The past three decades has been a period of intense and sustained debate in a number of major Western countries about the wisdom of police continuing to apply legislation which can severely punish offenders by fines and even imprisonment because of laws and policies that prohibit the use, possession and cultivation of cannabis. The large and growing number of young adults who have been exposed to the drug, some of whom have been charged and received criminal convictions with attendant deleterious effects on their employment and wellbeing, has forced policy makers to re-evaluate the justification for continuing to criminalise cannabis. This thesis examines in detail the law reforms that occurred in early 2004 with respect to cannabis offenders in Western Australia (WA) and the United Kingdom (UK) and what lessons these reforms may hold for other jurisdictions interested in decriminalisation of minor cannabis offences. A study was undertaken to compare the shortcomings and advantages of the different approaches to reform followed in WA and the UK. Reference to the reform in the UK, will be confined to meaning England, Wales and Northern Ireland as the necessary administrative guidelines have not so far been issued for Scotland. In WA the reforms required a substantial legislative effort to establish a complex framework that outlined in detail the circumstances when police may issue cannabis infringement notices (CINs), whereas in the UK the approach involved limited legislative activity by the reclassification of the legal status of cannabis and by providing police with administrative guidelines issued by the Association of Chief Police Commissioners as to how to exercise their discretion in issuing formal warnings for a minor cannabis offence. A comparison is made with New Zealand (NZ), where in spite of there being a similar process of deliberation and consultation as in WA and the UK, the government refused to implement formal reform because of a perception it was unable to decriminalise minor cannabis offences because of the restrictions imposed of agreement between the Clarke Labour Government and a minor political party. The example of the failure of government in NZ to achieve reform illustrates the importance that in some jurisdictions there will be a significant role for non parliamentary advisory bodies and lobby groups to argue for reform and to garner public support when reform has stalled or been frustrated. The thesis also includes a preliminary exploratory study using a number of indicators, such as prevalence and conviction data, to determine if the reforms implemented by the CIN scheme have resulted in or are likely to create unanticipated harms and to explore some of the issues in being to determine whether changes in law enforcement practices and priorities have impacted on the cannabis market or are likely to change the way cannabis may be transacted in WA.

Thesis (M.Psych.Clin.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

Seminario para optar al título de Ingeniero Comercial, Mención Administración / Autor no autoriza el acceso a texto completo de su documento hasta Diciembre 2016. / Como se mencionó anteriormente, el proyecto “Bless CoffeeShop” consiste en un café modelo como los que funcionan en Holanda, los cuales se caracterizan por ofrecer productos ligados a la cannabis en distintas formas, además de distintos ambientes para el deleite de sus clientes. Por otro lado es necesario destacar que no se venderá alcohol dentro del recinto ya que no es parte de cultura cannábica mezclar estos dos productos. En el fondo, el proyecto no solo busca ofrecer la sustancia y las bebidas sino que convertir la experiencia de ir a este restorán en un viaje hacia la cultura cannábica, haciendo sentir a los chilenos una experiencia vibrante y nueva. Basándonos en todo lo anterior, junto a otros análisis en los cuales profundizamos, podemos afirmar que la industria de la entretención y el ocio tiene un alto atractivo, por lo que existe una oportunidad de negocio importante con el cual se puede satisfacer las demandas y necesidades de los potenciales clientes. En cuanto al mercado objetivo, este se definió como “hombres y mujeres de entre 21 y 45 años de edad, de cualquier nacionalidad, que perciban un ingreso mayor a $300.000 CLP, abiertos a nuevas experiencias, con un estilo de vida relajado, que busquen encontrar la calidad de un servicio nuevo y abiertos a conocer aún más la cultura del cannabis”. La principal fortaleza de nuestro proyecto radica en las características de los productos que Bless CoffeeShop ofrece, debido a que hasta ahora su uso está prohíbido en la ley Chilena, no obstante se prepara un párrafo completo en este proyecto que hace referencia a la ley y su respectivo marco teórico para levantar el negocio en Chile. Nuestro plan de negocios profundizará, en primer lugar, en el análisis de mercado, donde estudiaremos con detalle el mercado meta y los potenciales clientes que podría tener “Bless CoffeeShop”. En segundo lugar, procederemos a analizar la industria, y con esto tener en cuenta nuestros principales competidores y sustitutos, para poder saber cómo diferenciarse de ellos. Luego, detallaremos un plan de marketing y un plan de implantación, además del modelo de negocios. En seguida, analizaremos los riesgos potenciales que podríamos correr en este negocio y también haremos un análisis legal (patentes necesarias, etc.). Finalmente, terminaremos con una exhaustiva evaluación financiera, de manera que podamos estudiar si el proyecto es rentable o no. Todo esto estará resumido en la conclusión y contestaríamos la pregunta de si el proyecto es o no viable.

Memoria para optar al título de Periodista / El objetivo principal de esta investigación se relaciona con la necesidad de comprender y dimensionar cómo hoy en Chile se está tratando el consumo de drogas, particularmente el de cannabis. ¿Cuál es el foco de nuestra actual política de drogas? ¿Cuál es el rol de las instituciones? ¿Qué tan lejos está Chile de una legislación que se centre en los consumidores?, estos son algunos de los cuestionamientos que direccionan el escrito. Por medio de la recopilación de múltiples voces, entre ellos especialistas e investigadores en salud pública, abogados, académicos y activistas, el reportaje de investigación busca entregar un panorama amplio respecto a la aplicación de la ley que tipifica los delitos asociados al consumo de drogas, tomando como referencia, el caso de la cannabis, sustancia que actualmente se ubica en el centro del debate debido a las posibilidades terapéuticas que el uso de la planta representa. Contar con una política de drogas integral, que califique a las sustancias según su potencial dañino y de adicción, y que considere los distintos tipos de usuarios de drogas es una de las demandas centrales que pueden extraerse de la lectura del texto.

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Cannabis är narkotika och omdiskuterat, särskilt när det gäller dess medicinska användning. Många rykten florerar om mot vad det kan användas till och ett flertal individer med olika sjukdomsbakgrund självmedicinerar sig med Cannabis. Cannabinoider som extraheras från Cannabis kan vara användbara för behandling av en rad olika sjukdomar. Detta arbete fokuserar på att ge en exposé av Cannabisalkaloidernas medicinska värde för personer som upplever smärttillstånd och dess terapeutiska effekt vid sjukdomarna Multipel Skleros (MS) och Parkinsons. Metoden som användes var en litteraturstudie och databaserna PubMed och Cochrane har använts för att ta fram informationen. Studien är baserad på fem artiklar, av vilka två fokuserar på smärtlindring, en på muskelstelhet i samband med MS, en på dyskinesi hos patienter med Parkinsons och en på tics hos individer med Tourettes syndrom. Smärtlindring noterades både i studien där patienterna led av HIV-orsakad smärta och i den neuropatiska smärtstudien. Resultatet hos Parkinsonpatienter blev att dyskinesin försämrades en aning. Hos MS patienter sågs inte någon skillnad i primära effektmåtten men däremot på vissa av de sekundära. Ingen positiv effekt kunde noteras hos patienterna i Tourette-studiens olika skalor förutom i några av deras delmoment.

The Swedish debate concerning cannabis legalisation is characterised by a largley politically widespread concensus regarding a zero tolerance policy. In the last five years several countries and states in the US have legalised or moved towards a legalisation of cannabis. This essay aims to map if the international debate along with Swedish activists have made an imprint on the debate in regard to a change in attitude towards cannabis in Swedish newspapers from 2010 to 2015. A quantative text analysis was adopted to complete this task, with four main variables at its basis. The results were inconclusive, but there might be a slight change during the period 2013 to 2015 in regard to how cannabis is referred to in the media. The results were discussed from a paternalistic and liberal point of view. Further studies are needed during a longer period of time for the results to be conclusive.

Cannabis is the world's most cultivated, trafficked and used illicit drug, and the move towards its legalisation has given rise to a nascent industry that is attracting increasing attention from investors, manufacturers, and researchers. Due to the plant maintaining its illegal and stigmatised status in many countries, cannabis research is limited, which has resulted in a significant gap in imperative knowledge about this burgeoning industry. Although the cannabis industry is clearly making a move from stigmatised to mainstream, little research has been conducted to investigate this transition, more particularly in a South African context. This dissertation investigates destigmatisation processes and strategies employable by cannabis organisations by way of three individual but interconnected studies. They aimed, respectively, to conduct a systematic literature review of organisational destigmatisation and establish a practitioner-driven research agenda; to depict the destigmatisation landscape of South African recreational cannabis organisations through a mixed methods content analysis and finally, to explore the influence of these organisations' destigmatisation strategies on attitudes towards cannabis. Study 1 presents a destigmatisation model as its main contribution, finding that stigma management strategies are classified into six main categories: Conforming, Hiding and Structural Responses were identified as stigma avoidance or perpetuation strategies, and Affirming, Challenging, and Infusing as destigmatisation strategies. Affirming strategies were found to be at the heart of destigmatisation, and an industry-collective approach to destigmatisation was ranked as the most prioritised research need by South African cannabis industry professionals. Study 2 found that Infusing strategies were significantly the most popular of the destigmatisation methods used by South African recreational cannabis organisations, accounting for nearly 80% of the themes, with branding tactics predominant in this category. Key insights revealed that there is a mismatch between the strategies most employed by cannabis businesses and the strategies that exert the strongest influence on attitudes, which Study 3 found to be recontextualisation of the cannabis industry, evidenced by education using scientific facts and figures. These findings highlight that a lack of knowledge is the main barrier to cannabis industry destigmatisation and should be counteracted by the rhetoric activity of educating the public. In summary, this study served to inform destigmatisation processes for core stigmatised organisations - with a focus on the cannabis industry; to catalyse cannabis destigmatisation research in a manner relevant to the South African cannabis industry; to provide a detailed description of the destigmatisation landscape of the South African cannabis industry from an organisational perspective; and, lastly, to determine the most influential destigmatisation strategies from a consumer perspective.

Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that affects 1 in 5 adults globally. An increasing number of people living with chronic pain are using medical cannabis for symptom relief, however, the therapeutic potential of medical cannabis for treating chronic pain is debated. We conducted a retrospective cohort study examining cannabis use for the management of chronic pain using anonymous archival data obtained from the medicinal cannabis tracking app, Strainprint®. Multilevel models were used to analyze data from 741 users in which inhaled, and orally consumed cannabis was used to treat symptoms of chronic pain. In our adjusted model, greater pain relief was associated with male sex vs. female (-0.69 cm on a 10 cm visual analogue scale [VAS]; 95%CI -0.46 to -0.91 cm), joint pain vs. muscle-related pain (-0.05 cm; 95%CI -0.01 to -0.08 cm), and high THC vs. high cannabidiol [CBD]) products (-0.08 cm; 95%CI -0.01 to -0.14 cm); but no significant association with age (-0.008 cm; 95%CI 0.09 to -0.10 cm), nerve pain vs. muscle pain (-0.03 cm; 95%CI 0.02 to -0.08 cm), or the route of administration (inhaled vs. oral, -0.05 cm; 95%CI 0.002 to -0.1 cm). There was a significant interaction with duration of use and product type; specifically, greater pain relief was associated with prolonged use of balanced products (THC & CBD) vs. high CBD products (-0.009 cm; 95%CI -0.003 to -0.01 cm). Overall, medical cannabis provided large improvements in chronic pain symptoms. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Depuis la légalisation des extraits de cannabis et du cannabis comestible en 2018 au Canada, plusieurs industries ont commencé la production de produits transformés contenant des cannabinoïdes, un marché en forte croissance générant d'importants revenus. Puisque la législation permettant la vente de produits dérivés du cannabis pour des fins alimentaires au Canada est très récente (2019), peu d'études ont été réalisées sur l'impact de la matrice alimentaire sur la stabilité et la bioaccessibilité de ces composés actifs. En effet, les travaux publiés se sont plutôt intéressés à l'incorporation du cannabis dans des matrices à usage pharmaceutique ou utilisant des ingrédients non comestibles. Ainsi, avec la demande grandissante de produits comestibles, il devient primordial d'approfondir les recherches afin d'offrir une gamme de produits sécuritaires et innovants pour les consommateurs. Dans le cadre de ce projet de maîtrise, une huile de cannabis a été nanoémulsifiée et séchée par atomisation afin d'obtenir une poudre hydrosoluble enrichie en cannabinoïdes. Trois émulsifiants différents (isolat de protéines de lactosérum et de soya et Tween 80) ont été utilisés en combinaison avec de la maltodextrine. Tout d'abord, l'étude des propriétés physicochimiques de la poudre générée a été réalisée. Par la suite, la stabilité et la bioaccessibilité des cannabinoïdes ont été évaluées. Bien que les isolats protéiques aient montré une meilleure efficacité d'encapsulation que le Tween 80, ce surfactant non-ionique a permis une meilleure bioaccessibilité des composés actifs. Ces résultats peuvent être en partie expliqués par la dénaturation et l'agrégation des protéines à l'interface de la nanoémulsion lors du séchage par atomisation. Par conséquent, l'évaluation de l'impact des divers émulsifiants a d'abord permis d'approfondir les connaissances au niveau de la nanoencapsulation par atomisation de composés lipophiles comme les cannabinoïdes. Ce projet a également permis de mettre en relief l'importance de la structuration de l'interface d'une nanoémulsion sur sa stabilité au séchage par atomisation et sur la bioaccessibilité des cannabinoïdes durant la digestion. Ces résultats permettront de développer des stratégies plus efficaces pour la formulation de produits à base de cannabis comestibles afin de mieux répondre au marché grandissant de produits transformés du cannabis. / Since the legalization of cannabis extracts and edible cannabis in 2018 in Canada, several industries have started producing processed products containing cannabinoids, a fast-growing market that generates significant revenue. Due to the recent opening of legislation allowing the sale of cannabis-derived products for food purposes in Canada (2019), few studies have been conducted on the impact of the food matrix on the stability and bioaccessibility of these active compounds. To date, existing work in the literature has focused more on the incorporation of cannabis into pharmaceutical formats using inedible ingredients. With the growing demand for edible products, it is essential to extend scientific knowledge to offer consumers a safe, innovative, and effective product. As part of this master's project, cannabis oil was homogenized to form a nanoemulsion and spray-dried to obtain a water-soluble powder enriched with encapsulated cannabinoids. Three emulsifiers (whey protein isolate, soy protein isolate, and Tween 80) were used in combination with maltodextrin to assess their impact on various aspects. At first, the study of the physicochemical properties of the powder obtained was carried out. Secondly, the stability and bioaccessibility of the cannabinoids were evaluated. Although the protein isolates showed better encapsulation efficiency, the non-ionic surfactant allows better bioaccessibility of the active compounds. The denaturation and aggregation of proteins can partly explain these results of the changes observed at the interface of the nanoemulsion during spray drying. The results obtained showed the importance of choosing the proper emulsifier for the encapsulation by atomization of lipophilic compounds such as cannabinoids. This project has highlighted the importance of structuring a nanoemulsion's interface on its stability to spray drying and the bioaccessibility of cannabinoids during digestion. These results will allow the development of more effective strategies for formulating edible cannabis products to better respond to the growing market for processed cannabis products.