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Researchers Recommend Creating a Standard Cannabis Unit System

Standard Cannabis Units
Standard Cannabis Units

Grading System Would Help Improve Mental Health of Users – LPC

Researchers recommend a standard cannabis unit system to better manage cannabis use.Researchers in the UK recommended creating a standard cannabis unit system. This would be similar to the grading system used for alcohol to help track how much they’ve had to drink. Under the proposed system, 5mg of THC would represent one standard cannabis unit. Researchers said they chose that amount on purpose. It’s enough to feel some of the effects of THC but not enough to trigger a psychotic response.

Researchers said that this type of standard cannabis unit system would help mental health.

“Our findings add to a growing body of evidence that suggests the health effects of cannabis are dose-related,” said lead author Sam Craft, from King’s College London. “We believe a unit system would help both users and healthcare professionals by providing clearer information on the types of cannabis products and their strength.”

Senior author of the paper, Dr. Tom Freeman from the University of Bath, echoed that thought. He added that countries with legalized cannabis would benefit most from a standard cannabis unit system. “This should give clear guidance about the dose of THC people are consuming. Our hope is that the introduction of a system in locations where the drug is legalized will have knock-on effects to countries where it is not, providing users and clinicians with an important toolkit to guide safer use.”

Why Standard Cannabis Unit System is a Good Idea – LPC

In Canada, a standard alcohol unit is 1.5oz of 40% liquor = 12oz of 5% beer = 5oz of 12% wine. This is a useful guide for managing alcohol intake, especially for less-experienced drinkers. However, there currently isn’t a standard cannabis unit. Although cannabis use didn’t spike, some did try for the first time after legalization in Canada. Such a system would be useful for those new users.

There are some drawbacks. Cannabis intoxication is not the same as alcohol intoxication, biologically speaking. In particular, cannabis use history does affect intoxication. At least one study suggests that psychomotor function and subjective intoxication are different depending on history. You could argue that this would make a standard cannabis unit system less meaningful. However, such a system would be most useful for novice cannabis users in any case. This is when the full effects of cannabis are most noticeable.

A standard cannabis unit system wouldn’t likely be mandated by law. Like the standard alcohol unit, it would be more likely be adopted by public health agencies and advertised as a public service announcement.

The article below didn’t offer any guidelines as to how many standard cannabis units would be considered safe.

This editorial content from the LPC News Team provides analysis, insight, and perspective on current news articles. To read the source article this commentary is based upon, please click on the link below.

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