efficacy
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 24 states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories have now legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes. Medical use of marijuana is legal in 13 other states.
Despite the emergence of a patchwork of laws and regulations, the potency of cannabis products is skyrocketing, as measured by increasing concentrations of THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis. According to Yasmin Hurd, director of the Icahn School of Medicine's Institute on Addiction Research and vice chair of the committee that published the latest report, the rapid increase is leading to increased risk for the general population, especially young people, pregnant women, and the elderly. The health risks are not recognized. Report.
Given the changing potency and proliferation of product types, “cannabis is no longer the same as the drug that people think they're voting on,” Dr. Heard said. “We all agree that we need an education campaign.”
Dr Hurd highlighted the report's relevant and important findings. There is a burgeoning industry of unregulated products derived from hemp, including products containing delta-8 THC, another psychoactive substance that some manufacturers have learned to extract from hemp. It is. The report calls on Congress to address what Hurd called “loopholes” that have led to the proliferation of such products.
Recommendations
The report was sponsored by funders including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Cancer Institute. In addition to calling for action at the federal level, the report recommended action at the state level, including the adoption of standards for products such as food, drugs, and dietary supplements.
Countries that have decriminalized or legalized cannabis should follow suit by sealing criminal records or expunging past “low-level” cannabis-related offenses, the report said. The report added that states should strengthen minimum age requirements to prevent young people from obtaining drugs, “just as they would like for the sale of alcohol and tobacco.”
The report also called for states to require “training and certification” for cannabis retail workers. The report says the training should address “the effects of cannabis on the human body, preventing its sale to minors” and “warnings about cannabis-impaired driving.”
