Re: Cannabis, cannabis everywhere: UK to review medical cannabis policy as Canada plans imminent legalisation for all uses
It is not the acute risk of death that is the primary danger associated with cannabis intoxication. It is the chronic effects of cannabinoid neurotoxicity. The problem with legalising for "medical use" is that the lines become easily blurred between what is therapeutic and what is taken for pleasure. The fact is that cannabinoids are not and never will be a life saving treatment.
Although not necessarily a proponent of the "gateway hypothesis", I do believe that once medicinal cannabis is legalised, recreational use of the drug (vis USA) will not be far behind. In my view, this is a step backward. It is contrary to what we have learned about the drug through decades of scientific research.
America is hardly a world leading ambassador in terms of ethical healthcare. Who could forget their experiments on Agent Orange during the Vietnam War? Their extreme position on the issue of drug use is illustrated by the problems that they have created for themselves in giving people life (meaning life) sentences for drug supply; who they are now having to explain away in the face of their new laws. British Laws on this topic are more proportionate. Long sentences for drug supply are a rarity in themselves; these can often be suspended according to the personal circumstances of the defendant. Our drugs laws should stay as they are, as these offer the flexibility of punishment when it is due, yet lenience when this is required. To legislate to allow medicinal cannabis would only encourage people to "self experiment", which is dangerous and may well lead to a future public health epidemic.
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Re: Cannabis, cannabis everywhere: UK to review medical cannabis policy as Canada plans imminent legalisation for all uses
It is not the acute risk of death that is the primary danger associated with cannabis intoxication. It is the chronic effects of cannabinoid neurotoxicity. The problem with legalising for "medical use" is that the lines become easily blurred between what is therapeutic and what is taken for pleasure. The fact is that cannabinoids are not and never will be a life saving treatment.
Although not necessarily a proponent of the "gateway hypothesis", I do believe that once medicinal cannabis is legalised, recreational use of the drug (vis USA) will not be far behind. In my view, this is a step backward. It is contrary to what we have learned about the drug through decades of scientific research.
America is hardly a world leading ambassador in terms of ethical healthcare. Who could forget their experiments on Agent Orange during the Vietnam War? Their extreme position on the issue of drug use is illustrated by the problems that they have created for themselves in giving people life (meaning life) sentences for drug supply; who they are now having to explain away in the face of their new laws. British Laws on this topic are more proportionate. Long sentences for drug supply are a rarity in themselves; these can often be suspended according to the personal circumstances of the defendant. Our drugs laws should stay as they are, as these offer the flexibility of punishment when it is due, yet lenience when this is required. To legislate to allow medicinal cannabis would only encourage people to "self experiment", which is dangerous and may well lead to a future public health epidemic.
Competing interests: No competing interests