Did Canadians consume cannabis more widely, more frequently and at younger ages as it became more accessible and affordable? The answer was mostly no.

Read more at The Conversion

A new report says young people in BC who have tried cannabis were at the lowest rate in 25 years in 2023, with youth less likely to consume cannabis five years into cannabis legalization. However, those who do report using cannabis appear to be using it more often. 

The Blunt Talk report is the third of its kind to look at cannabis use among youth in British Columbia, drawing upon data from the BC Adolescent Health Survey. That survey is conducted every five years, with the most recent previous data coming from 2018.

Read more at Stratcann

Join the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy program for an event to launch the results of a year-long project on synthetic opioids in the United States and abroad. Highlighting the project’s findings and featuring top experts, the event will open with a fireside chat between former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Senior Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown. Subsequent panels will explore U.S. drugs markets, domestic law enforcement, treatment, harm reduction, and decriminalization policies as well as the international dimensions of synthetic opioids and their spread beyond North America.

As more states pass laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use, Americans continue to favor legalization of both medical and recreational use of the drug.

An overwhelming share of U.S. adults (88%) say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use.

Nearly six-in-ten Americans (57%) say that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, while roughly a third (32%) say that marijuana should be legal for medical use only.

Just 11% of Americans say that the drug should not be legal at all.

Read the PEW Survey

Given the total lack of empirical literature describing the effectiveness of compassion clubs as an overdose prevention initiative, the project was subjected to evaluation throughout its operation. Herein we report on the impact of DULF compassion club enrolment on non-fatal overdose rates amongst program participants, and thereby seek to contribute to the literature specific to compassion clubs and non-prescriber-based models of safe supply.

Germany’s parliament has passed a law allowing individuals and voluntary associations to grow and hold limited quantities of cannabis, making it the latest in a small group of countries and jurisdictions to legalise the drug, at least in part.

Read more in the Gaurdian