Legalize pot if we have to, says APH top doc

With a new Liberal government to be soon sworn into office, it remains to be seen if Justin Trudeau will, as Prime Minister, carry out a controversial promise to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Canada.

Trudeau first publicly raised the idea of legalizing the substance while at a Liberal party rally in July 2013, long before the 2015 election campaign.

While not encouraging the use of marijuana, Trudeau said he supports legalizing and regulating it to make it more difficult for young people to obtain and put more tax revenue into federal government coffers.

The issue will continue to be controversial, especially among law enforcement officials.

SooToday asked Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer of the Sudbury and District Health Unit (who is also currently serving as interim Medical Officer of Health at Algoma Public Health), for her opinion on marijuana legalization from a physician/public health officer point of view.

Sutcliffe said she is concerned about the harmful effects of marijuana use, as with the harmful effects of tobacco and alcohol.

"I'm not promoting the use of marijuana, cigarettes or alcohol, but people are using it and we need to face that fact and put this within a framework like we have with other substances to ensure that individuals and community public health is best protected," Sutcliffe said.

"What I would say is we need to have a really robust public health approach to cannabis use and we don't currently have that, what we have now is criminalization."

"The fact is about a quarter of our high school students are using marijuana, about a third of our young adults are using marijuana, so the criminalization of marijuana has not reduced its use," Sutcliffe said.

Sutcliffe said it may be better if the substance is legalized within a public health framework, yet cautioned against, in the same way public health officials strongly discourage tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption. 

"People need to be knowledgeable and informed, and the best way we can do this is to get it out from the shadow of criminalization and talk about it openly and make sure we are targeting those who are at higher risk of use, and heavy users, and certainly address the issue of driving under the influence of marijuana."

"People are using it anyway, so how do we make sure that it's done in a way that's the safest, with the fewest risks associated with it, and legalization with appropriate health-based regulations, I think, is the safest way for us to manage this issue in our society," Sutcliffe said.

"(Legalization) is safer than buying it on the street, who knows what's in it?"

"Who knows what other kind of culture may be attached to buying it on the street, who buyers may be in contact with?"

"I do think there need to be really strong measures in place (if it is legalized), from a policing and legal perspective, as it relates to driving under the influence of marijuana, as it relates to selling it to under age kids, and as it relates to unauthorized distributors of marijuana there should be very, very strict repercussions in place for that," Sutcliffe said.

Sutcliffe gave a reminder of the drug's harmful effects.

"We know that starting smoking marijuana young is very bad for the developing brain, we know that heavy use is bad, as well as driving under the influence (of marijuana, like any other drug or alcohol)."

"It can cause respiratory problems such as bronchitis."

"There is some association with cancer but from my reading of the literature, it's unclear how much of that cancer is associated with tobacco smoking because many people who smoke pot will also be tobacco smokers…I don't believe the strength of marijuana's association with cancer is as strong as the link of tobacco with cancer, but it is there," Sutcliffe said.

"A person can definitely become addicted," Sutcliffe added, but she said the likelihood of addiction to marijuana is nowhere near as strong as nicotine addiction as a result of smoking cigarettes.

Many have said marijuana is a dangerous gateway drug to more serious drugs.

However, Sutcliffe said "what I've seen from the literature is that is not the case, and it's particularly not the case if it is in a regulated environment."

"There is greater risk for that occurring if you're buying it illegally on the streets (because of the drug-dealing crowd who will attempt to push anything on its customers), but in terms of the drug itself being a gateway drug to other drugs, I don't believe the literature bears that out."

(PHOTO: Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer of the Sudbury and District Health Unit and interim Medical Officer of Health at Algoma Public Health. File photo from Northern Life.ca)