6 lessons to guide government cannabis policies were identified in a 2018 study, that was published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. This might help governments in future decision making.

As a result of a review of policy and public health literature from other established policy sectors.The authors of the study “Six policy lessons relevant to cannabis legalization”, managed to identify lessons to guide future cannabis policies for governments wanting to legalize. Furthermore, these learning outcomes can be applied to both the medical side of legal cannabis as well as for the commercial recreational side of it. Making them not only applicable but also useful for comparison of efficacy in follow up studies. Most noteworthy, they stated that “Scientists and policymakers can learn from the successes and failures of alcohol and tobacco policy to regulate cannabis products, thereby mitigating old harms of cannabis prohibition while reducing new harms from legalization.” The 6 lessons to guide government cannabis policies.
  • Medical cannabis programs should either be regulated like accessible medicine or combined with the recreational market.
  • Implementing upper limits for the potency of cannabis products can reduce the harms of using them.
  • Pricing policies, promoting the public health sector may include minimum unit pricing or taxing of the product.
  • Protecting cannabis research and the public health sector from corporate interest can prevent special interest groups from funding studies to report favorable results about their products.
  • Legalizing nations can reduce possession arrests and expunging prior criminal records of cannabis-related convictions to prevent social outcast.
  • Promoting serious research to settle public opinions and fears with facts about the positive and negative effects of cannabis.
Shover, Chelsea & Humphreys, Keith. (2019). Six policy lessons relevant to cannabis legalization. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. 1-9. 10.1080/00952990.2019.1569669.

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