The big cannabis questions: legalisation, medical cannabis, synthetic cannabis

The final day of the New Zealand Drug Foundation's cannabis and health symposium is addressing three of the most controversial issues around cannabis: should we legalise cannabis, does it have medical use, and what is synthetic cannabis?

Medical cannabis has been around for a while in many countries, but is there the evidence to show that it is a proven medical remedy? Associate Professor Michelle Glass, Head of Department, Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacology, University of Auckland, Professor Wayne Hall from the University of Queensland, and Dr David Allsop, National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, Sydney will delve into the details of cannabis as a clinical treatment.

With two US states legalising cannabis and Uruguay set to next week, the debate about about cannabis has moved from "if" to the "when". The Great Cannabis debate will be lead by two heavy weights of drug policy. Steve Rolles from Transform and author of How to regulate cannabis: A practical guide who will be arguing for a regulated market. Kevin Sabet from Smart Approaches to Marijuana will be opposing him saying that full legalisation will lead to more harms than good.

The final session will look at the latest question for health and drug policy professionals: What is synthetic cannabis and how do we deal with it. Stephen Bright from Curtin University is a world leading researcher into what synthetic cannabis actually is and how it effects us. He will be joined by James Dunne, a Senior Associate at Chen Palmer and expert on the Psychoactive Substances Act to discuss the legal and policy implications.

The Cannabis and Health Symposium has run from 27-29 November and sought to broaden New Zealand’s discussion of issues around cannabis such as recent research about its effects, whether there is a need for cannabis law reform and the best ways of addressing cannabis-related harm.

The Symposium is being held at the Rendezvous Hotel, 71 Mayoral Drive Auckland, 27-29 November 2013. Media are welcome to attend.

ENDS

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