Much ado about marijuana

As an emergency physician who spent 14 years in general practice in a rural area with lots of drug abuse, I am shocked at the ignorance of CMAJ's editors concerning the health effects of marijuana use.¹

To say that the effects of this substance are “mostly irrelevant” to the users is at the very least irresponsible. What about the serious amotivational syndromes in youth? What about the behavioural changes and family problems created by the drug's effects on the psychoemotional makeup of many users? How can a substance that is more carcinogenic than tobacco products be advocated in such a manner? Maybe you don't know what substances might be contained in burning organic materials, or how marijuana use is accomplished.

For an editor to espouse such an opinion in our major journal is reprehensible. You've either been out of practice so long you're out of touch, or you need to stop smoking up now and clear your vision.

Signature

Mike Howlett
Chief of Emergency Medicine Colchester Regional Hospital Truro, NS