Legalizing a market for cannabis for pleasure: Colorado, Washington, Uruguay and beyond

Abstract

Colorado, Washington state and Uruguay are currently designing legal non-medical markets for cannabis. These clearly contravene the 1961 and 1988 drug conventions; options for what may happen next are discussed. The current provisions in the three regulatory schemes are summarized. From a public health perspective, the emphasis should be on holding down consumption with regulatory measures, but the public health agenda does not seem to be a strong consideration in the implementation of the US schemes, and they are paying little attention to what can be learned from the history of alcohol and tobacco regulation. While alternative paths to a cannabis market under the conventions are noted, the legalization initiatives underline the need to revise the drug conventions, making prohibition of domestic markets an optional matter. Such changes would also ease the path for including alcohol under the conventions, which would be an important step forward in global health.

An MRI study of white matter tract integrity in regular cannabis users: effects of cannabis use and age

“…With the increasing legalisation of cannabis for medicinal (Martin 2014) and recreational (Room 2014) purposes there is a greater need than ever to better characterise the long-term consequences of cannabis use on the brain. Evidence suggests that the endocannabinoid system is critically involved in regulating neural development through activation of neurotrophic factors (Díaz-Alonso et al 2012;Bilkei-Gorzo 2012) and promoting oligodendrocyte maturation (Molina-Holgado et al 2002).…”

Can we make cannabis safer?

“…Certain US states along with Uruguay have recently decided to allow cannabis to be sold for recreational purposes 7 . Canada has recently proposed to legalise recreational use and several European countries have already lessened or dropped their criminal sanctions on cannabis possession and use 8 .…”

Which policy for new psychoactive drugs?

“…In states where cannabis prohibition is replaced by regulations in a licensing system, such restrictions (e.g. minimal age, marihuana quantities per month, number of cannabis plants, THC content, driving restrictions, product quality) are introduced and controlled (11,12). An interim-licensing of NPS in New Zealand was repealed on the basis of reports of adverse effects.…”