October 17, 2018 will go down in history as the day that the Y2K bug finally hit Canada legalized cannabis. It’s also getting legalized or decriminalized in more and more locations around the world.
Over the past year, I’ve been asked a ton of questions about this. In particular, people want to know whether I’m “for” or “against” legalization…
But I’m not the right person to answer that. The legal, social, and economic reasons for legalizing weed aren’t my area of expertise. My expertise is within science and health.
We know that criminalizing marijuana simply hasn’t worked. So I guess it’s a good idea to try something else.
And we have to face the facts: in Canada, at least 15% of people are known to consume cannabis. For young people, that number is 30-40%.
Still, I find myself annoyed by the two types of comments I hear most often, namely :
I do think it’s important to speak openly about cannabis. Unfortunately, I hear a lot of sketchy claims going around… so let’s assess their scientific accuracy!
Note #1 : For the sake of transparency, I should admit that I’ve never consumed cannabis in my life, not even a single toke. In general, I don’t really enjoy psychotropic substances (i.e. substances that produce an altered state of consciousness), including alcohol. I assume this doesn’t disqualify me from discussing the topic, considering that I haven’t consumed 99.999% of the medication I work with on a daily basis…
Note #2 : There are certain points that I don’t cover in the comic: driving under the influence of pot; the lack of a legal limit on the amount of THC in products containing marijuana; children or animals becoming intoxicated by accidentally consuming cannabis products; microdosing…This comic is pretty long as it is, so if need be, I’ll revisit the topic another time!
Note #3 : Many thanks to Robyn Penney for the translation!
Posted in Comics
Tagged 5 to 20 cigarettes, acne, addicted, addiction, advertising, advocates, against, age 25, airtight, alcohol, Alzheimer's, ammonia, amotivational syndrome, anxiety, appetite, Arthritis, artificial, asthma, back pain, behaviours, benzene, Big Macs, blessing, burning, calming, Canada, cancer, cancer-related pain, cannabinoids, cannabis, carcinogens, caution, CBD, CBN, Cesamet, CGB, chemo, chemotherapy, chill, chronic, claims, clinical, companies, comparison, concerns, conclusive, conditions, consumers, cramps, creams, criminal, Crohn's, cure, day, decarboxylated, Dementia, deny, dependence, depression, deprived, diabetes, diagnosis, digestive, disaster, dog treats, driving, drugs, effects, efficacy, emotional flatlining, Epilepsy, euphoria, evidence-based, exaggerated, exaggeration, facts, fatigue, fibromyalgia, findings, five, for, genetic predisposition, Glaucoma, grown, habit, HAPs, harm, harmful, harmless, hazards, health, heroin, high, honestly, hundred, Huntington's, hydrogen cyanide, illegal, inconclusive, industry, inflammation, insomnia, intense dreams, irritable bowel, irritants, joint, lab-grown, legal, legalization, legalizing, loss of energy, lubricating gels, magical thinking, marijuana, market, marketing, medical, medication, medicinal, Menstrual pain, mental health, microdosing, migraines, moisturizers, molecules, month, motivation, multiple sclerosis, natural, naturopathy, nausea, neuropathic pain, night sweats, nitrogen oxides, obsession, occasional use, occasionally, oil, openly, opiod crisis, opioids, osteoporosis, over-the-top, paranoia, Parkinson's, pets, pharmaceutical, pharmacology, physical, pills, placebo effect, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pot, powerful, prescription, prohibition, properties, psychoactive, psychological, psychosis, psychotic episode, PTSD, public health, realistic, recreational, regular, relax, research, risk-free, Sativex, schemes, schizophrenia, school, secondhand, self-medicate, shaking, skepticism, sketchy, skin, skunk, smoke, smoking, society of stoners, solid, sooner, spasms, stone, stoned, strains, studies, substance, substance-induced psychosis, symptom relief, synthetic, tar, THC, THCA, therapeutic, tobacco, Tourette's, toxins, tremors, trivialize, twenty, unlikely, vape, vaporizer, weed, week, wide range, withdrawal, work, years, young
After toxins, vaccines, and milk, I’m ready to face another worthy opponent: Gluten.
Or rather the absence of gluten, as many people seem to believe that it’s a good idea to remove it from their diet. Truth be told, for some people, avoiding gluten is a necessity, especially for those who suffer from celiac disease.
Because celiac disease is strongly under-diagnosed, it would be cool to hear more about it… but nowadays, we constantly hear stuff like:
- Gluten is a useless toxin
- Eating gluten-free is healthier
- Eating gluten-free makes you lose weight
- Gluten causes digestive disorders in all people
- Gluten-free food is more organic
- Wheat was genetically modified, resulting in more gluten
- Eating gluten-free is easy
Yet all of these statements are pretty much FALSE.
Do you want to hear more about the topic? You’re in luck: I made a comic that contradicts each of the aforementioned statements! What a coincidence.
To make this project possible, I have had the privilege of collaborating with dietitian Sarah Le, a nutrition scientist specializing in weight management and sports nutrition. She also taught me tons of new words, like “sorghum” and “manioc”!
This comic strip is not intended for two types of people:
- People suffering from celiac disease, as diagnosed by a physician. Gluten is toxic for you, so removing it completely is your only option.
- People who have stopped eating gluten for any reason and deem their health is much better since. I don’t intend to change your mind; after all, you know your body better than anyone else.
This comic is rather intended for the vast majority of people who ask themselves:
‘‘Why is everyone tripping about gluten?!’’
Translation by Hadrien Laforest, proofreading by Lauren Knight.
Posted in Comics
Tagged 150 years, 9000 years, abdominal, additives, allergic, alter, amaranth, arrowroot, Australian, barley, beer, bloatedness, bread, buckwheat, calcium, calories, celiac, celiac disease, cereals, cheat, chromosomes, cold cuts, corn, cramps, crust, culprit, dessert, diagnosed, diarrhea, diet, digestive disorders, disaccharides, dough, dressings, eat, eating, elastic, evolution, expert, fast food, fat, feces, fermentable, fiber, FODMAPs, food, food industry, food items, gas, genetically modified, genetics, glue, gluten, gluten intolerance, gluten-free, glyphosate, GMO, health, healthier, healthy, herbicides, ice cream, intestines, intolerance, iron, irritable bowel syndrome, ketchup, legumes, link, manioc, marketing, meat substitute, medical supervision, millet, mock duck, moderation, monosaccharides, monotone, Monsanto, mushy, nature, nutrition, nutritional value, nutritious, oligosaccharides, organic, permeability, pesticides, physician, pollock, polyols, portions, processed, prohibited, proteins, quinoa, removal, resistant, restaurant, restrictive, rice, rich, Roundup, rye, salt, sauces, seitan, snacks, soft, sorghum, soy, study, sugar, sweet potato, teff, total, toxin, tripled, useless, vitamin B complex, waste, weight loss, wheat, whole-grain
