Cannabis legalization with strict regulation, the overall superior policy option for public health

J Rehm; B Fischer

doi:10.1002/cpt.93

Cannabis legalization with strict regulation, the overall superior policy option for public health

Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2015 Jun;97(6):541-4. doi: 10.1002/cpt.93. Epub 2015 May 2.

Authors

J Rehm^{1

2

3

4

5}, B Fischer^{1

4

6}

Affiliations

¹ Social & Epidemiological Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Addiction Policy, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy & Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies (CELOS), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
⁶ Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

PMID: 25677377
DOI: 10.1002/cpt.93

Abstract

Cannabis is the most prevalently used drug globally, with many jurisdictions considering varying reform options to current policies to deal with this substance and associated harm. Three policy options are available: prohibition, decriminalization, and legalization, with prohibition currently the dominant model globally. This contribution gives reasons why legalization with strict regulation should be considered superior to other options with respect to public health in high income countries in North America.

MeSH terms

Cannabis*
Humans
Legislation, Drug*
Marijuana Smoking / legislation & jurisprudence*
Public Health / legislation & jurisprudence*
Public Policy / legislation & jurisprudence*