Cannabis Confusion

The medical uses of cannabis goes back centuries to ancient China, India, and Egypt ... 

Its Odd What Gets Banned These Days ....

 ..... which isn't necessarily an indication of its effectiveness, after all the Chinese also grind up rhino horns and tiger bones etc as 'medicinal', despite them doing nothing. 

Snake Oil Claims Were Often Excessive

However, during the Victorian period and early 20th Century, many western doctors prescribed medicinal cannabis as a liquid, oil or tincture for a vast variety of ailments such as neuralgia, tetanus, typhus, cholera, rabies, dysentery, alcoholism, opiate addiction, anthrax, leprosy, incontinence, snakebite, gout, convulsive disorders, tonsillitis, insanity, excessive menstrual bleeding, and uterine bleeding ... in other words, rather like the claims made by a snake oil salesman.

But after a long period of decline in usage, as more effective drugs were developed for all those ailments, the decline in medical usage was further accelerated with the introduction in the USA of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which the American Medical Association opposed, on the grounds that it restricted both medical and non medical usage of cannabis.

And that was that, or so it seemed, but then along came the mid century rise in the use of cannabis as a recreational drug, until inevitably the toke heads started casting around for some excuse to legalise the use of cannabis. They soon hit upon 'medical usage' for bad backs and  a variety of other medical conditions ... even though the evidence of their effectiveness was anecdotal, and weak, with the claims no more effective than those made for alcohol.

However, the medical world would start saingy that the medical usages were replicable by an oil or tablet with the correct THC content. The main purpose of these medical usage laws was supposed to allow for the use of cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid that has been shown to be effective in the treatment of seizure disorders, particularly in children.

But obviously this was not what the tokers wanted ... they wanted freedom to use the drug via the smoking method of consumption .... in other words as a recreational drug. So they hit upon another wheeze, and claimed that smoking weed should be an option for anyone who claimed that they had trouble keeping down oral medication (which naturally became a common problem amongst joint smokers).

Cannabis Legality USA

So after a decade or so of debate and state campaigns, the USA finds itself split in to three camps .....

• 13 States where cannabis usage of any kind is illegal.
• 18 States or territories where medical but NOT recreational usage is allowed.
• 23 States or territories where medical AND  personal recreational usage is allowed (but non personal usage is illegal i.e. dealing it).

In other words, a total shambles, and almost unenforcible laws, as cannabis is more or less freely available in those stated where its decriminalised, or legal. The truth is that, once you allowed it to be smoked, the supposed medical benefits for a few, are swamped by recreational users getting a note from their doctors saying that they had a bad back, and couldn't hold down tablets.

This also leads to more and more problems, with US travellers increasingly being caught on border custom checks in countries around the globe, carrying cannabis and cannabis paraphernalia and waiving their medical notes in the mistaken belief that every other country in the world is subject to the State of California (or one of the other states), laws.

For many this leads to fines or entry refusal, but also carries the risk of imprisonment in some locations. Despite the general move towards legalisation in many countries, crossing borders is invariably still an offence, whatever the legal status of the use of the drug.

Europe and elsewhere are no less divided than the USA on this issue:

• Cannabis use in Canada is legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes, but crossing the border with it is illegal. 
• Australia has limited medical usage only despite having one of the highest percentage of cannabis users in the developed world. 
• The UK has authorised the medical use of cannabis, but only when prescribed by a registered specialist doctor.
•  In New Zealand cannabis usage is illegal. South Africa allows personal usage, but in private dwellings only and buying and selling cannabis still remains illegal. 
• Cannabis in Italy is legal for medical and industrial uses, although it is strictly regulated, while it is decriminalized for recreational uses. 
• Cannabis in France is illegal for personal use but limited types of cannabis-derived products are permitted for medical uses. 
• Cannabis in both Spain and Portugal is decriminalised for personal cultivation and use, and other purposes other than sale or trade. 
• Cannabis in Germany is legal for certain limited medical contexts, but illegal for recreational usage. 
• Cannabis in Greece is illegal for recreational purposes. but legalised for medical purposes.

So although the current picture is confused, it appears from trends that we are heading to full cannabis legality.