Those of us who have worked in the industry for many years thought that this moment would never come, but it seems that we are getting closer and closer to the cannabis legalization around the world. Lately, there is a lot of talk about the medicinal components of the cannabis plant, and after the latest report published by the World Health Organization on the subject, the decriminalization of marijuana seems unstoppable. If you want to know what this important report says, and all the possible changes to come, I advise you to keep reading this article …
It was not really the United Nations or the World Health Organization that enabled Member States to decriminalize cannabis use. Around the world, there have been several examples of states that have taken action in this regard without considering the recommendations of the UN or the WHO, which are in principle responsible for regulating these laws globally.
The Netherlands have had a soft drug law for over 40 years that works better than most countries with a total ban. In other European countries, you can also legally consume marijuana, the neighborhood of Christiania in Copenhagen (Denmark) was an example of freedom, and in its markets you can easily buy buds and hashish. Another example is that of certain places in Vienna (Austria) or to Prague (Czech Republic) not to mention the social clubs of cannabis users in Spain, in particular in Barcelona.
Therapeutic and recreational legalization in America
But it is not for these libertarian fears that the WHO has reconsidered the ban on this plant. In 2013 Uruguay legalizes consumption, the cultivation and sale of cannabis in pharmacies. Although, as we have seen, Uruguay was not the first country to take unilateral action, it was up to other government leaders to think about its legal model.
Some American states legalized medical cannabis treatment in the late 1990s, but it wasn’t until 20 years later that they began to decriminalize recreational or recreational use. Colorado was the first state in this country to regularize total cannabis use as of January 1, 2014, and quickly joined Washington, California and Oregon, and so on until reaching 14 states plus the District of Columbia.
The Canada was the first G8 country to fully legalize cannabis use at the end of 2018. It was one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign promises, and it didn’t take long to deliver when his party seized power in this country. Canada had already legalized medicinal use in some areas before, and in some cities such as Vancouver, it was quite normal to find dispensaries in many places. In addition to this state, Israel, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and more recently the Argentina where the Mexico have passed laws to be able to administer medical cannabis to their citizens.
📖 The World Health Organization Now Claims CBD Is Not Dangerous Or Addictive
In L’ study published by the world health organization, they clearly state that cannabidiol consumption is not addictive or cause health problems. The experiment was carried out with animals, and the results were presented in different points that we summarize below:
- Its use or abuse is neither harmful nor addicting: In tests, doses of 1, 3 and 10 mg / kg of injected CBD were given to mice, and the same amounts of THC on other occasions, proving that cannabidiol is not harmful or generates a addiction after several days of use.
- Proven medicinal properties: There are many benefits associated with the consumption of CBD, as an anti-inflammatory or against epilepsy for example. We currently have a great need for non-opioid sedative, anxiolytic or relaxant drugs, because in some countries they have created big problems.
- Don’t raise alarm in society: As other substances are frowned upon by many sectors of society, cannabidiol is considered a harmless drug, but with many properties. In the second point of the WHO report, it is acknowledged that the public did not find any concern in this regard.
- No psychoactivity: CBD is a cannabinoid that does not produce psychoactivity, just like THC, another compound in marijuana. This, added to its promising therapeutic value in the treatment of many ailments and diseases, is another compelling reason to consider it a safe substance.
👌 WHO recommends that the United Nations include cannabis on the list of low-toxicity substances
Since the Vienna Convention on Narcotic Drugs held in 1961, in which all controlled narcotic substances were classified on several lists, the cannabis is on List IV, where they are most dangerous and without medicinal properties.
The World Health Organization has changed its criteria for this plant, and now recommends that the United Nations remove marijuana from list IV and reclassify it in the list I, where there are substances with recognized properties, therapeutic, with less control and open to research.
✨ Evidence-based change of criteria
In the letter from the Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, the World Health Organization explains that its Expert Committee on Drug Addiction (ECDD, in its acronym in English) has analyzed cannabis and other substances derived from it and their properties and proposes to remove the plant and its derivatives of control Annex IV, reserved for substances “very dangerous and of no or very low medical value.”And to include some of its active ingredients, such as THC or CBD, in list 1.
Regarding cannabidiol, which has no psychoactive properties, the WHO suggests including a footnote stating that ” preparations containing mainly CBD and not more than 0.2% THC [ce composant a des effets psychoactifs] are not under international control. ”With this change of position, the first of the WHO on a substance considered as a drug, comes to dispel the doubts that have been raised on the therapeutic properties of cannabis.
⛳ What will happen from now on?
When the UN incorporates this recommendation, states will have approval to follow the path set out by dozens of countries that skipped the Convention long ago, such as Germany, Israel, many states in the United States or the United States. Canada for medical use and more recently countries like Canada or Uruguay with full regulation.
A new scenario is opening up around the world, and although many countries have already changed their medical cannabis laws in recent years, from this point on, states that have denied scientific evidence for this plant will have to reconsider their position, because WHO is the world’s leading health organization.
It is easy that from now on many laboratories and pharmaceutical companies are starting to investigate to market cannabis-derived drugs, and more and more we will see new cosmetics, edibles, drinks and all kinds of medicines made from our precious plant.
WHO recommendation will not affect the regulation of recreational cannabis, so at the moment we cannot delude ourselves in general. In fact, the United Nations Convention establishes in its Article VII that, for the products of List I, to which cannabis will pass, “Any use, except for very limited scientific and medical purposes, is made by duly authorized persons in medical or scientific establishments which are under the direct control of their governments.“.
⭐ Conclusion
It seems like things are changing lately, and what seemed like a utopia a few years ago may be closer than you think. What is clear is that neither the ban has worked, nor that we cannot afford to do without a plant with many medicinal properties, so sooner or later we will see all kinds of products created from cannabis.
Fran Quesada Moya
Pevgrow editor, cannabis activist and fanatic in all its fields, especially the breeding and development of new strains.
See more posts
