An addiction counselor says the primary drug adolescents in the Hanover School Division come to seek help from him for is cannabis, also known as marijuana.

Daniel Dacombe with the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba says the questions he hears from students include, now that cannabis is going to be legal, does that mean it's safe? He notes the emphasis made to students is, just because a substance is legal doesn't mean it's safe.

"Alcohol is a legal substance and yet alcohol use causes many social and health problems around the world."

Dacombe says when counseling he challenges the students with an evidence-based approach versus a moral one.

"We don't try to argue with the youth about what's right or wrong, instead we present them with the evidence, we present them the science and that's where my background comes in. I discuss with them how brain development works, how cannabis can impact brain development, how cannabis can change how their brain is going to develop and change the kind of brain they're going to have later on in life."

He notes during the years of adolescence the brain goes through a set of rapid changes and development. Dacombe adds it's during this time the brain is very good at adapting to new information such as learning a new instrument, speaking another language, or retaining information they learned in school.

"That's when our brains are able to change very quickly to keep up with what we're putting into them. Unfortunately, that also makes them very vulnerable, very vulnerable to negative changes and when we're introducing a brain-altering substance like cannabis into our brains at that stage of development, we can cause long-term changes we don't intend."

Dacombe says currently adolescents have access to cannabis through illegal means, through drug-dealers. He notes his concern is how the perception of cannabis may change once it becomes legal and people may believe it's safe to use because it's legal.

Starting at a very young age, Dacombe says it's important for parents to speak to their children because they are the biggest influencers in their life.

"I think sometimes parents don't realize how much of an influence they can be on their kids and by giving parents these tools, we don't need to wait for a young person to have a presentation with me in their classroom. [For parents to have] some very honest conversations with them and be a part of that growing and developing. We really want to empower parents to have these conversations themselves with youth and be part of that prevention aspect."

He adds by starting young, with age-appropriate language and examples, it can create a family culture of openness where the children feel safe coming and talking to the parents about alcohol or drugs when they're faced with those choices.

Dacombe explains how cannabis affects the brain. He says cannabis has two active ingredients, THC and CBD. Dacombe notes THC is the primary psychoactive ingredient or mind-state altering ingredient and CBD is the primary therapeutic component and the chemical that's the most useful from a medical standpoint.

"Frequently in my work, I talk about THC because it is a very interesting chemical in terms of what it does to the brain. The way cannabis works is our brains are composed of billions of neurons that communicate with each other using chemicals called neurotransmitters. These [neurotransmitters] carry messages to different parts of the brain and cause a variety of different effects depending on what neurotransmitter is being used and where it is going."

He says assisting those neurotransmitters are neuroregulators which increase or decrease the effect of the neurotransmitters.

"What THC does is it activates one of those neuroregulatory systems, artificially, a system called the endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system causes a wide-variety of effects around the brain. When you introduce THC it activates all those effects at the same time, which is why it causes so many different effects to so many different people."

An informational night called 'Time To Stir The Pot' is taking place on Wednesday at the Stonybrook Middle School at 7 p.m. where more information will be presented to help empower parents to talk with their children about drugs.

Read More: "It's An Especially Bad Time To Experiment With Illegal Drugs"