In Focus Cannabis Legalization
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IN FOCUS CANNABIS LEGALIZATION CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES: EVOLVING TRENDS AND 4 NEW CHALLENGES 2020 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. Suggested citation: In Focus: Cannabis legalization - World Drug Report 2020. No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from UNODC. Applications for such permission, with a statement of purpose and intent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Research and Trend Analysis Branch of UNODC. DISCLAIMER The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNODC or contributory organizations, nor does it imply any endorsement. Comments on the report are welcome and can be sent to: Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime PO Box 500 1400 Vienna Austria Tel: (+43) 1 26060 0 Fax: (+43) 1 26060 5827 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.unodc.org/wdr2020 Acknowledgements The World Drug Report 2020 was prepared by the Research and Trend Analysis Branch, Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), under the supervi- sion of Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director of the Division, and Angela Me, Chief of the Research and Trend Analysis Branch, and the coordination of Chloé Carpentier, Chief of the Drug Research Section. Content overview Administrative support Chloé Carpentier Andrada-Maria Filip Angela Me Iulia Lazar Analysis and drafting Kamran Niaz Editing Jonathan Gibbons Graphic design and production Anja Korenblik Suzanne Kunnen Kristina Kuttnig Federica Martinelli Review and comments The World Drug Report 2020 benefited from the expertise of and invaluable contributions from UNODC colleagues in all divisions. The Research and Trend Analysis Branch acknowledges the invaluable contributions and advice provided by the World Drug Report Scientific Advisory Committee: Jonathan Caulkins Afarin Rahimi-Movaghar Paul Griffiths Peter Reuter Marya Hynes Alison Ritter Vicknasingam B. Kasinather Francisco Thoumi Charles Parry EXPLANATORYKEY FINDINGS NOTES The designations employed and the presentation of The following abbreviations have been used in the the material in the World Drug Report do not imply present booklet: the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations con- alpha-PVP alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone cerning the legal status of any country, territory, city APAAN alpha-phenylacetoacetonitrile or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delim- ATS amphetamine-type stimulants itation of its frontiers or boundaries. Countries and areas are referred to by the names CBD cannabidiol that were in official use at the time the relevant data DEA Drug Enforcement Administration were collected. EMCDDA European Monitoring Centre for Since there is some scientific and legal ambiguity Drugs and Drug Addiction about the distinctions between “drug use”, “drug misuse” and “drug abuse”, the neutral term “drug Europol European Union Agency for Law use” is used in the World Drug Report. The term Enforcement Cooperation “misuse” is used only to denote the non-medical use GDP gross domestic product of prescription drugs. INCB International Narcotics Control All uses of the word “drug” and the term “drug use” Board in the World Drug Report refer to substances con- trolled under the international drug control INTERPOL International Criminal Police conventions, and their non-medical use. Organization All analysis contained in the World Drug Report is LSD lysergic acid diethylamide based on the official data submitted by Member MAPA methyl alpha-phenylacetoacetate States to the UNODC through the annual report MDA methylenedioxyamphetamine questionnaire unless indicated otherwise. The data on population used in the World Drug MDMA 3,4-methylenedioxymethampheta- Report are taken from: World Population Prospects: mine The 2019 Revision (United Nations, Department MDPV methylenedioxypyrovalerone of Economic and Social Affairs, Population 4-MEC 4-methylethcathinone Division). References to dollars ($) are to United States dollars, 3-MMC 3-methylmethcathinone unless otherwise stated. 4-MMC 4-methylmethcathinone References to tons are to metric tons, unless other- NPS new psychoactive substances wise stated. PCP phencyclidine P-2-P 1-phenyl-2-propanone PMK piperonyl methyl ketone S-DDD defined daily doses for statistical purposes THC Δ-9 – tetrahydrocannabinol UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 3 Developments in jurisdictions with measures regulating the non-medical use of cannabis of cannabis products for medical purposes had DEVELOPMENTS IN already been allowed in Canada as early as 1999. JURISDICTIONS WITH The objectives of the current cannabis legislation in MEASURES REGULATING Canada are to keep cannabis away from young people (under 18 years of age), to prevent criminals THE NON-MEDICAL USE from profiting from the distribution and sale of can- OF CANNABIS nabis and to safeguard public health and safety by allowing adults (aged 18 and older) legal access to As at December 2019, legal provisions had been cannabis.322 Under the constitutional division of approved in Canada, Uruguay and in 11 jurisdic- powers in Canada, the federal Government and pro- tions in the United States, including the District of vincial governments have different responsibilities.323 Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands, to As the provinces historically developed their own allow the production and sale of cannabis products systems to regulate the sale of alcohol, a similar for non-medical use. The common feature of the approach has been applied to regulate the non-med- legislation in Canada and in the jurisdictions in the ical use of cannabis products. United States is that most of them allow for-profit To monitor the outcome of the new cannabis reg- industry to produce and sell cannabis products for ulations, the Government of Canada has invested non-medical use. There are some differences in the in a formal system that may eventually help to eval- level of regulation, its implementation and the con- uate their impact and support the further trol of the non-medical use of cannabis (see tables development of policies and programmes. One of 3, 4 and 5 for details on cannabis regulations in each the main measures taken to that end is a cannabis jurisdiction in Canada, the United States and Uru- survey that established a baseline in 2018 and is guay). Moreover, those regulations are implemented repeated every quarter in order to provide objective in different local contexts and influenced by different information on trends in the use of cannabis prod- dynamics, which is likely to have a different impact ucts, both medical and non-medical, as well as on on the development of cannabis markets within each how the legal cannabis market has evolved over time. jurisdiction, on the extent of the non-medical use of cannabis and on other indicators relating to public Following an initial increase in health and safety and criminal justice. It may take 2018, cannabis use appears to have years of regular monitoring of different indicators to stabilized fully assess the outcome and impact of the legisla- At the baseline, in the first quarter of 2018, nearly tion. The sections below therefore do not represent 14 per cent of Canadians (12.2 per cent of women an attempt to assess the impact of cannabis legaliza- and 15.8 per cent of men) reported that they had tion, but rather to describe the outcome of one year used cannabis, including cannabis products for med- of implementation of different features of the legis- ical purposes, in the past three months.324 The lation, the status of legislation and the regulation of highest prevalence rates were reported among those the non-medical use of cannabis in Canada, as well aged 25–34 (26 per cent) and 15–24 (23 per cent). as the developments in Uruguay and selected juris- By the beginning of 2019, the prevalence of use in dictions in the United States. the past three months had increased to 17.5 per Legalization of the non-medical cent, and it remained close to that level until the use of cannabis in Canada third quarter of 2019 (17.1 per cent). While the 322 Canada, Ministry of Justice, “Cannabis legalization and reg- In 2018, the Government of Canada passed the ulation”. Available at www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cannabis. Cannabis Act, which permits the commercial pro- 323 See table at the end of the present chapter. duction and sale of cannabis products for 324 It should be noted that prevalence of use in the past three non-medical use by people aged 18 and older. The months is not a measure generally used in the World Drug Report. The information on past-three-month prevalence is new legislation and its supporting regulations came presented here only because it is the period of monitoring into effect on 17 October 2018, although the use and reporting established by Statistics Canada. 5 2020 FIG. 1 Use of cannabis in the past three FIG. 2 Use of cannabis in the past three months in Canada, 2018–2019 months across provinces in Canada, third quarter of 2018 and third quarter 35 of 2019 30 35 25 30 WORLD DRUG REPORT 20 25 15 20 10 15 Prevalence (percentage) 5 10 0 5 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Prevalence (percentage) 2018 2018 2018 2018 2019 2019 2019 0 15 to 24 25 to 34 Alberta Ontario 35 to 44 45 to 54 Quebec Manitoba Nationwide 55 to 64 65 and older Scotia Nova Saskatchewan New Brunswick Source: Statistics Canada, “National cannabis survey 2018 and Columbia British 2019”.