McDonald believes production facility should be located in rural area St. Anthony Mayor Desmond McDonald believes the province's marijuana production facility should be located in a rural area. He also sees opportunities for business with the province's plan to legalize marijuana. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced on Dec. 8 that it has signed a deal to lock in a supply of cannabis and cannabis products from Canadian company Canopy Growth, ahead of the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in July 2018. [continues 311 words]
Public's Health We face many complex challenges, such as global warming, aging baby boomers, potential pandemics and the decreasing availability of oil. Coping with these issues will require intelligence, cooperation and an ability to challenge some of our established beliefs. The strategies presently used in the United States to cope with our drug problems do not give me a lot of hope. A significant number of us think drug abusers are immoral and undesirable rather than sick people in need of treatment. Because of these entrenched negative beliefs, we do not treat abusers in the most effective and compassionate manner. An example of our ineffective behavior is withholding clean needles from injecting drug users (IDUs). Withholding clean needles does not positively impact the drug problem and instead contributes to needless death, disease transmission and increased health care costs. [continues 367 words]
A recent report estimates that if current trends continue, by 2020 we will have 5 million adults over 50 with substance abuse problems, compared to 2.5 million in 1999. In 2005, 4.4 percent of those aged 50-59 used an illegal drug. Additionally, 1 of 7 people over 50 meet the criteria for alcohol abuse or dependency. Also important when we consider drug abuse in older adults are prescription drugs, and opiates including pain medications and heroin. Complicating this picture is the issue of drug interactions. Elderly people are more likely to have an adverse drug reaction because of body changes and the fact that they often use multiple drugs including alcohol, opiates and medications. Older adults are at least three times more likely to be subject to an adverse drug reaction compared to younger individuals. [continues 364 words]
