世界衛生組織對大麻的態度開始轉變
第一篇報導
#世界衛生組織承認大麻是一種藥物，並提出『更適切』的藥物法
發表於2019/02/15 作者：John Vibes / Truth Theory
世界衛生組織(WHO)終於承認大麻是一種藥物，正式建議立法者對藥物法採取『更適切』的方法。
世界衛生組織『藥物依賴專家委員會』（ECDD）建議重新歸類大麻的分級，根據最近的科學發現，顯示這種植物具有廣泛的醫療用途。該小組還提議將非精神藥物的，像大麻素(CBD、cannabidiol)這樣的產品，應該完全從國際毒品管制中刪除掉。
去年11月，該委員會就大麻法舉行正式的討論，這是自1961年國際毒品管制法成立以來，第一次正式的討論。根據2019年發布的新聞稿發布會議的總結：
『委員會承認這些物質在公共衛生上的危害，以及潛在的治療與科學應用。所以，委員會建議對於大麻與大麻相關物質，採取一個更適切的國際管控制度。能夠預防毒品相關的毒害，又能確保大麻衍生的製劑可供醫療使用。』
這項建議不自動表示各地法律會立即改變，但這些決定通常是政策上很好的指標，能讓很多立法者依循。
國際大麻和大麻素研究所的Ethan Russo告訴媒體，大麻提倡者把這認為是爭取合法的一個重大的勝利。
『這些建議具有重大意義，因為可能克服研究上的障礙，促進患者取得大麻藥物治療的機會，並讓國際上大麻產品的自由流通起來』他說。
2015年的一份研究，發表在“科學報告”的期刊，顯示吸食大麻比喝酒安全114倍。諷刺的是，列入研究的所有藥物項目中，酒精實際上是最危險的，卻是名單上唯一的合法藥物。
去年的一份由密西根大學發起的研究顯示，青少年和大學生使用大麻的情況正在增加，而酒精和煙草的使用正在下降。事實上，史上第一次，每日的大麻使用量現在已經超過每天的香菸使用量。這是一個很大的發現，香煙和酒精一年導致數萬人失去生命，而大麻不會殺害任何人。
這個月稍早時，Truth Theory曾報導CBS電視台拒絕讓一個大麻廣告在超級足球盃上檔，等於拒絕了500萬美元的廣告收入。CBS對此作出回應，他們不接受大麻廣告，他們不知道其他任何管道是否接受。儘管發現大麻可以是一種強有力的藥物，但在主流媒體仍是備受爭議的話題。
第2篇文章
明顯的『健康益處』，
世界衛生組織重新歸類大麻的分級
在過去60年中，世衛組織堅持大麻不應用於醫學的立場。
然而，根據世界衛生組織藥物依賴專家委員會的說法，現在應將大麻樹脂和其他大麻產品，依照國際藥物法，從四級降到一級。
Newsweek.com報導：四級是1961年訂定最嚴格的類別，代表大麻目前跟海洛因是同等級，嚴重限制了想要研究這項植物的潛在醫療效果的科學家。
這個委員會也建議THC四氫大麻酚，大麻裡頭含有的主要精神藥物的成分，應該歸類到一級藥物。現在四氫大麻酚是歸類到四級藥物，依照1971年精神藥物的公約。
此外，它建議大麻萃取，像大麻二酚的成分所做成的產品，含量不超過0.2％，可以從國際藥物管制公約拿掉。
『在缺乏科學證據的情況下，把大麻放到1961年的條約中是個可怕的偏差，』非營利倡導組織FAAAT的全球政策顧問告訴BMJ，該組織致力於藥物的醫療用途。『世界衛生組織在陳述澄清的部分走了很長的一段路。』
據FAAAT稱，最新消息對於大麻未來在醫學上的角色具有重要的意義。
“非常正面的結果清楚指出大麻與大麻素的醫療應用，將它們重新整合進藥典，平衡危害，和[有效]廢除世界衛生組織自1954年以來的立場，根據該立場，『應該要努力把大麻從所有合法的醫療中拔掉』組織的一份聲明這麼寫到。
專家委員會做出決定，根據它們危害，上癮與濫用的可能性，以及醫療上的益處，重新作出歸類。世界衛生組織表示，自1961年以來沒有再審查過大麻，因為對於健康益處沒有足夠的科學研究。
然而，該組織表示，近年來，情況有改變，因為對大麻的態度有所轉變。大麻和大麻相關產品，在世界一些國家現在已經合法化，用於醫療用途，像加拿大，南非和烏拉圭以及美國幾個州開放為娛樂性用藥。
Ethan Russo，國際大麻和大麻素研究所，告訴新聞周刊，世界衛生組織的最新提案非常重要，有鑑於該組織對大麻一向的立場，。
『這些建議具有重大意義，可能克服研究上的障礙，促進患者取得大麻藥物治療的機會，並讓國際上大麻產品的自由流通，』他說。
然而，跨國國際毒品政策專家Martin Jelsma表示，這是史上第一次，世界衛生組織對大麻與相關物質做了恰當的審核。
不過，他說委員會的提議還不夠積極，指出將大麻列入一級藥物的理由“很令人質疑”。
『問題在於，1961年把大麻列入藥品管制後（世界衛生組織沒有經過適當的審查），要改為第一類藥品時，它自己是自己的標準，』他告訴新聞周刊。『世界衛生組織在其審查過程要做的第一項檢驗是，大麻的上癮程度是否大於可待因或嗎啡，或者比起大麻大麻樹脂或古柯鹼有更氾濫的情況。』
『藥品歸類到第一類有基本的標準，』他說。『現在大麻本身的標準之一就是被審核，需要做的第一件事就是基本測試，與其他標的物的類似性相比較，例如嗎啡或古柯鹼。這些委員會都沒有做，這使得要把大麻與樹脂歸到第一類的建議，看來非常令人質疑。』
First article
WHO Recognizes Cannabis As A Medicine And Proposes “More Rational” Drug Laws
Posted on 2019/02/15
Tags: Cannabis, Medicine, WHO
By John Vibes / Truth Theory
The World Health Organization (WHO) has finally recognized cannabis as a medicine and has formally proposed that legislators take a “more rational” approach to drug laws.
The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) has proposed that cannabis be rescheduled in light of recent scientific findings that show a wide range of medical uses for the plant. The panel also proposed that non-psychoactive cannabis products like CBD should be entirely removed from international drug controls.
Last November, the committee had their first formal discussion about cannabis laws since the International Drug Control Conventions in 1961. According to a 2019 press release that summarized the meeting:
“The Committee recognized the public health harms presented by these substances, as well as their potential for therapeutic and scientific use. As a result, the Committee recommended a more rational system of international control surrounding cannabis and cannabis-related substances that would prevent drug-related harms whilst ensuring that cannabis-derived pharmaceutical preparations are available for medical use.”
This recommendation does not automatically mean that the laws will change everywhere immediately, but these decisions are often very good indications of the policy that many lawmakers will follow.
Ethan Russo of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute told Newsweek that cannabis advocates see this as a major win in the fight for legalization.
“These recommendations are of monumental importance as they may lead to the overcoming of barriers to research, enhance access of patients to cannabis-based medicine, and allow free commerce of cannabis products internationally,” Russo says.
A 2015 study, published in the journal, ‘Scientific Reports,’ suggests that smoking cannabis is roughly 114 times safer than drinking alcohol. Ironically, out of all the drugs that were researched in the study, alcohol was actually the most dangerous, and it was the only legal drug on the list.
A study published last year by researchers at the University of Michigan has shown that cannabis use among teens and college students is increasing while alcohol and tobacco use is declining. In fact, for the first time ever, the rate of daily cannabis use has now surpassed the rate of daily cigarette use. This is a great discovery considering the fact that cigarettes and alcohol kill tens of thousands a year while marijuana kills no one.
Earlier this month, Truth Theory reported that CBS blocked a pro-cannabis advertisement from appearing on the super bowl this year, turning down a $5 million deal. CBS responded to the proposal by saying that they do not accept ads on cannabis, and they do not know of any other channel that does. Despite new findings that cannabis can be a powerful medicine, it continues to be a controversial topic in mainstream circles.
2nd article
WHO to Reschedule Cannabis for First Time in History Due to Obvious ‘Health Benefits’
The World Health Organization is set to reschedule cannabis for the first time in history due to its obvious health benefits.
For the last 60 years, WHO has maintained that cannabis should not be used in medicine.
However, according to the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, cannabis resin and other marijuana products should now be downgraded from a schedule IV to a schedule I drug under international law.
Newsweek.com reports: Schedule IV is the strictest category outlined in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs Treaty, meaning that cannabis is currently treated in the same way as heroin, severely restricting scientists who want to investigate the plant in the search for potential therapies.
The committee also recommended that THC—the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis—should be designated as a schedule I drug to simplify its classification. Currently, THC is classified separately as a schedule IV drug under the 1971 Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
Furthermore, it proposes that products made with a cannabis extract known as cannabidiol, which contain no more than 0.2 percent THC, should be removed from all international drug control conventions.
“The placement of cannabis in the 1961 treaty, in the absence of scientific evidence, was a terrible injustice,” Michael Krawitz, global policy adviser at the nonprofit advocacy organization FAAAT that campaigns for the medical use of the drug, told the BMJ. “The World Health Organization has gone a long way toward setting the record straight.”
According to the FAAAT, the latest news has significant implications for the future role of cannabis in the field of medicine.
“The very positive outcome clearly acknowledges medical applications of cannabis and cannabinoids, reintegrates them into pharmacopoeias, balances harms and [effectively] repeals the WHO position from 1954, according to which ‘there should be efforts towards the abolition of cannabis from all legitimate medical practice,’” a statement from the organization read.
The Expert Committee makes decisions on the scheduling of substances based on their potential for harm, dependence and misuse, as well as their medical benefits. The WHO says that it has not reviewed cannabis since it was scheduled in 1961 because there was not sufficient scientific research into the health effects of the drug.
However, the organization said that in recent years this situation had changed as attitudes toward the drug shifted. Cannabis and cannabis-related products have now been legalized for medical use in several countries around the world, while Canada, South Africa and Uruguay—as well as several U.S. states—permit its recreational use.
Ethan Russo of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute told Newsweek that the WHO’s latest proposals were very significant given the organization’s historical stance on cannabis.
“These recommendations are of monumental importance as they may lead to the overcoming of barriers to research, enhance access of patients to cannabis-based medicine, and allow free commerce of cannabis products internationally,” he said.
Meanwhile, international drug policy expert Martin Jelsma from the Transnational Institute said this was the “first time in history” that the WHO had undertaken a proper critical review of cannabis and related substances.
Nevertheless, he said the committee’s proposals don’t go far enough, noting that its rationale for keeping cannabis in schedule I is “highly questionable.”
“The problem is that after the inclusion of cannabis in 1961 (without a proper WHO review), it became itself one of the standards for further scheduling decisions for schedule I,” he told Newsweek. “The first test the WHO must do in its review process is whether a substance has ‘addiction-producing properties greater than those of codeine and more or less comparable to those of morphine’ or has ‘a liability to abuse comparable to that of cannabis, cannabis resin or cocaine.’
“Those are the basic criteria for scheduling decisions for schedule I,” he said. “Now one of the standards itself (cannabis) for the review process is being reviewed, that basic test needs to be done first with regard to similarity with the other standards, e.g., morphine or cocaine. The committee fails to do that which makes the recommendation to keep cannabis and resin in schedule I very questionable on procedural grounds.”
February 10, 2019 Sean Adl-Tabatabai