Adults’ possession and recreational use of marijuana became legal in Canada on October 17, 2018. It was the world’s second nation to do so; the first country was Uruguay, which legalized marijuana use in 2013. Georgia and South Africa are two more nations that have legalized THC and its products, like THC Vape. While marijuana legalization has been a hot subject in the United States, the country has yet to take a comparable step at the federal level. However, in the United States, 15 states, including Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, South Dakota, Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and Alaska; and the District of Columbia have made marijuana completely legal.
Legalizing marijuana has significant economic advantages, as seen after the process. In reality, Canada is home to many of the most successful legal cannabis firms. Many successful businesses in the legal cannabis sector predicted that Canada’s legalization processes would put it at a considerable edge in financial rewards, and these forecasts came true. However, it’s crucial to note that the legalization process in Canada was not without its difficulties.
One of the essential requirements of the Canadian marijuana legalization process was to put some restrictions. Some restrictions exist at the federal level, and the country’s 13 provinces also have a considerable deal of authority that controls the regulations. It implies that essential elements, like where people may acquire marijuana, are decided differently depending on where they are in the nation. For example, on April 1, 2019, Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, approved the opening of privately-run cannabis businesses. Customers in British Columbia had just one government-run shop to depend on for in-person cannabis purchases in Kamloops. However, more than 100 private stores applied for licenses.
Know about the advantages of consuming THC
Believe it or not, edibles have been present for thousands of years, from India’s traditional bhang to Mary Jane Rathbun’s — called “Brownie Mary” — handmade brownies created for AIDS patients in the 1980s. It may seem that marijuana gummy bears and cookies are a recent invention, given their abundance in the market. While cannabis edibles have been around for a long time for various reasons, what precisely are the advantages of cannabis edibles over other products on the market?
- Weed as a potential cure to glaucoma – Marijuana is a proven remedy to treat and prevent glaucoma. It is an eye illness that causes vision loss by increasing pressure in the eyeball and injuring the optic nerve. National Eye Institute shows the wonder of marijuana to reduce compression within the eye of glaucoma patients. Studies in the early 1970s suggested that marijuana, when smoked, decreased intraocular pressure (IOP) in those with normal pressure and those with glaucoma. These effects of the medicine may help to delay the disease’s progression and avoid blindness.
- It may help reverse tobacco’s carcinogenic effects and enhance lung health – There’s much evidence suggesting marijuana isn’t harmful to the lungs unless you smoke tobacco. One research indicated that marijuana doesn’t affect lung function and may improve lung capacity. Over 20 years, researchers looking for heart disease risk factors examined the lung function of 5,115 young individuals. Tobacco smokers’ lung function deteriorated with time, but marijuana users’ lung capacity increased. The enhanced lung capacity is probably related to inhaling the drug with a deep breath rather than a therapeutic element in the medicine.
- A compound in marijuana stops cancer cells from spreading in the lab– Researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco showed in 2007 that THC might also help prevent cancer from spreading. The research discovered that cannabidiol inhibits cancer by shutting off a gene called Id-1. Cancer cells create more copies of this gene than non-cancerous cells, contributing to their spread. The researchers used cannabidiol to treat breast cancer cells in the lab that had high levels of Id-1 expression. The cells displayed lower Id-1 expression and were less aggressive spreaders after treatment. However, keep in mind that these studies are conducted on cancer cells in the lab, not on cancer patients.
Know about the risks of consuming THC
THC, more popularly known as marijuana, is an umbrella name for the plant that produces cannabinoids. It can be smoked, inhaled, brewed as tea, or consumed as edibles. While the intake of cannabis is on the rise, some individuals take it for recreational reasons, while others use it to cure pain, nausea, and sleep difficulties. It’s also associated with several short-term and long-term consequences.
- Short-term effects: Aside from being high, which draws over 180 million individuals globally each year, adverse effects include anxiety, paranoia, and issues with concentration, memory, and coordination. Stoned drivers are twice as likely to crash their vehicles than unimpaired drivers due to the severe mental impairment caused by cannabis use.
- Long-term consequences: Mental health issues are one of the most threatening concerns. A study conducted 30 years ago discovered that individuals who had used cannabis more than 50 times by the age of 18 were three times more likely than others to develop schizophrenia achieving the age of 45. Other research backs up the results, but they all have flaws: they don’t establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that cannabis causes mental health issues.
The topic of the legalization of marijuana has attracted substantial public and political attention in recent years due to the increased acceptance of recreational marijuana usage and the ineffectiveness of Canada’s current regulatory system. Legalizing recreational cannabis in Canada impacted those medicinal users who had a distinct safe medical supply chain. The legalization could enhance tax income by imposing a charge on marijuana goods and enable the government to save expenses on prohibition enforcement. Nonetheless, it might result in specific public health issues, such as increased drug intake, accidents, and injuries.
Conclusion
Cannabis and similar cannabinoids like THC have become a legal product in Canada. The herb offers a range of benefits to people but comes with some associated risks. However, legalization should be followed with extensive initiatives to keep the drug out of the hands of minors and increase awareness and information about the substance’s detrimental consequences. Canada needs to study marijuana development in other countries like the US for planning a better framework for themselves.