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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 20 ,2 01 8 | 22 CAMBRIDGE 90 Main Street cornerstonefurniture.ca 519.740.9991 /CornerstoneHome /cornerstonehomeinteriors We stock more sofas than any store in Ontario. Be amazed! CORNERSTONE'S GREAT STORE-WIDE HOLIDAY SALE Until January 10th, save up to 70% on select furniture: beds, sofas, carpets, chairs, tables, entertainment units, leather chairs and sofas, accessories and Christmas items. Sale is on all in-stock inventory while supplies last. Free adjustable bed base with matress purchase! The following is the sec- ond in a four-part series, Growing Pains?, a close-up look at the legalization of cannabis and its effects in Halton. This fall, as the Oct. 17 date for cannabis legaliza- tion approached, Halton schools braced themselves for impact. School boards made sure supports were in place, parents were noti- fied, resources were posted online, discussions were planned and staff was trained to deal with ques- tions and any possible re- percussions of the new leg- islation. Then Oct. 17 came and went. And local schools barely felt a thing. Cannabis may still be il- legal for those under 19 in Ontario, but Rebecca Rich- ardson, health and physical education instructional program leader for second- ary schools with the Halton District School Board (HDSB), says that doesn't mean the way students are learning about it will re- main the same. "I think most of our edu- cators are tasked with en- forcing the fact that just be- cause it's become legal, there are still illegal pieces around it," she said. "In terms of what we focus on, we talk about prevention and health promotion, in terms of delaying use, re- ducing use and eliminating the risk." Whereas it was not un- common in the past for edu- cators to refer to cannabis as a "gateway drug," or to show students graphic vid- eos of individuals overdos- ing as a tactic to teach them not to use drugs, discourse around the subject is in a state of transformation. Richardson says that the new curriculum, which is still in the process of being modified, not only focuses on providing students with the necessary knowledge surrounding cannabis but also helps them develop the skills they require to make the proper decisions, prob- lem solve and advocate for themselves and their peers. "A new piece that we will probably see in the revised curriculum around this is harm reduction, so it's not just 'don't use' but 'if you have used, how can we sup- port you in reducing your use?' Because it's not a posi- tive behaviour going for- ward," Richardson said. She also notes that can- nabis is now referred to as a terminus drug, as new re- search has shown there is no evidence that proves cannabis use opens up the doors to other harder drugs, which is what the previous term "gateway drug" referred to. While school lessons on cannabis and illegal drugs commence in Grade 6, stu- dents learn about sub- stance use and abuse prior to then, in age-appropriate ways, beginning in the pri- mary grades, where chil- dren are taught about the addictive qualities of caf- feine. Then in Grades 4 and 5, the focus shifts to alcohol and tobacco use. Once students reach Grade 6, Richardson says they can now anticipate les- sons that focus less on scare tactics and more on the psychological elements around substance abuse. "We're kind of taking a different approach now. (We're asking) why people engage in this behaviour in the first place. What are the risk factors and what pre- vents them from making positive decisions?" she said, adding that students learn about a variety of po- tential reasons young peo- ple engage in substance use and abuse, including peer issues, self-medication, dif- ficult personal experiences and the way drugs are viewed at home. Tanya Woods, elementa- ry health and physical edu- cation instructional pro- gram leader at HDSB says students also learn about the connection between drug use and mental health. "(They learn) the con- nections as to why people are using and abusing sub- stances to begin with. So, what is it that leads them to the abuse of the substance and how is that connected to a variety of mental HALTON SCHOOLS OFFER STUDENTS FACTS ON CANNABIS TO AID IN DECISION MAKING VERONICA APPIA vappia@metroland.com CANNABIS AND YOU THE ISSUE: WHAT ARE STUDENTS LEARNING ABOUT CANNABIS IN SCHOOL? LOCAL IMPACT: LEGALITY OF POT CHANGES WHAT'S TAUGHT IN OUR SCHOOLS See - page 23 Metroland graphic