United Nations Panel Finds Cannabis ‘Relatively Safe’
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]R[/dropcap]ecently a United Nations (UN) committee held a “pre-review” on cannabis and they reviewed its medicinal value and potential beneficial aspects weighed against its potential harmful aspects. Although the UN agreed that not enough clinical research had been conducted on cannabis, the council concluded by finding cannabis as “a relatively safe drug” that has known benefits for certain diseases and ailments.
The findings were released at the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) in Geneva, Switzerland which took place on June 4-7. 953 cannabis patients from 31 countries were surveyed. The majority of patients who were interviewed reported several years of experience with cannabis and are currently being advised on treatment by a doctor, although a majority said they had tried cannabis prior to getting a physician’s recommendation.
“Barriers to research in the USA include the difficulty of navigating through several federal agencies, as well as research ethics boards and local and state oversight concerns,” the report stated. “There are also issues related to quality, quantity, and kind of product available from the current single federal source of cannabis for research use and the lack of adequate funding sources.” The committee also found few negative effects.
The committee’s review found evidence from various previously published studies that suggest that cannabinoids can promote sleep, improve motor function for individuals with Parkinson’s disease and reduce pain among with many more currently known and unknown benefits. In addition, medicinal cannabis is commonly prescribed for chronic back pain, sleep disorders, anxiety and depression, post-injury pain and Multiple Sclerosis in dozens of American states.
Although this was just a pre-review, it can have an important influence on international drug policy, as well as the classification of cannabis under the laws of individual nations. Hopefully this will be a precursor for a better, more critical review in the future that goes more in-depth and sources recent studies and statistics.
