Beck: Two years after marijuana legalization, government owes us information

Marijuana has been legal in Canada for two years. There is no great increase in crime rates and reports tell us the use of marijuana among youth aged 15 to 17 is lower than it was before legalization.

Still, there are concerns the federal government assured us would be addressed that need attention. Perhaps the government’s focus on COVID-19 is keeping it from dealing with other issues, but there is evidence that the pandemic may have increased some health concerns related to marijuana. That should be reason enough to examine how effective the legalization of marijuana has been. It should be enough to convince the government to get the work started and to reassure Canadians that it has not forgotten the promises it made that legalizing marijuana would not be harmful to Canadians.

As a psychiatrist who sees only adolescents, I know that many…