Seminar Series: Dr. Kelly Anderson

Population-level impacts of cannabis legalization on psychotic disorders in Canada: What do we know so far?

Kelly Anderson

Canada Research Chair
Public Mental Health Research

Associate Professor and Graduate Chair
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Western University

Short Biography:
Dr. Kelly Anderson is a Canada Research Chair in Public Mental Health Research, an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University, and a Senior Adjunct Scientist at ICES (formerly the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences). She received her PhD in Epidemiology from McGill University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Her research interests lie at the intersection of population health and health services research. She is interested in the risk, course, and outcome of mental illness for different population groups, as well as in the social determinants of health service access and utilization. She has a particular interest in the mental health of adolescents and young adults, and her research to date has typically focused on first-episode psychosis and early intervention services

Abstract:
Cannabis has been implicated as a causal factor in the onset and persistence of psychotic disorders. Canada legalized the non-medical use of cannabis in October 2018, despite concerns that increases in cannabis use following legalization may have consequences for the frequency and health services utilization for psychotic disorders at the population level. This presentation will review findings from a series of population-based studies focused on:

  • changes in the incidence and health service use for psychotic disorders during a post-legalization period with strict limits on cannabis retailers and product types;
  • the impact of cannabis retailer proximity on service use for psychotic disorders;
  • the impacts of widespread cannabis commercialization, which removed market restrictions, on use of acute mental health services for psychotic disorders.
Area of Research: Public Mental Health, Psychotic Disorders, Cannabis, Health Administrative Data

Date: Friday, January 10
Time: 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location: PHFM 3015 (Western Centre for Public Health and Family Medicine)