Kamloops medical cannabis forum at TRU touts benefits of cannabis in reducing harder drug use

published on April 27, 2025 by Michael Potestio in Castanet Kamloops

Medical cannabis has shown promising results as a harm reduction tool researchers told a group of about 60 gathered in the Clock Tower building at Thompson Rivers University on Saturday afternoon.

The forum, Medical Cannabis and Recovery, explored how medical cannabis can be used as an alternative therapy for harm reduction and addiction care, featuring talks from physicians, clinical counsellors, research scientists, professors and representatives from the Ask Wellness Society.

Dr. Zach Walsh, psychology professor at UBC told the crowd studies showed people use cannabis for a variety of reasons such as pain reduction, anxiety and sleep deprivation, and as a substitute to lessen their use of harder drugs such as opioids and benzodiazepines and even alcohol.

“I think when you take something that is less harmful, like cannabis, and replace something potentially more harmful — that’s a win,” Walsh said.

Dr. M.J. Milloy, research scientist with the BC Centre on Substance Use, said his research has shown some individuals at-risk of overdosing using cannabis intentionally to curb their use of harder drugs like crack cocaine…