Class A (the most harmful) includes morphine and diamorphine (heroin). Class B (an intermediate category) includes amphetamines, barbiturates, cannabis and cannabis resin. Class C (the least harmful) includes anabolic steroids, benzodiazepines and growth hormones. Cannabis is derived from the cannabis plant (Cannabis sativa).
It belongs to the class of depressant drugs. It is the most commonly used illicit drug in Australia (AIHW, 201). The existence of cannabis dependence syndrome was a controversial topic during the second half of the 20th century. It is now accepted as a real syndrome and is formally included in DSM V.
There is a considerable demand for treatment for cannabis withdrawal, which also suggests its presence. Data suggests that 10 percent of those who use cannabis will develop dependence. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted to reclassify cannabis on Wednesday, removing it from the strict list of Schedule IV that includes dangerous and highly addictive drugs such as heroin. He still considers cannabis to be a controlled substance.
But the move, that U.S. USA, USA UU. Backed up, it could ease restrictions on research on the therapeutic use of marijuana. The 53-member committee approved the change in a tight vote, 27 to 25, with 1 abstention.
Russia openly opposed the measure and called cannabis the most abused drug in the world. The UN, the UN. The vote follows the guidelines of the World Health Organization and its expert committee on drug addiction, which had recommended removing cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The drug will now remain on Schedule I instead of being on both lists. The vote was closely followed by marijuana activists and the burgeoning cannabis industry, as it could reinforce arguments in favor of easing legal restrictions on marijuana and establishing consistent regulations.
In his recommendation to the UN, N.The Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the WHO committee, noted that cannabis can have adverse effects and cause dependence. But he also mentioned the drug's benefits in reducing pain and nausea, as well as relieving symptoms of medical conditions such as anorexia, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. He noted that, unlike opioids such as fentanyl, cannabis is not associated with a significant risk of death. The committee noted that the inclusion of cannabis and cannabis resin in Schedule IV is not consistent with the criteria for including a drug in Schedule IV. The WHO committee also said that, despite limited solid scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis, the drug has been shown to be different from Schedule IV substances that have little or no therapeutic use.
The removal of cannabis from the list of most restricted substances, he added, means that the UN agrees with the WHO that cannabis is not “susceptible to adverse effects” compared to other Schedule IV drugs, and that cannabis has significant potential therapeutic value. He described the vote as an important step in making cannabis more accessible and, of course, starting with today's verdict, more acceptable. It is up to each country to establish its own drug policies and punishments. However, international drug control treaties allow their parties to prohibit or limit the manufacture or import of the most dangerous substances.
Under the 1961 convention, Schedule IV is reserved for drugs that are particularly prone to abuse and harm. He was represented at the session by Ethan Glick, counselor of the U., N. Mission to international organizations in Vienna, who said that the legitimate medical use of a cannabis preparation has been established through scientific research, and cannabis no longer meets the criteria for inclusion in Schedule IV of the Single Convention. However, reclassifying cannabis into a less strict control category, Glick added, could spur new research on its medical benefits.
The vote to change the classification of cannabis was the main item on the agenda of the morning session of the commission's virtual meetings that began on Wednesday. The sessions are a key international forum for drug policy debates. The proposal has been subject to a comprehensive review. The WHO made its recommendation nearly two years ago, leading to months of consideration and debate. This summer alone, according to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, its virtual meetings on the proposals were attended by more than 600 experts from more than 100 countries.
Ahead of Wednesday's vote, an advocacy group based in Buenos Aires sent a letter to the commission specifically asking it to facilitate access to medical marijuana. The Argentine Women's Group Forum on HIV, Women and Family stated that under the current legal framework, people have been unjustly deprived of their freedom because they fight every day to alleviate their pain naturally using this plant, as an alternative and traditional medicine. The decision to remove cannabis from Schedule IV was the only cannabis-related initiative that gained approval on Wednesday, as commission members rejected a handful of other WHO recommendations on THC and cannabis extracts. Most of the other votes on cannabis were also close, except for a broad rejection of a proposal that would have used a footnote in Schedule IV to declare that preparations containing cannabidiol, or CBD, are not under international control as long as they contain less than 0.2% of THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis.
That rejection came despite a request from the European Medicinal Cannabis Association, which submitted a position paper to the commission entitled “CBD is not a narcotic”.A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told NPR that the vote for reclassification is not an approval of the use of the cannabis plant or cannabis resin for medical purposes, adding that it will not change the status of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act or international conventions. On the contrary, he said, the recommendation of the expert committee alone should suffice to establish that CBD is not subject to international control. Medical cannabis is cannabis prescribed to alleviate the symptoms of a medical condition, such as epilepsy. Common combinations include cannabis and tobacco and cannabis and alcohol (Quick Guide to Drugs and Alcohol, 201).
The reclassification of cannabis and cannabis resin will remove some international procedural obstacles to the research and development of cannabis-based medical products, in accordance with national regulatory frameworks).
