Cannabis and cannabis resin: Pre-Review report

The scheduling under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs assumes a scientific justification. However, cannabis and cannabis resin have never been evaluated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since it was mandated the review of psychoactive substances in 1948. The last evaluation for the international substance control conventions were therefore when the League of Nations evaluated them in 1924 and 1935.

In 80 years since that decision, both the social context of cannabis use and the science of drug dependence have dramatically changed. Yet, because there has never been a formal review, both herbal cannabis and cannabis resin continue to remain under the strictest drug control regime possible. As a result, in the absence of a recent scientific assessment, the continued prohibition of cannabis is completely illegitimate even though it may be legal.

With this wide ranging report (discussing topics from its effects on cognition and learning to mental health and theraputic benefits), DrugScience enhances the ability of the WHO and its Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) in fulfilling its international obligations and enables the Expert Committee to arrive at an independent and scientific recommendation whether a Critical Review is warranted or not.

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