Canada Touts Public Health Benefits of Legal Cannabis
Health Canada Speaks to UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs – LPC
Health Canada spoke to the United Nations (UN) Commission on Narcotic Drugs earlier in March, touting the public health benefits of legal cannabis. Michelle Boudreau, director general for Health Canada’s controlled substances department, singled out the illegal market in particular.
“The illegal market has already lost 30 per cent of its market share,” Boudreau said. “This represents nearly $2 billion in sales that did not go to criminal organizations.”
The public health benefits of legal cannabis are of particular interest to the commission. A UN report published soon before the hearing underlined its importance. It also called out Canada and its move to legalize cannabis in the first place. It pointed out that “these developments in contravention of the (international) drug control conventions.”
“The consequences for health and well-being, in particular of young people, are of serious concern,” it said.
These concerns are not new. When Canada legalized cannabis in October 2018, it technically violated three UN anti-drug treaties. But post-legalization in Canada, there were signs the UN was softening its view on cannabis and perhaps follow Canada’s lead. Soon after that, the World Health Organization (WHO) took the fairly radical step of recommending cannabis be removed from the list of most dangerous drugs. This includes hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
Disagreement Over Public Health Benefits of Legal Cannabis – LPC
The question of legalizing cannabis comes down to a disagreement of the public health benefits of legal cannabis. Canada’s approach has always been that legalizing cannabis and regulating it is a better way to keep it out of the hands of youth. It also reduces criminal activity around the drug – something that also affects youth. Late in 2019, scientists in Canada and the US warned about the public health dangers of not providing research access to cannabis.
There are signs that the UN is starting to reconsider its position. It was supposed to vote this month on WHO’s recommendation to remove cannabis from its list of dangerous drugs. However, the UN pushed back the vote to December.
“We have to recognize that the conventions were drawn up 50 and 60 years ago,” said UN International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) President Cornelis P. de Joncheere.
Canada seems to be setting the tone for a new, updated world approach to cannabis and drug classifications in general. “Canada is continuing to make efforts to reflect a broader range of voices in the design of all of our domestic drug policies,” Boudreau said.
In fact, Canada’s approach to focusing on the public health benefits of legal cannabis may become a blueprint of sorts for the UN. Is it a perfect system? No – but then it would be difficult to launch a multi-billion dollar industry perfectly out of the gate the first time. But it is a safe system, and ultimately one that does keep the public health benefits of legal cannabis front and centre.
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