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Nip it in the bud
analysis MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
Nip it in the bud CANNABIS is going legit. This year, approach, one in which public Canada will become the latest health is at the forefront. Under country to join a small but plans published last month, growing number of regions where cannabis would be as tightly it is legal to smoke marijuana. regulated as tobacco or alcohol. But some fear that this global Is this enough to halt the rise of trend could lead to the plant’s Big Cannabis? growers and sellers taking control In the West, the case for of the market to maximise profits legalising cannabis has been and recruit new users, and gaining ground for some time. fighting any controls on its sales It has long been the most widely and marketing techniques. One used recreational drug, yet in worry is that, left unchecked, the cannabis industry might become “The marijuana industry is where tobacco was in as rich and powerful as the about 1890. It went on to tobacco and alcohol industries develop immense power” did in the last century. “The marijuana industry is where tobacco was in about 1890,” most parts of the world it is says Stanton Glantz at the criminalised. This ruins lives, University of California, San wastes police time and fills jails. Francisco. “Tobacco went on to Over the past two decades, develop immense political power, various regions have legalised hire lawyers and lobbyists and medical marijuana and some dominate regulators.” have begun to decriminalise its Canada offers an alternative recreational use, too. While
cannabis is still illegal in the US at the federal level, for example, it will soon be possible to smoke pot without getting arrested in eight states and Washington DC. Several other countries have also decriminalised it in some way, including Portugal and Spain (see map, below). For many across the political spectrum, the trend toward legalisation is a rare, welcome instance of policymakers aligning laws with common practice. Yet some worry that enthusiasm for this change shouldn’t mean we allow a free for all. The warnings come from some surprising corners. Steve Rolles of the pro-legalisation UK thinktank Transform spoke against legalisation in Ohio in 2015. “The whole tenor of the campaign was unethical and highly dubious,” he says. If passed, the state ballot would have given 10 investors
Green light A growing number of regions have legalised or decriminalised the recreational use of cannabis
Canada Recreational marijuana use will be legalised in 2017
Netherlands
Contrary to popular belief, cannabis is not legal here
Spain Law does not prohibit consumption
US In 2017, it will be legal to smoke pot in eight states and Washington DC
Portugal Since 2000, possession of 25 grams of cannabis won’t get you arrested
Uruguay In 2013, it became the first country to legalise marijuana sale and production
22 | NewScientist | 14 January 2017
Blair Gable / Reuters
Legalising pot could lead to a powerful marijuana lobby. Can we stave off Big Cannabis, asks Clare Wilson
control of the state’s marijuana market – the same people who were bankrolling the measure. People also objected to the campaign mascot. “Buddie” was an anthropomorphised marijuana plant with a bud for a head and a superhero’s body, complete with bulging pectorals and a cape. It toured college campuses urging students to vote Yes. Critics said it could appeal to children and pointed to similarities with the controversial “Joe Camel” cartoon used to advertise Camel cigarettes in the 1990s. The measure failed. Why the concerns, if cannabis is safe? While addiction is less common for cannabis than with drugs such as heroin, some people do become heavy users and cannot quit. It can also sometimes trigger a psychotic episode or even longer-term problems such as schizophrenia. In Colorado, where cannabis was legalised for recreational use in 2014, some people have unintentionally eaten enough to end up in hospital with temporary psychosis. Colorado responded to these
For daily news stories, visit newscientist.com/news
THE PROHIBITION PARADOX
incidents by tightening its rules for food products containing cannabis to make it clear how much is equivalent to a single “serving” of 10 milligrams of THC, the compound that gets you high. Either the food itself must be marked with these servings, such as with products like cannabislaced chocolate, or where that isn’t possible, such as for bulk products like pot granola, it must be packaged in single servings.
Mainstream marijuana This episode may have helped shape Canada’s proposed guidelines, which require products containing cannabis to state the product’s strain and potency. Such “dosage” labelling is especially useful for food products, like chocolate and brownies, says Rolles, who advised the task force set up to figure out how best to legalise cannabis. That’s not just to avoid people eating them by mistake but also because new users or those who normally smoke it may not know that the effects of cannabis take longer to appear if it is ingested.
While cannabis is relatively safe, some users experience ill effects, including addiction and schizophrenia. That’s not an argument against legalisation, says Steve Rolles of the UK drugs think-tank Transform – in fact, it’s precisely why it needs to be legalised. For one thing, a legal, regulated marketplace should make cannabis less accessible to teenagers. Legalisation tends to go hand-in-hand with minimum age limits for use, similar to how most regions legislate alcohol. Some marijuana will still be accessible to teens, as happens now with booze, but it should be thinner on the ground as high street shops start to put illegal dealers out of business. Another benefit of legalisation is a return of milder strains of marijuana. Currently, illegal dealers have no –Herbal medicine- incentive to sell these as the stronger
stuff is more lucrative. This is why the strength of the average joint sold on the street has risen over the past few decades from 3 per cent THC – the compound in that gets you high – to about 15 per cent. “It’s like going to a pub and being obligated to drink vodka when you just want a beer,” says Rolles. In fact, this is exactly what happened during alcohol prohibition in the US in the 1920s; bootleggers mainly sold spirits because they were easier to transport and made more profit. In Colorado, where cannabis has been legal since 2014, you can now buy marijuana in a range of strengths, and it’s all clearly labelled. For this reason, Rolles says Colorado’s approach is better than prohibition. But it may not do as much to protect users (see main story).
“You need to have clear warnings regulate alcohol, which like that effects develop over two cannabis can be taken in modest hours, so don’t re-dose before quantities without too much risk that point,” says Rolles. but has potential for abuse. The Canadian guidelines also Could Canada’s guidelines go a lot further. All cannabis help other regions decriminalise products – however they are cannabis without inviting ingested – will have to be sold in industry excesses? California, the plain packs, which must carry most populous state in the US, health warnings. It would be voted for recreational use last sold in shops, but it couldn’t be year, but its regulations are still advertised or subject to being thrashed out. promotions. That’s important, But Canada and the US have says Beau Kilmer of RAND, very different outlooks, says a global policy research Keith Humphreys at Stanford organisation, because for-profit University: Americans have companies will naturally long been more in favour of prioritise profit over public unfettered capitalism and against health. “They’re going to be “They’re going to be making making most of their money off the heavy users and they’re going most of their money off the heavy users and they’ll to be working hard to maintain work hard to keep them” the heavy users,” he says. To prevent this, other public government interference. health measures in Canada’s Controls on advertising are seen proposals include price controls as clashing with companies’ and a cap on the maximum rights to free speech, for example. potency of any product. These There’s also a difference in steps help protect not only the how cannabis legalisation comes heavy users, but young people, about. In Canada, legalisation who are thought to be most comes from the government, with vulnerable to any ill-effects. It’s public health a priority, after the the same way many countries
public elected a prime minister who vowed to carry it out. In the US it stems from state ballot propositions, initiated by activists and funded by medical marijuana businesses or venture capitalists, who may then go on to influence drafting of state laws. That was palpable in the ballot to legalise recreational cannabis in Ohio. The state-by-state approach in the US may be the only thing keeping TV and radio stations from accepting and running cannabis advertisements, as they need a federal licence to operate. “It’s an ambiguous situation for the big corporate players,” says Glantz. Still, with California’s recent vote to legalise – along with three other states – Humphreys predicts they will soon come flocking. “It’s a massive market,” he says. “That’s an earthquake in terms of how the US handles this plant.” And then someone will have to figure out how to regulate the markets. One thing is clear: that will need to happen soon. “Once that very wealthy powerful industry is fully established it’s going to be hard getting it back in its cage,” says Glantz. n 14 January 2017 | NewScientist | 23
Nip it in the bud CANNABIS is going legit. This year, approach, one in which public Canada will become the latest health is at the forefront. Under country to join a small but plans published last month, growing number of regions where cannabis would be as tightly it is legal to smoke marijuana. regulated as tobacco or alcohol. But some fear that this global Is this enough to halt the rise of trend could lead to the plant’s Big Cannabis? growers and sellers taking control In the West, the case for of the market to maximise profits legalising cannabis has been and recruit new users, and gaining ground for some time. fighting any controls on its sales It has long been the most widely and marketing techniques. One used recreational drug, yet in worry is that, left unchecked, the cannabis industry might become “The marijuana industry is where tobacco was in as rich and powerful as the about 1890. It went on to tobacco and alcohol industries develop immense power” did in the last century. “The marijuana industry is where tobacco was in about 1890,” most parts of the world it is says Stanton Glantz at the criminalised. This ruins lives, University of California, San wastes police time and fills jails. Francisco. “Tobacco went on to Over the past two decades, develop immense political power, various regions have legalised hire lawyers and lobbyists and medical marijuana and some dominate regulators.” have begun to decriminalise its Canada offers an alternative recreational use, too. While
cannabis is still illegal in the US at the federal level, for example, it will soon be possible to smoke pot without getting arrested in eight states and Washington DC. Several other countries have also decriminalised it in some way, including Portugal and Spain (see map, below). For many across the political spectrum, the trend toward legalisation is a rare, welcome instance of policymakers aligning laws with common practice. Yet some worry that enthusiasm for this change shouldn’t mean we allow a free for all. The warnings come from some surprising corners. Steve Rolles of the pro-legalisation UK thinktank Transform spoke against legalisation in Ohio in 2015. “The whole tenor of the campaign was unethical and highly dubious,” he says. If passed, the state ballot would have given 10 investors
Green light A growing number of regions have legalised or decriminalised the recreational use of cannabis
Canada Recreational marijuana use will be legalised in 2017
Netherlands
Contrary to popular belief, cannabis is not legal here
Spain Law does not prohibit consumption
US In 2017, it will be legal to smoke pot in eight states and Washington DC
Portugal Since 2000, possession of 25 grams of cannabis won’t get you arrested
Uruguay In 2013, it became the first country to legalise marijuana sale and production
22 | NewScientist | 14 January 2017
Blair Gable / Reuters
Legalising pot could lead to a powerful marijuana lobby. Can we stave off Big Cannabis, asks Clare Wilson
control of the state’s marijuana market – the same people who were bankrolling the measure. People also objected to the campaign mascot. “Buddie” was an anthropomorphised marijuana plant with a bud for a head and a superhero’s body, complete with bulging pectorals and a cape. It toured college campuses urging students to vote Yes. Critics said it could appeal to children and pointed to similarities with the controversial “Joe Camel” cartoon used to advertise Camel cigarettes in the 1990s. The measure failed. Why the concerns, if cannabis is safe? While addiction is less common for cannabis than with drugs such as heroin, some people do become heavy users and cannot quit. It can also sometimes trigger a psychotic episode or even longer-term problems such as schizophrenia. In Colorado, where cannabis was legalised for recreational use in 2014, some people have unintentionally eaten enough to end up in hospital with temporary psychosis. Colorado responded to these
For daily news stories, visit newscientist.com/news
THE PROHIBITION PARADOX
incidents by tightening its rules for food products containing cannabis to make it clear how much is equivalent to a single “serving” of 10 milligrams of THC, the compound that gets you high. Either the food itself must be marked with these servings, such as with products like cannabislaced chocolate, or where that isn’t possible, such as for bulk products like pot granola, it must be packaged in single servings.
Mainstream marijuana This episode may have helped shape Canada’s proposed guidelines, which require products containing cannabis to state the product’s strain and potency. Such “dosage” labelling is especially useful for food products, like chocolate and brownies, says Rolles, who advised the task force set up to figure out how best to legalise cannabis. That’s not just to avoid people eating them by mistake but also because new users or those who normally smoke it may not know that the effects of cannabis take longer to appear if it is ingested.
While cannabis is relatively safe, some users experience ill effects, including addiction and schizophrenia. That’s not an argument against legalisation, says Steve Rolles of the UK drugs think-tank Transform – in fact, it’s precisely why it needs to be legalised. For one thing, a legal, regulated marketplace should make cannabis less accessible to teenagers. Legalisation tends to go hand-in-hand with minimum age limits for use, similar to how most regions legislate alcohol. Some marijuana will still be accessible to teens, as happens now with booze, but it should be thinner on the ground as high street shops start to put illegal dealers out of business. Another benefit of legalisation is a return of milder strains of marijuana. Currently, illegal dealers have no –Herbal medicine- incentive to sell these as the stronger
stuff is more lucrative. This is why the strength of the average joint sold on the street has risen over the past few decades from 3 per cent THC – the compound in that gets you high – to about 15 per cent. “It’s like going to a pub and being obligated to drink vodka when you just want a beer,” says Rolles. In fact, this is exactly what happened during alcohol prohibition in the US in the 1920s; bootleggers mainly sold spirits because they were easier to transport and made more profit. In Colorado, where cannabis has been legal since 2014, you can now buy marijuana in a range of strengths, and it’s all clearly labelled. For this reason, Rolles says Colorado’s approach is better than prohibition. But it may not do as much to protect users (see main story).
“You need to have clear warnings regulate alcohol, which like that effects develop over two cannabis can be taken in modest hours, so don’t re-dose before quantities without too much risk that point,” says Rolles. but has potential for abuse. The Canadian guidelines also Could Canada’s guidelines go a lot further. All cannabis help other regions decriminalise products – however they are cannabis without inviting ingested – will have to be sold in industry excesses? California, the plain packs, which must carry most populous state in the US, health warnings. It would be voted for recreational use last sold in shops, but it couldn’t be year, but its regulations are still advertised or subject to being thrashed out. promotions. That’s important, But Canada and the US have says Beau Kilmer of RAND, very different outlooks, says a global policy research Keith Humphreys at Stanford organisation, because for-profit University: Americans have companies will naturally long been more in favour of prioritise profit over public unfettered capitalism and against health. “They’re going to be “They’re going to be making making most of their money off the heavy users and they’re going most of their money off the heavy users and they’ll to be working hard to maintain work hard to keep them” the heavy users,” he says. To prevent this, other public government interference. health measures in Canada’s Controls on advertising are seen proposals include price controls as clashing with companies’ and a cap on the maximum rights to free speech, for example. potency of any product. These There’s also a difference in steps help protect not only the how cannabis legalisation comes heavy users, but young people, about. In Canada, legalisation who are thought to be most comes from the government, with vulnerable to any ill-effects. It’s public health a priority, after the the same way many countries
public elected a prime minister who vowed to carry it out. In the US it stems from state ballot propositions, initiated by activists and funded by medical marijuana businesses or venture capitalists, who may then go on to influence drafting of state laws. That was palpable in the ballot to legalise recreational cannabis in Ohio. The state-by-state approach in the US may be the only thing keeping TV and radio stations from accepting and running cannabis advertisements, as they need a federal licence to operate. “It’s an ambiguous situation for the big corporate players,” says Glantz. Still, with California’s recent vote to legalise – along with three other states – Humphreys predicts they will soon come flocking. “It’s a massive market,” he says. “That’s an earthquake in terms of how the US handles this plant.” And then someone will have to figure out how to regulate the markets. One thing is clear: that will need to happen soon. “Once that very wealthy powerful industry is fully established it’s going to be hard getting it back in its cage,” says Glantz. n 14 January 2017 | NewScientist | 23