One of Canada’s chief medical officers has added his voice to the case for drug law reform.
Writing in the peer-reviewed journal of open medicine, Dr Kendall and his co-authors argue a strong case for evidence based drug policies.
In light of the persistently widespread availability and relative safety of cannabis in comparison to existing legal drugs, as well as the crime and violence that exist secondary to prohibition of this drug,4 there is a need for discussion about the optimal regulatory strategy to reduce the harms of cannabis use while also reducing unintended policy-attributable consequences (e.g., the organized crime that has emerged under prohibition).
In a media interview with The Sun, Dr Kendall states that:
“The fact cannabis is illegal doesn’t diminish access rates. The so-called war on drugs has not achieved its stated objective of reducing rates of drug use. It’s universally available in B.C. and the supply is controlled largely by criminal enterprise,” Kendall told The Sun.
“It should be regulated just like alcohol and tobacco. It [cannabis] is less addictive than either of those.”