Author: Hazel Norman

Ireland Has Only Approved 53 Patients For Medical Cannabis In Recent Years

Written by Hazel Norman on March 27, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Ireland adopted a medical cannabis policy reform measure back in 2019, however, it took many years for patients to be permitted to safely access medical cannabis therapeutics in the European country.

Medical cannabis policy modernization efforts have spread across the globe in recent decades, with many countries adopting medical cannabis policies and regulations that are more or less strict than others.

Ireland’s medical cannabis program is much more restrictive compared to other nations, including nations in Europe, and that is reflected in the low number of patients that have received approval in recent years. Per Independent:

Around 53 people have been approved to take medical cannabis in recent years with the number of conditions it can treat likely to be increased.

In a parliamentary response to Independent TD Violet-Anne Wynne, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the purpose of the programme was to enable compassionate access to cannabis for medical reasons, where conventional treatment has failed.

Mr Donnelly said: “It follows the clear pathway laid out by the Health Products Regulatory Authority in their expert report ‘Cannabis for Medical Use – A Scientific Review’.”

Medical cannabis programs are only as good as the number of qualifying conditions that patients can qualify for, and Ireland limits the program to spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, and severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy.

Even in instances in which a patient suffers from one or more of those conditions, they can only be approved to seek medical cannabis therapies in Ireland after they have exhausted all other prescribed medications and treatment regimens.

Canadian Ministers Release Final Report On Cannabis Act

Written by Hazel Norman on March 27, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Canada became the second country on earth to pass a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure back in 2018. The only other country to have done so prior to Canada was Uruguay, which passed its own national adult-use cannabis legalization measure in 2013.

Since 2018, three other nations have passed a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure – Malta in 2021, Luxembourg in 2023, and Germany this year. The first provisions of Germany’s legalization measure are set to go into effect on April 1, 2024.

Canada, for the time being, represents the biggest cannabis public policy experiment to date, and there is a lot that other governments can learn from Canada’s experience. As part of Canada’s legalization effort, various ministers were tasked with providing a final report in conjunction with an independent Expert Panel.

“This final report is the result of the extensive work conducted by the independent Expert Panel, chaired by Morris Rosenberg, that led the review over the last 18 months. The report provides an independent assessment on progress made towards achieving the Act’s objectives to protect the health and safety of Canadians and displace the illegal market.” Health Canada stated in a news release.

“Since the launch of the review in September 2022, the Expert Panel engaged extensively with a wide range of cannabis stakeholders to better understand the impacts of the cannabis legislative framework and the challenges and opportunities that exist within the sector. The panel held nearly 140 engagement sessions and heard from over 600 participants. They met with the public, other levels of government, people who access cannabis for medical purposes, youth, the cannabis industry, law enforcement, marginalized and racialized communities, and public health experts. They also undertook distinctions-based engagement activities with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis to further understand the impacts of cannabis and the Cannabis Act on Indigenous persons and communities.” Health Canada also stated.

The report’s compilers found that Canada has made significant progress on several of the government’s ‘key objectives’ of its legalization effort, including:

the establishment of a licensing framework supporting a legal industry that is providing adult consumers with a quality-controlled supply of a variety of cannabis products
steady progress in shifting adult consumers to the legal cannabis market
for the most part, adherence to rules on promotion, packaging and labelling, including prohibitions about making claims about health or lifestyle benefits
a significant reduction (95% between 2017 and 2022) in the number of charges for the possession of cannabis and minimizing the negative impact on some individuals from interactions with the criminal justice system

The final report identifies 54 recommendations and 11 observations that its authors have determined will strengthen and improve Canada’s cannabis policies and regulations. Additionally, Statistics Canada recently found that 72% of consumers in Canada report making their cannabis purchases from the regulated market.

Japan Sets Record For Arresting Young Cannabis Consumers

Written by Hazel Norman on March 22, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Cannabis use by young people is a very serious topic that is worthy of a serious conversation and public policy approach. It’s a topic that should be driven by science and logic, and not by fear-mongering. Unfortunately, Japan appears to be taking the wrong approach.

Japan set a national record last year for arresting more young people for cannabis than ever before. The record comes at a time when Japan is revamping its cannabis policies and stepping up cannabis prohibition enforcement.

Last December, Japan’s government adopted a measure that expressly prohibited half a dozen synthetic cannabinoids. That measure’s adoption came weeks after Japan approved separate legislation that permitted some cannabis-derived medications to be imported to Japan, but also increased penalties for cannabis consumers.

Last year’s arrest data involving young consumers setting a record is not a surprise given the heightened focus on enforcement in 2023. Per The Japan Times:

The number of marijuana offenders under the age of 20 increased 34% to 1,222 last year, marking a record high, according to National Police Agency data released Thursday.

The figure for cannabis cases involving those under age 20 had decreased for the first time in nine years in 2022.

By age, the number of suspects sharply increased after 16 and remained high until around 20, after which it began to decline.

Japan’s National Police Agency is blaming “the lack of awareness surrounding the harmfulness of drugs” for the rise in arrests, and claiming that drugs “are now becoming easier to obtain” in Japan. The Agency’s reported plan going forward is to boost anti-cannabis education in Japan’s high schools.

If history is any guide, Japan will never be able to arrest its way to zero cannabis use, just as no other country can ever achieve such an unrealistic goal. Some amount of young people in every country, including in Japan, will experiment with cannabis, and while they shouldn’t be encouraged to do so, they also shouldn’t have their lives ruined because of it.

Majority Support For Cannabis Decriminalization In Victoria, Australia

Written by Hazel Norman on March 22, 2024. Posted in Policy.

A recent survey conducted in Victoria, a state in southeast Australia, found that a majority of participants support modernizing the jurisdiction’s cannabis policies to decriminalize personal cannabis possession and use. Currently, medical cannabis is permitted in Victoria in some instances but recreational cannabis use is prohibited.

According to domestic reporting, the survey involved 1,511 Victorians over 18 years old. Of those surveyed, 54% were in favor of “decriminalising cannabis and creating a regulated market for personal adult use.”

In Victoria, cannabis is currently considered a ‘drug of dependence.’ Offenders who are caught with less than 50 grams of cannabis face a possible fine if it is their first offense and progressively harsher penalties for subsequent offenses.

Of the recent survey participants who did not express support for cannabis reform, only 28.5% indicated that they opposed cannabis policy modernization. A smaller percentage, 17.5%, responded that they were unsure about the policy change proposal. Per The Canberra Times:

The survey, conducted by polling outfit RedBridge on behalf of public health research and drug policy body Penington Institute, shows the highest level of support for regulation over criminalisation in an Australian independent third-party poll so far.

Penington Institute CEO John Ryan, who chaired an independent panel review into the North Richmond supervised injecting room, said the community wants change and the state must listen.

“More and more Victorians reject the criminalisation of cannabis and the harms inherent with this approach,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

The Australian Capital Territory decriminalized personal cannabis activity in 2020. Currently in the Australian Capital Territory, people 18 and older can possess up to 50 grams of dried cannabis or up to 150 grams of ‘fresh cannabis.’

Adults can also cultivate up to two plants per person, with a maximum of four plants per household. Cannabis use in a private residence is permitted, however, cannabis cultivation and consumption are still prohibited in public settings in the Australian Capital Territory.

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Cabinet Approval For Thai Cannabis Ban Expected Later This Month

Written by Hazel Norman on March 18, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Thailand made regional history in 2022 when lawmakers in the Southeastern Asian country implemented a cannabis decriminalization measure. Unfortunately, less than two years after the measure took effect, lawmakers in Thailand are seeking to reverse the policy.

At the time of decriminalization’s enactment, the measure was hailed as an amazing achievement for the global cannabis reform movement, with cannabis being removed from Thailand’s list of banned substances.

The monumental policy shift served as a particularly big deal in the region where Thailand is located, with many countries in the area still having some of the harshest cannabis penalties on earth.

Thailand’s new approach involved permitting every household in the entire country to sign up to legally cultivate low-THC cannabis plants. There were no plant limits for the government’s cultivation program when it launched, and Thailand’s government even gave away over 1 million cannabis seeds directly to households that signed up.

A broad spectrum of government agencies in Thailand agreed leading up to the implementation to do their part to push Thailand’s emerging cannabis industry forward. Thailand also released thousands of people serving time for cannabis offenses.

That all changed in August 2023 when a new prime minister was elected, with the new incumbent vocally opposing cannabis reform. Now, members of Thailand’s Cabinet are expected to approve a cannabis ban later this month. Per excerpts from Al Jazeera:

But the Thai government is looking to stamp out cannabis culture with a ban on its recreational use to be rolled out by the end of the year. Medical use will still be permitted.

In an interview with Reuters last month, Thai Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew described recreational marijuana as a “misuse” of cannabis that has a negative impact on Thai children and could lead to other drug abuses.

The Thai government’s draft law banning recreational use of cannabis will be up for cabinet approval later this month.

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Morocco Reports First Legal Cannabis Harvest

Written by Hazel Norman on March 18, 2024. Posted in Business, Policy.

According to Morocco’s Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Activités relatives au Cannabis (ANRAC), the nation’s first legal cannabis crop totaled 294 metric tons.

The legal harvest is part of a new government program in Morocco that was launched to give cannabis farmers in the North African nation a path to join the regulated industry. Historically, Morocco is one of the world’s largest sources of unregulated cannabis, with Moroccan cannabis being particularly popular in Europe.

Morocco first adopted its current medical cannabis policy in 2021. The measure authorized the legal production of cannabis for medical, cosmetic, and industrial uses, as well as tasked a national agency to oversee the launch and operation of the industry.

In March 2022, Morocco’s government selected three provinces where medical cannabis would eventually be legally cultivated for domestic and export purposes. Roughly three months later, the nation’s national cannabis regulatory agency, ANRAC, met for the first time. In October 2022, Morocco issued its first cannabis production permits.

The recent harvest is the culmination of years of effort on the part of Morocco’s emerging industry, regulators, and elected officials. It will take a while before Morocco’s legal industry supplants its unregulated industry, however, the 294 metric ton harvest is still a major milestone. Per excerpts from Reuters:

The harvest was made by 32 cooperatives that brought together 430 farmers covering 277 hectares in the northern Rif mountain areas of Al Houceima, Taounat and Chefchaouen, ANRAC said in an email to Reuters.

This year, the regulator is examining applications by 1,500 farmers who organised themselves into 130 cooperatives, ANRAC said.

Nearly a million people live in areas of northern Morocco where cannabis is the main economic activity. It has been publicly grown and smoked there for generations, mixed with tobacco in traditional long-stemmed pipes with clay bowls.

The value of Morocco’s medical cannabis market was valued at USD 24.90 million in 2022 according to Grand View Research. The nation’s medical cannabis market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.0% from 2023 to 2030.

Cannabis industry data company BDSA projects that the legal global cannabis industry will be worth $55 billion by 2027.

Cannabis Advocates Demand Action In The Philippines

Written by Hazel Norman on March 18, 2024. Posted in Policy.

The cultivation and/or use of cannabis is currently illegal in the Philippines, per Republic Act 9165 and the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. The level of penalty depends on the amount involved and whether there was perceived intent to distribute by law enforcement.

Furthermore, even simply having metabolized THC in a person’s system is illegal in the Philippines, with offenders being required to undergo at least six months at a government rehabilitation center if they are prosecuted.

Back in December 2022, a petition was submitted by cannabis advocates that sought to reclassify cannabis from its current position on the nation’s list of dangerous substances. The board that oversees such petitions has yet to respond. Advocates are ramping up pressure to yield the response. Per excerpts from Inquirer:

In his statement, Manansala said that the DDB acknowledged the receipt of the petition during a Senate Committee hearing on December 13, 2022.

He added that he was given a date of July 31, 2023 for a “definitive action” on the petition but the “date came and went without a response, much less an action.”

Manansala noted that he was again snubbed by a DBB representative at the latest Senate hearing on the matter last month.

One of the driving forces behind the push to reclassify cannabis in the Philippines is to afford suffering patients the opportunity to seek safe access to cannabis medicines and therapies.

House Bill 4208 was previously filed by Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte. The measure seeks to create a national regulatory agency to oversee the production and marketing for the export of cannabidiol.

“We are in favor of the legalization of medical use of marijuana and its products, your honor,” Commission on Appointments on Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa stated at the time.

Flower Will Not Be Included In France’s Medical Cannabis Program

Written by Hazel Norman on March 18, 2024. Posted in Policy.

France’s medical cannabis public policy experiment received initial approval from the nation’s Senate back in 2019, however, the launch of the trial was delayed until the spring of 2021 due to various reasons.

Initially slated for two years, France’s medical cannabis experiment was eventually granted a one-year extension and was set to end in 2024. In October 2023, it was announced that the program would receive another one-year extension, and is now slated to go until at least 2025.

Unfortunately, the French National Medicines Safety Agency recently confirmed that flower will no longer be included in the nation’s medical cannabis program in the near future. Per Business of Cannabis:

In a public update and accompanying letter to healthcare professionals, the ANSM confirmed this in no uncertain terms.

“Medicines in the form of flowers (flowering tops to be inhaled) will cease to be made available in the coming weeks. Prescribing doctors must therefore gradually stop flower treatment for their patients and not initiate new treatments with this form.”

As of March 26, cannabis flower will cease being provided by the programme’s sole flower supplier, Aurora, and once reserve stocks have been exhausted, patients will have no legal route to secure medical cannabis flower.

Many patients prefer cannabis flower over other forms of medical cannabis due to how fast the effects take hold compared to other forms, such as edibles. Access to cannabis flower also provides flexibility for patients who want to make their own preparations, such as homemade tinctures.

Several jurisdictions around the globe limit legal medical cannabis to pharmaceutical forms, which forces many patients to the unregulated market to source their medicine. A robust medical cannabis program, such as the types of programs found in North America, provides legal access to flower and other options to help ensure that all patients get the best types of medicine for their situation.

It is estimated that out of the roughly 2,500 patients that are enrolled in France’s program, only about 100 of them currently receive cannabis flower.

An Estimated 750 People Have Joined Malta’s Legal Cannabis Clubs

Written by Hazel Norman on March 10, 2024. Posted in Policy.

In late 2021, Malta became the first European nation to pass a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure. Before Malta’s legalization measure was approved, only Uruguay and Canada had passed a national adult-use measure. Since that time, Luxembourg and Germany have also passed national legalization measures.

Malta’s legalization model relies upon home cultivation and noncommercial cannabis clubs for consumers to legally source their cannabis. Malta issued its first noncommercial cannabis club license in October 2023 and issued multiple other club licenses by the end of the calendar year.

The world recently received an update from Malta regarding how many consumers have signed up for club memberships so far. Per Times of Malta:

A total of 750 people have joined cannabis associations in their first month of operation, the Reforms Parliamentary Secretary said on Monday.

Three legal cannabis clubs have each started distributing the drug to 250 members since the end of January, and so far the data shows all members had previously used cannabis, Rebecca Buttigieg said during a press briefing.

According to survey data from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 22% of Malta’s citizens have consumed cannabis at least once in their lifetime, and roughly 7% of Maltese citizens report having consumed cannabis at least once in the last year.

Malta has a population of roughly 518,000 people, so seven percent of that figure would equate to over 36,000 people.

Obviously, not all of the reported once-a-year consumers use cannabis frequently enough to necessitate joining a cannabis club. Furthermore, many consumers presumably cultivate their own cannabis now that it is legal to do so in Malta. These factors are significant to keep in mind for contextual purposes when considering Malta’s current cannabis club membership levels.