Nunavik weed-and-body-mass study raises many questions

Should the connection between marijuana use and food insecurity receive more research in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. (FILE PHOTO)

This morning’s (Aug. 23) announcement on CBC that taking marijuana may be a cause for losing body fat in Nunavik came as quite a surprise.

(Editor’s note: Nunatsiaq News reported on this study in an article published Jan. 19, 2015, with a follow-up article published this past June 10.)

The researchers further state that people suffering from food insecurity and hunger may revert to substances and avoid thinking about food. Without a thorough study, these comments can be very misleading and damaging.

The statements taken at their face value may give the impression that in order to lose weight, one should take marijuana.

The researchers failed to state if those who were on the drug and who were losing weight were healthier or less healthy than those who may have more body fat but were not on drugs. An answer to this question is critical.

Food insecurity is mainly about nutrition. In Nunavik, a fatter person may have better nutrition than a leaner person who is on marijuana. Who knows?

Another question is, that if people were suffering from hunger then there would be very few or no fat people.

But the implication of the above statements seems to conclude otherwise. More importantly, the accepted knowledge is that marijuana is used to increase appetites, not to supplement feelings of hunger.

This is completely contrary to the researcher’s statements. Therefore, it is logical to conclude there may be other factors causing the reduced body fat.

And then there is the matter of marijuana itself. This drug is used for medical purposes to suppress chronic pain and other similar disorders. Morphine, another drug does the same thing. Both are addictive.

On the other hand, according to accepted knowledge, there are several disadvantages to marijuana especially if taken regularly over a long period and in excessive amounts.

To name just a small fraction of damages attributed to marijuana are: neurological (brain and nervous system) damage causing distorted thinking, loss of memory, long term brain damage, wide mood swings from aggression and hostility to depression, anxiety and fear, addiction, suppressed immune system, slowing and impairment of the transfer of information in the brain, plus much more.

Taken over a long period it causes a negative feedback condition, instead of feeling good.

The researchers would have performed a much greater service had they earmarked the food types and life styles leading to increased body fat (and obesity) and comparing them with food and life styles that cause better food security (greater nutrition) in Nunavik.

The study would be even more meaningful if they examined why people revert to marijuana in the first place. Perhaps herein lie the most fundamental issues at hand.

Studies concerning this drug should also be conducted in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories — but in a more extensive manner.

Frank Pearce
Iqaluit

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