CANNABIS AND PSYCHOSIS

With legalization now in full swing across Canada, EPION continues its advocacy work.

In December 2016, EPION wrote a letter to the Minister of Health addressing the issues with cannabis use in youth and psychosis. Read the letter here: 2012-12-20: EPION Letter to Minister of Health (pdf)

In March 2017, EPION received A  response letter below from the Ministry of Health. Read the response here: 2017-03-13: EPION Response Letter from MOH (pdf)

In October 2017, EPION wrote a follow-up letter to the Federal and Provincial health and justice ministries. The purpose of the letter was to emphasize the importance of government funding for research and treatment for under-age cannabis users. Read the letter here: 2017-10-12: EPION Follow-Up Letter to Health Ministries. (pdf)

In January 2018, EPION shared these letters with Health Canada as part of their public consultations around cannabis legalization.

In March 2018, a group of EPION’s members convened for a day-long work session to develop educational materials related to cannabis legaliztion. Read more here: EPION Work Session (2018-03-16)

In August 2018, EPION launched its #mycannabisIQ public education campaign. Read full media release here: EPION launches MyCannabisIQ public education campaign about risks of cannabis use

In October 2018, EPION joined forces with Schizophrenia Society of Ontario on #weknowpsychosis campaign which focused on sharing academic research articles via social media. Read the announcement here: EPION & SSO join forces on #weknowpsychosis campaign to highlight the evidence linking cannabis and psychosis

MTO REPORTING OF PSYCHOSIS

In July 1 2018, the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) introduced a regulation requiring physicians to report patients who experience psychosis.

In November 2018, a letter was sent to the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) relaying EPION’s concerns about this regulation. The regulation appeared to be based on a broad assumption of public risk due to any experience of psychosis, and therefore an overly inclusive requirement to report. This letter provided background information on EPION’s concerns and made recommendations on how the MTO regulation could be amended to be more specific. Copies of the letter were also sent to the Ontario Psychiatric Association and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

Read the letter here:  2018-11-06: EPION Letter to MTO re: Physician Reporting Requirements (pdf)