Legalising Cannabis for Recreational Use: What may we learn from policy experiments underway in the Americas?

 Speaker:  Professor Wayne Hall

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Abstract:

Wayne Hall's presentation will describe how recent cannabis policy experiments have come about in the USA. He will more briefly outline the cannabis policies being implemented in Uruguay and the policy that is proposed in Canada. He will describe the experience so far in implementing the legalisation of recreational cannabis use in Washington State in the USA which he visited in 2016. His talk will answer the following questions: how has cannabis legalisation come about in 8 US states since 2012? How is cannabis legalisation being implemented in Washington State? What might we expect to happen to rates of cannabis use and problems related to cannabis use in states that have legalised adult cannabis? When may we expect to see any such changes? What constitutional complications do these state laws raise for the US Federal government? What implications may cannabis policy experiments in the USA, Uruguay and Canada have for the future of the international drug control treaties and for cannabis policies in other developed countries?