Toxicology of Cannabis and Cannabis Prohibition
Franjo Grotenhermen, “Toxicology of Cannabis and Cannabis
Prohibition,” Chemistry & Biodiversity 4, issue 8 (August 21, 2007):
1744-1769.
This review describes short and long term negative effects of
marijuana use from a cost-benefit perspective. The author argues that
prohibition as it stands today brings the greatest harm to patients who
would benefit from marijuana, and that many of the side effects can be
mediated and tolerated as well as many FDA-approved medicines. Legal and
social harms from prohibition outweigh the comparably mild health
problems arising from recreational use, particularly if
decriminalization is not expected to significantly increase the harm the
drug contributes, as studies suggest. Author Franjo Grotenherman
writes, "Current prohibition on cannabis use may also have harmful side
effects for the individual and the society, while having little
influence on prevalence of use."
Abstract and full text article available for free at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/115806117/issue
