Understanding recent developments in North American cannabis policy

In partnership with the US Centre, LSE International Drug Policy Unit hosts 'Understanding recent developments in North American cannabis policy'.

Since 1961 cannabis has been classified (along with the opiates and cocaine) as a drug that presents such a serious danger to health that its use by adults should be prohibited except for medical or scientific purposes. Critics of cannabis prohibition have long argued that cannabis is much less harmful than alcohol and tobacco and that the social and economic costs of criminalising cannabis use outweigh any adverse health effects. They advocate that cannabis should be legalised for adult use, and taxed and regulated like alcohol. Until very recently there was little political support for these arguments. Since 2012, however, the citizens of 8 states in the USA have voted to legalise the production, sale and adult use of cannabis. The Uruguayan government became the first nation to legalise cannabis use in 2013 and Canada will legalise do so in October 2018. This paper briefly describes the recent evolution of cannabis policy in North America and makes a first attempt at answering the following questions: Why has cannabis policy changed so radically in the USA and Canada in such a short period of time? What role did the medical cannabis laws play in changing public attitudes towards cannabis legalisation in these countries? What outcomes can we expect from cannabis legalisation in terms of its effects on cannabis use, cannabis-related harms and the imprisonment of minority populations?

Speaker bio - Wayne Hall is a Professor at the Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research at the University of Queensland and a Professor at the National Addiction Centre, Kings College London. He was formerly: Director of CYSAR (2014-2016) and NHMRC Australia Fellow at the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research and the University of Queensland Brain Institute (2009-2014). He has advised the World Health Organization on: the health effects of cannabis use; the effectiveness of drug substitution treatment; the contribution of illicit drug use to the global burden of disease; and the ethical implications of genetic and neuroscience research on addiction. He was a member of the International Narcotics Control Board between 2012 and 2014.

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