How to regulate cannabis: A practical guide

Publications

How to regulate cannabis: A practical guide

4 November 2016

This is the second edition of our guide to regulating legal markets for the non-medical use of cannabis. It is for policy makers, drug policy reform advocates and affected communities all over the world, who are witnessing the question change from, ‘Should we maintain cannabis prohibition?’ to ‘How will legal regulation work in practice?’ Just ­a­ few­ years­ ago, ­this ­book ­would­ have ­been ­largely­ theoretical.­ Now, ­however,­ the cannabis regulation debate has moved decisively into the political mainstream, and multiple cities, states and countries are considering, developing or implementing a range of regulated market models for the non-medical use of cannabis. So this book draws on evidence not only from decades of experience regulating alcohol, tobacco, and medicines, ­but­ also ­from Spain’s non-profit­ ‘cannabis social clubs’, commercial cannabis enterprises ­in ­the­ US ­and­ the­ Netherlands,­ and­ Uruguay’s­ government-controlled­ system of cannabis regulation - which are just some of the proliferating models for regulating non-medical cannabis use around the world. This book will help guide all those interested in cannabis policy through the key practical challenges to developing and implementing an effective regulation approach aimed at achieving the safer, healthier world we all wish to see.

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