Government Looks Down The Drain To Determine Cannabis Use

Government authorities in places like Italy, Australia, New Zealand, and other areas, have been testing sewage samples for years now, in an effort to try and determine the prevalence of drug use in those regions.

There are a variety of countries in Europe that already conduct these tests on a regular basis and now Canada is looking to do the same thing; following their own recent plans for legalization.

They've established a plan to measure cannabis use in at least 6 different cities across the country. So far, it's suggested that they will be taking samples from Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, and Surrey.

However, there are hopes for the program to expand, with the likelihood that there will be dozens of other cities also being tested in the future.

It's also reported that similar waste water testing has been conducted in the US, for areas like Washington that have already embraced cannabis legalization.

Those behind the idea hope that from the samples they will be able to determine how much cannabis people are consuming in the region, as well as how much might have been purchased illegally once they've compared the prevalence rate that they see to legal sales that were made and recorded.

It seems like an incredible waste of time and money for the government to engage in this effort, spending resources on policing how much cannabis is being consumed.

Do they have a right to know what you or anyone else is putting into their body? Is this what them trying to "keep us safe" looks like? Or is this an example of them once again trying to exercise control over those in the region? If the Canadian people aren't willing to voluntarily give that information on a survey, then the next step shouldn't be for the government to try and go sorting through their wastewater samples to learn that information.

Regardless, they're ready to conduct the tests on a monthly basis in a number of different municipalities.

Statistics Canada is the organization that's going to be tasked with conducting the analysis and it's alleged that they've already started testing the wastewater. Cannabis also might not be the only drug that they'll be looking to test for.

Pics:
Pixabay
Pixabay
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Sources:
http://www.cpr.org/news/npr-story/canada-to-measure-marijuana-use-by-testing-sewage
https://globalnews.ca/news/4020253/marijuana-wastewater-urine-test-canada-consuming/

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