Vote 2020: Will cannabis legalization be better or worse to protect young people?

Whether young people would use more cannabis was a hot topic during tonight’s debate in the October 17 referendum to legalize recreational cannabis.

Police Association President Chris Cahill said education was key to keeping young people away from cannabis, and had previously worked to make methamphetamine a “dirty drug” before government money ran out during the CGF and “lose a generation.”

The CEO of the Drug Foundation, Ross Bell, said that a key part of the controls that legalization would bring was the hundreds of millions of dollars that would be spent on education and health services.

But Say Nope To Dope spokesman Aaron Ironside said youth use would increase simply because “it will be everywhere.”

He added that he would also advertise on social media, despite the proposed law explicitly prohibiting advertising.

“The world of social media is more agile than we anticipated. SnapChat images appear and disappear – this is impossible to control.”

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Cahill, Bell, Ironside and Associate Law Professor Khylee Quince debated the merits and demerits of legalization tonight in a Herald-ZB debate hosted by Heather du Plessis-Allan of Newstalk ZB.

Ironside said a legal market that makes it difficult for young people to obtain marijuana would lead to gangs competing for the youth market.

That would cause prices to drop and youth usage would increase, he said.

Bell quoted the prime minister’s chief scientific adviser expert panel, of which Fifteen was a member, showing that youth use in Canada had not increased since legalization.

Canada was legalized two years ago, and since then, there has been a moderate increase in occasional use by adults, an increase in daily or near-daily use for those 65 and older, and no changes in use have been reported. use between 15 to 24 years for occasional or frequent use.

Bell added that it was easier to talk to young people about a legal product and that it was easier for them to ask for help if it was legal.

Fifteen added that being caught with cannabis caused social harm, such as being expelled from school or not being able to find a job, which were possibly worse than the harm to health.

He cited statistics from the Ministry of Justice showing that 230 people in 2019/20 were convicted of cannabis use / possession alone, and five of them were imprisoned.

But Cahill said it was “nearly impossible” to be jailed for cannabis use / possession.

He said most police officers were against legalization because of the damage they have seen, especially in disadvantaged rural communities.

Bell said cannabis was here and it was about how to reduce the harm. “We are not inventing cannabis.”