The Canadian Paediatric Society has issued guidelines to help doctors screen teenage patients for problematic use of recreational cannabis.

The group says it's critical to raise the issue regularly, pointing to a recent survey that found 44 per cent of youth aged 16 to 19 reported using cannabis within the previous year.

It encourages doctors to suggest meeting patients alone for at least part of their appointments starting at age 12, in case they are reluctant to disclose risky behaviour in front of their parents.

Health-care professionals should also ask their young patient's permission to discuss cannabis, guarantee confidentiality, answer questions honestly and assess how cannabis may be affecting family life, school, work and relationships.

What if I told you about a retail business opportunity that had one billion dollars in sales in Canada in 2019 in a new market where sales are projected to nearly double in 2020?  What if I also told you that the product you’d be selling is used by 18% of Canadians and that new user adoption is growing dramatically, particularly among Canadians 45 years and older, who comprise about one-half of new users. You’re in, right?

Now, what if I said that because of federal and provincial regulations, you couldn’t advertise or promote your products in a traditional sense and your storefront windows had to be blacked out so nobody could see the products you’re selling? To pedestrian and vehicle traffic, your store might appear to be closed. Still interested?

CHS: What is it and Should You Be Concerned?

“I just vomited. It went on for about 30 minutes. It was humiliating, embarrassing, and completely

mystifying… It literally felt like somebody ripped into my stomach and was pulling it inside out.”

Alberta minors will be prohibited from consuming or purchasing vaping products under new legislation introduced Tuesday, but the province will not immediately ban or restrict flavours.

If passed, the legislation would set the minimum age for purchasing, possessing, and consuming products at 18 and restrict any sharing of products to youth under that age. It would also align with and expand on federal and provincial tobacco laws by banning usage in public areas, including playgrounds, around hospitals, sports fields, and on school properties.

A 2015 study found that obese mice actually lost weight from ingesting cannabis because THC caused changes in the gut microbiome that regulates weight loss and digestion.

Cannabis consumers have known for years about the effects of cannabis on appetite.

In fact, one of the more enduring stereotypes of the side effects of cannabis usage is the consumer getting the “munchies” after consumption, which is often a highlighted feature of modern U.S. television situational comedies, such as an episode of “The Big Bang Theory” and others.

The benefit of a world so driven towards the next ‘new’ is that it takes you along as it progresses. The cannabis industry is one such usherer of change. But, as CBD-infused everything gains popularity, are there downsides to the substance? 

CBD (cannabidiol) is one of the most famous cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. Its medicinal benefits have been tested and proved time and again. Now it stands as a legitimate component in many of our products.

There was a week in early April that stands as the perfect representation of the topsy turvy reality of the Canadian cannabis industry. 

Near the end of March, while most businesses were entering lockdown, Ontario cannabis retailers were granted essential status, allowing them to stay open with some slight COVID-19 mitigation measures — hand sanitizing stations, plexiglass shields, enforced social distancing.

Studies have found links between genetics and the ways in which people react to marijuana.

Marijuana is a widely used drug yet it remains unpredictable. Seasoned users can usually manage the effect that marijuana has on them, while also staying calm during an unpredictable high. For newcomers, however, it’s different; novice users usually can’t predict how the drug will affect them, whether it’ll lead to a paranoid high or giggle fest.

Science says your genes might play a part in how your body reacts to cannabis.

Research suggests that over half of the United States will be obese within ten years. Worse still, one in four Americans will be “severely obese” within that timeframe. More obesity and poor dietary decisions are resulting in an explosion of type 2 diabetes. New research points to cannabis as a potential treatment option for the debilitating disease.

Studies over the years have offered that the idea marijuana lowers your IQ. This theory belongs in the file marked, “Myth.” A new study, the largest of its kind, hopes to determine once and for all what, if any, connection exists between marijuana and IQ.

The Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, has brought together leading researchers in adolescent development and neuroscience. The ambitious project involves more than 11,000 children in the United States. Results, however, could be years away.