No.
Evidence of meeting #26 for Health in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cannabis.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #26 for Health in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cannabis.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Thank you. Would you recommend that the Government of Canada do anything that would make marijuana more widely available to our youth?
9:55 a.m.
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
In terms of legal...?
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
We've heard a great deal of evidence in previous days that, for example, they have made marijuana legal in one of the U.S. states—I think it's Oregon.
9:55 a.m.
A voice
Washington and Colorado.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Sorry, Washington and Colorado. That evidence thus far has shown that, by legalizing it, it makes it more readily available to youth.
I can tell you for instance that in parts of the GTA, the teenagers have what they call pill parties. They bring a bunch of pills from their parents' pill bottles, etc., they throw them in a dish, and they just take them, which is an extremely dangerous practice. So it doesn't surprise me.
My original question is would you recommend that the Government of Canada do anything to make marijuana more readily available to our youth?
9:55 a.m.
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
No, I don't think we want to do that directly, but I think we need to educate about harms.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Yes, thank you. Okay.
I'd like to ask Dr. Mizrahi, and thank you for coming, by the way, what happens to someone who becomes schizophrenic. Can they become suicidal or homicidal?
9:55 a.m.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
Yes, they can.
9:55 a.m.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
They can have delusions, which are abnormal beliefs, and they can also have perceptual abnormalities.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
9:55 a.m.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
Of course—
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
9:55 a.m.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
Yes.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Is that the same for schizophrenia? If someone has a psychotic event, I should say, could they become suicidal, homicidal, or a danger to others?
10 a.m.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
Yes.
10 a.m.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
Psychosis, of course, is a very complicated issue. This is what I wanted to allude to before, and similarly the risks that cannabis poses to these populations are also very complex. Youth in general do not use cannabis alone.
In those who develop a psychotic episode, of course, the risks for themselves and others are increased. However, at the national level, the suicide and homicide rates for schizophrenia are not necessarily higher than for the general population. There is a lot of media related to this. But, yes, during the psychotic episode there are increased risks.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Okay, thank you.
Are you familiar with the psychiatry around mass shootings or mass crimes?
10 a.m.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
Partially.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Okay. I'll tell you that from the research I've done on my own, in the vast majority of cases either street drugs or prescription drugs are involved. The shooters or the people who are involved in these mass crimes are either on anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, or street drugs. Are you familiar with that?
I see Dr. George shaking his head. Would you like to comment?
10 a.m.
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, As an Individual
Yes.
There are one or two studies now that have looked at people with schizophrenia who either use substances or not and the risk of violence. The overall message from those studies is that 90% of the violence committed by people with schizophrenia is under the influences of substances typically alcohol and stimulant drugs like cocaine.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Thank you.
I think it was Dr. Mizrahi who commented that people might be genetically pre-disposed to schizophrenia or to psychosis when they use marijuana. But I think in addition to that—and please correct me if I'm wrong—you said there's some evidence that it can happen to people who are not pre-disposed genetically.
10 a.m.
Conservative
