been paying special attention to the rate of high school students who use cannabis. The 2014 Ottawa Student Drug Use and Health Report showed that 32 per cent of students between Grade 9 and 12 used cannabis at least once in the past year.
Connelly said OPH has been in schools for years talking about cannabis, “but now the conversation is, yes it’s legal, it’s still harmful.”
The biggest challenge for OPH when it comes to legalization will be debunking myths, Connelly said.
According to the survey results, those who have used cannabis in the past 12 months were “slightly” less likely to think occasional cannabis use was harmful to pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers than those who had not used in the past 12 months or had never used cannabis.
Survey responses to questions about the effects of second-hand marijuana smoke and cannabis edibles were also telling, Connelly said.
Those who had used cannabis in the past 12 months were less likely to agree that second-hand smoke from cannabis has similar health harms to cigarette smoke. This is compared to those who had used before, but not in the past 12 months and those who have never used.
OPH still hasn’t determined how much money its cannabis awareness program will cost. If there’s funding available from the upper-tier governments, OPH will almost surely ask for assistance.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
