Friday 22 June 2018

Cannibis legalization?


One topic that has been discussed recently is the use of Cannabis Oil in the treatment of epilepsy medically as presently this is illegal within the UK coming under  a blanket ban on all cannabis use that goes back several decades.
Into this it also has been suggested as the "war on drugs" has not been won legalizing cannabis for recreational use has been suggested by one senior Conservative  former minister.
To me, the two areas of debate are not identical because in the first instance, cannabis products for medical usage which is allowed in Canada and some European countries needs to produced in laboratory conditions where strengths and other agents in them have to be disclosed. In other words you need to know exactly what would be prescribed and that decision would be made by say a doctor or specialist rather than the patient themselves.
One problem with recreational use of cannabis is the user has no idea of the strength nor of any other products in with it because it is produced clandestinely and it is far from clear if legalized such production would stop given the illegal infrastructure exists right down to street level distribution.
That means even if one was to put in age checking, requirements to have contents clearly displayed and approved licensed sales sites, there would no guarantee consumer would use them.
The Home Office Minister, Sajid Javid, has permitted two high profile families with sick children to be able to import cannabis oil and have it in effect prescribed while conducting a review into the use of it that is expected to allow prescribing for others in a similar situation.
What  he has ruled out for now at least is a broader legalizing of cannabis for recreational use which to me seems reasonable given the complexities legalizing might entail and the strong arguments about medium to long term impact usage has on mental health not least memory function.
The bigger argument here is for medicinal use under prescription which is not unlike the use say of opiates in severe pain management where again what is grown in secure units has the potential when not for street heroin.  

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