Should Cannabis Be Taught in Schools?
Is teaching cannabis in schools a good idea, or is it another way to motivate young people to use it?
Is it smart to teach cannabis in schools, or is it just another way to motivate young people to use it? It would very much matter on how information is presented in the classroom.
Cannabis Education in Schools: Informing or Encouraging Use?
Today’s kids seem to know a lot more about cannabis than what previous generations might have known. Living and breathing with the internet, do they even need someone to tell them or educate them about cannabis? Legalization has popularized discourse on cannabis in the public, at home, and everywhere. Still, schools may be the right places where youth can learn of the risks and why it’s important to abstain or wait before starting to use cannabis until they are of legal age. Which might be a tricky message to frame.
Staying in the safe zone probably means limiting information to accepted medicinal uses of cannabis. For example, the fact it can facilitate successful treatment in diseases such as cancer, Multiple’s sclerosis, epilepsy, etc. Explaining the reasons why recreational use is not permitted before the age of 21 is very important. Current research shows that marijuana can have a negative imprint on brain development in young people. It may negatively affect mental health, problem-solving ability, memory, and cause anxiety.
What Does Canadian School Guides Inform on Cannabis Education?
Guides for cannabis-related education and prompting school discussions are available in Canada where cannabis is federally legal.
Ontario Physical and Health Education Association (OPHEA) has issued an elementary school discussion guide, which acknowledges that teachers can play “a valuable role in facilitating ongoing conversation about cannabis with other teachers, students, and parents/guardians/caregivers.”
The purpose of the guide is “to promote an open dialogue within the school community about [both] recreational and medical cannabis, to address questions and concerns, and to foster a whole-school approach and shared responsibility when dealing with situations involving cannabis.” An emphasis is put on reducing stigma, making informed decisions, prevention, and harm-reduction approaches.
„To have a meaningful conversation with students, approach the topic of cannabis in a knowledgeable, supportive and non-judgmental way“, proclaims another piece, an info sheet for secondary school authored by CAMH, Canada’s largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital. “Be aware of common myths that can influence students, such as the belief that trying cannabis is not harmful”, it warns.
This particular info sheet has been prepared as a response to the slightly increased number of Canadian underaged students who’ve reported trying cannabis. CAMH encourages health promotion, prevention and harm reduction approaches when talking with students about cannabis or other drugs.
Medical Students Should Definitely Learn About Cannabis
If they aren’t already, they should. One of the problems that’s been persistent since legalization is lack of cannabis knowledge among doctors and medical personnel. A survey from 2023 showed that most physicians are not so well-clued on medicinal marijuana.
As cannabis is becoming more accepted as a valuable therapeutic and medical agent, there’s the need for future health professionals to learn about it in medical school, perhaps as part of the regular curriculum. There are professional cannabis doctors and caregivers, but it is unlikely they obtained their knowledge through classic education.
Medical students should definitely have access to the latest cannabis research informing on various health metrics, in some cases also featuring therapies instructions. The cannabis plant has hundreds of bioactive compounds. It’s not just THC and CBD. All of these compounds have therapeutic qualities, and health professionals should be more familiar with each of them, in order to be able to make better recommendations for patients and take better care of their health.
Also read on Soft Secrets:
S
Stephen Andrews
