Coronavirus Symptoms
According to the World Health Organization,
“the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell. Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment. Around 1 out of every 6 people who gets COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness. People with fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.”
But the weirdest symptom that is being under-reported is the loss of smell and/or taste. The British Association of Otorhinolaryngology cited the “rapidly growing number of reports” of patients with no other symptoms. The loss of the sense of smell, either totally or partially, is called Anosmia – while Ageusia is the loss of taste functions of the tongue. Weird.
The Severe Cases
It’s the 1 in 6 that get seriously ill and develop severe respiratory issues where we have an opportunity to rethink how we use cannabis in Canada.
Follow me for a sec.
During this time of social distancing, isolation and quarantine, what the heck are we all doing? Smoking. Weed! The devil’s harvest. Marijuana. Cannabis (whatever you call it). Smoking cannot be good for the 1 in 6 that will experience respiratory issues due to the Coronavirus.
Let’s look at the numbers.
According to StatsCan’s Q4 2019 numbers:
- 16.7% of Canadians aged 15 or older “report” as cannabis users.
- That means, of the 31,574,973 Canadians aged 15 or older, 5,273,020 Canadians consumed cannabis regularly by the end of 2019.
- Of the users that contract Coronavirus, 1 out of 6 will experience severe symptoms including respiratory issues, like the rest of the population.
- That means, if consumption of THC continues the old-school way of lighting it on fire, a maximum of 878,837 Canadians exasperating their Coronavirus respiratory issues.
That’s 878,837 Canadians potentially further straining the health care system, and its workers during this pandemic. Not acceptable if it doesn’t have to be accepted. And it doesn’t.
Cannabis in Canada
I’ll be the first to say how proud I am that our government moved our social discourse forward on the account of cannabis but… can it start to be… good?
On the topic of access to cannabis, many of us wish the government option was practical and efficient – but it’s not. Overpriced, dry, old cannabis, that takes forever to procure and feels like you’re smoking hate the way it hurts your lungs on every pull, is not ideal. We don’t need the government to get cannabis – especially cannabis like this.
Don’t get it twisted, the old plug (black market) is still live.
Truth be told, most of us actually want the government to provide the best product – the old plug is still special also. Anyone who’s still reading this knows exactly what I mean. We like the idea of walking into a shop, getting what we want, how we want, when we want, and at a good price. Ain’t no one happy paying $15 for a .5 gram preroll of dusty hate.
Cannabis Edibles in Canada
All this professing over cannabis is just to say we really like THC. Like, a lot. And for some, getting it without the smoke is necessary during this Coronavirus pandemic. For these Canadians, we need to make better edibles – that are already out there – a part of the government’s approach. If we are serious about cannabis and all of its derivatives being a success story here in Canada, we need the government to do better.
Canadians need easier access to better cannabis edibles. No Canadian should have to choose between smoke, trash edibles or the black market to get THC while avoiding a respiratory disease! Let this moment in time be a teachable moment for our social discourse.
We learn the most from the silver linings in the clouds of our lives. The Coronavirus pandemic will forever be just that: a time in history that bonds us all together through tragedy and hardship. But as much as the Coronavirus will take from us, let us take something from it: an opportunity with cannabis edibles and access to them in Canada.
Let’s demand that our government make better cannabis edibles easier to access.
To do our part here at TREATSANDTREATS during these hard times, we are offering 10% off all orders of cannabis edibles with the promo code “COVID” until Canada Day.
Stay classy, Canada
Yannick Craigwell
Owner
For more information on coronavirus aka COVID-19 visit:
The World Health Organization’s Q&A section
For more information on Canadian Statistics on Cannabis users visit:
StatsCan National Cannabis Survey results
StatsCan population statistics (for the numbers)
