5.17. The economic value of Medical Marijuana has also been noted. This is not only in relation to potential exports, but also for use in the domestic sector. Moreover, in a region where pharmaceuticals are costly, often unavailable and foreign exchange in short supply, being able to produce locally a substance that seems to have so many important, varied medicinal properties, is not to be lightly discounted for the nations’ health and purses. 5.18. Despite cannabis/ marijuana’s ancient pedigree as a medicinal substance, the rapidly expanding knowledge in scientific data and the global policy shift, in some respects there is still a paucity of quality research on the beneficial and adverse effects associated with Marijuana. Nevertheless, the evidence is substantial enough to determine that there is considerable value in cannabis/ marijuana as an important plant for medicinal purposes. Notwithstanding the limitations therefore, several important conclusions may be made to inform this Report and to guide CARICOM in its deliberations. 5.19. In evaluating the sometimes conflicting data widely available, some of which is not supported by scientific research or by established scientific research norms, the Commission was guided extensively by the report published in 2017 by the National Academies of Sciences – The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research. The authors of this report were also guided by previous reports of the agency Marijuana and Health (1982) and Marijuana and Medicine (1999). This is an organization that has a track record of providing objective analysis of issues in order to inform policy. As such, it was not necessary to reinvent the wheel. In this vein, and in view of its mandate to consider the approaches of other national bodies beyond CARICOM, the Commission is also guided by a recent Report coming from Canada, as Canada gets ready to legalise marijuana, removing prohibition, but in a controlled environment. 5.20. Somewhat ironically, the fact that there is now a considerable amount of scientific evidence which supports the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, may lead to greater regulation, given that medical drugs are typically regulated strictly. Such regulation would, however, be There is now a very different to what currently obtains and would not be based on a considerable amount of punitive, prohibition regime. Nonetheless, it should be noted that scientific evidence marijuana usage for medicinal purposes can also fall under a class of drug which supports the use called nutraceuticals, many of which106are not regulated. Examples of these would be alternative health products.
of marijuana for medicinal purposes
New Laws Permitting Medical Marijuana
5.21. Several countries now have laws permitting marijuana use for medicinal purposes, thereby removing prohibitions for this purpose. A non-exhaustive list includes Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Peru, and Uruguay, Jamaica, Belize, Puerto Rico and Antigua and Barbuda. Australia passed legislation to allow the medicinal use of Marijuana in some states. In the United States 29 States, plus Washington DC have approved marijuana for medicine (Hill, 2015; Manzanares, Julian & Carrascosa, 2006). In Jamaica, for example, the Dangerous Drug (Amendment) Act 2015 made provisions for scientific and medicinal use but did not allow for the liberal cultivation and transport of the drug. Jamaica made provision for licences and permits to allow easier access to cannabis for scientific and medicinal purposes. 5.22. The classification of cannabis/ marijuana for medicinal purposes must also be considered and may require different regulation. A distinction must be made between ‘Medical Marijuana” and ‘Herbal Marijuana’. Medical Marijuana refers to products containing cannabinoids used for medicinal purposes and includes, herbal Marijuana, edibles, extracts and synthetic preparations. Several purified and approved pharmaceuticals/ pharmaceutical formulations107 of marijuana are available. Herbal Marijuana includes ‘Nutraceutical Advancements in CBD-based Products Opens the Door for Massive Opportunities in Cannabis Industry’ MarketNewsUpdates.com News Commentary, PALM BEACH, Florida, November 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -656096123.html. Published in a recent report released by Freedonia Group , World demand for nutraceutical ingredients is forecast to increase 6.4 percent annually to $28.8 billion in 2017. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nutraceutical-advancements-in-cbd-basedproducts-opens-the-door-for-massive-opportunities-in-cannabisindustry. 107 Several pharmaceutical formulations exist, including those with natural extracts and synthetic versions of marijuana. Name of Classification Constituents Countries Indication 106
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