#Washingtonstate, #cannabis, #RickGarza; #LarryWolk

Ottawa, May 29 (Canadian-Media): Washington state in 2014 became the world's first system for legally growing, processing and retailing cannabis, media reports said.
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As Canada prepares to go live with pot sales in a few months, there is a looming fear in the minds of the parents of the harmful impact of cannabis can have on children.

But according to official reports it was revealed that even after the legalization of cannabis in Washington state in 2014, the percentage of the youth using cannabis remained the same as it was before cannabis was legalized.

Before legalization, 17 percent of Grade 10 students in Washington State said they had smoked pot in the previous month. Four years after legalisation also only  17 percent of Grade 10 students reported that they have smoked pot in the previous month.

“We thought we would see a significant increase in teen use,” said Rick Garza, director of the Washington State Liquor Control and Cannabis Board. “But what the kids will tell you is that they didn’t need adults to legalize it to get their hands on cannabis.”

This four years of practical, hands-on experience in the western United States reportedly throws light that parents should not worry about the impact of cannabis on children and teens. 

Many teens experiment with marijuana, as they do with alcohol, but only a minority use them semi-regularly.

The of legal age for purchase (21 in Washington State, 18-19 in Canada) doesn’t make much difference.

“It was really easy to get a medical card,” Mr. Garza noted. “We estimate that only about 20 per cent of medical users were using for medical reasons.”

Larry Wolk, Colorado’s Chief Medical Officer, made a similar observation. “About 97 per cent of medical cannabis users are 20-year-old snowboarders with chronic debilitating pain,” he said with a laugh.​

#TheLancetGlobalHealth; #WorldHealthOrganization; #GlobalActionPlanonPhysicalActivity

Geneva, WHO, 5 Sep (Canadian-Media): More than one in four adults globally (28 percent or 1.4 billion people), sometimes as high as one in three adults, are inactive in some counties, according to new data published today in The Lancet Global Health, media reports said.

The report also pointed out that women were less active than men, with an over 8 percent difference at the global level (32 percent men vs 23 percent women).

Inactivity rises with high income countries (37 percenrt) compared with middle income (26 percemt) and low income countries (16 percent).

Four World Health Organization (WHO) experts who are the authors of this reports, updated 2008 estimates on levels of activity.

It was found,  for the first time, that overall global level of inactivity in adults remains largely unchanged since 2001.

These data support physical activity and increase the opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, to be active every day.

Courtesy of WHO

The target to reduce physical inactivity by 10 percent by 2025 and 15 percent by 2030 was set by the new Global Action Plan on Physical Activity.

Regular physical inactivity increases risk of poor health, including cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer and diabetes, falls, as well as mental health conditions. 

Publication of levels of participation in children and young people are forthcoming.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)