Teens and marijuana use to be discussed at Vancouver forum

With the annual "4/20" smoke-out less than a week away, a Vancouver school is hosting a panel discussion on how the city's changing context of marijuana use is impacting teenagers.

Medical marijuana dispensaries have been popping up all over Metro Vancouver in recent years. Without proper discussion about the medicinal use of pot, some youth may not fully understand the potential dangers of the drug, said Annie Smith, executive director of the McCreary Centre Society.

"The response is always, the dispensaries are everywhere, therefore it's safe, therefore I'm ok using it," she told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff.

"I think without the dialogue — absolutely it has the medical benefits, but not all young people are using it for that.

"We see high numbers of young people not accessing mental health care that they think they need, and using cannabis to manage symptoms rather than talking to somebody or talking to parents seeking help."

Smith, who has studied the negative impacts of teen marijuana use, said the earlier young people start consuming pot, the more likely they are to become heavy users and engage in risky behaviours.

Dispensaries contextualize medical use of pot

Jamie Shaw, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries, said some teens have legitimate health reasons for using marijuana, such as Crohn's disease, cancer or epilepsy.

Shaw says there is a lot of misinformation about marijuana, and it's unclear whether the prominence of medical marijuana dispensaries has influenced how teens view pot use.

"On one hand, it contextualizes it as medical use," said Shaw, who also speaks for the B.C. Compassion Club Society.

"If you compare it to say, alcohol — alcohol is not harmless, (it's) significantly more harmful than cannabis, and yet that is everywhere.

"Yet the message has gotten through to teenagers about the harm of alcohol to some degree."

Shaw also disagrees with the assumption that dispensaries encourage younger people to try self-medicating.

"Vancouver police and the city have both said that selling to minors without medical need is a reason they will investigate and shut down dispensaries, and they have shut down a couple, so I don't think that's a big concern."

Both Smith and Shaw will attend Tuesday's panel at 7 p.m. PT at Vancouver Technical Secondary School.

To hear the full discussion, listen to the audio labelled: Teens and pot use subject of Vancouver public forum