Doctors say Legalization in Public Interest Cannabis in Canada

Discussion in 'Marijuana News' started by jainaG, Nov 7, 2015.

  1. http://cannabisincanada.ca/doctors-say-legalization-in-public-interest/

    September 22, 2015
    Whichever party takes power this fall, addiction specialists urged
    that recreational cannabis needs to be legalized and regulated by the
    government to prevent the rise of large, multinational producers that
    don't have the public's best health interests in mind.
    Published Sept. 21 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, doctors Sheryl Spithoff, Brian Emerson and Andrea
    Spithoff detailed problems with the current prohibition of cannabis and
    argued why the government should control the market for Canadians.

    “We're hoping to provide some direction to policy-makers in Canada to
    encourage them to rethink their current policies around cannabis, to
    move away from prohibition because it doesn't work and has a lot of
    harms associated with it,” said Dr. Spithoff, a family physician and addiction doctor at Women's College Hospital in Toronto.

    The authors wrote that one concern with legalization was that it can
    allow the rise of “Big Cannabis,” powerful multinational corporations
    like “Big Tobacco” or “Big Alcohol” that are interested more in market
    and revenue expansion than public health.

    “They increase tobacco and alcohol use by lobbying for favourable
    regulations and funding huge marketing campaigns. It is important that
    the regulations actively work against the establishment of Big
    Cannabis,” the authors wrote.

    The doctors stated that prohibition does nothing to address public
    health concerns, and criminalization of cannabis has done nothing to
    stem the use of the drug.

    A UNICEF report in 2013 showed Canadian children and young people have the highest rate of cannabis use (28 per cent).

    “Our hope with legalizing it is that less youth will have access to
    it,” Spithoff said. “We'll be able to achieve our public health
    objectives, restricting access; limited hours that stores are open; and
    also young people won't have to go the illegal market to access
    cannabis. Especially for young adults, that's risky.”

    Spithoff said 500,000 Canadians have criminal records related to cannabis possession.

    Dr. Jurgen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health estimated annual costs of cannabis law enforcement of $1.2 billion.

    The CMAJ paper pointed to countries like Uruguay as an example of a
    framework for recreational cannabis legalization that could work here.

    That country's government purchases cannabis from licensed producers
    and then sells it through pharmacies. This gives the government control
    over production, quality and prices.

    Canada's federal parties all have different outlooks on cannabis
    regulation going into October's federal election. The Liberals have said
    they will legalize, the NDP favour decriminalization and the
    Conservatives are interested in maintaining the current medical-only
    structure.
     
  2. This is old news and the Liberal Party took charge
     

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