Can Sri Lanka learn from the Canadian experience?

Cannabis was prohibited in the United Kingdom under its Dangerous Drugs Act in 1928

Nearly two and a half years since legalisation, the Canadian experience has been proven to be a very successful. None of the detrimental effects predicted by many individuals and groups has become a reality. Rather, the government has collected cannabis excise tax of 32 million Canadian dollars (US$23.7 million) from April 2019 through March 2020

Canada legalised the use of cannabis (marijuana) for recreational purposes on October 17, 2018, under the Cannabis Act. Prior to that, several jurisdictions in the USA had already done so, thereby providing reasonable justification for this action. However, there was a very heated debate against the  legalisation idea even after the government of Canada efficiently disseminated important information to the general public. 

It can be seen that in many recent discussions in both the print- as well visual media in Sri Lanka, a very distorted and counterproductive dis-information campaign is being launched. Narrow-minded individuals and groups are vying to propagate their dogmatic ideals to circumvent strong scientific and historical evidence. An issue of this sort cannot be discussed and arrive at ‘comprehensive’ solutions if some stakeholders hide behind dogmatic blinders.

Common sense as well as science must be given its due place, not antiquated narrow-minded propaganda.   
Nearly two and a half years since legalization, the Canadian experience has been proven to be a very successful. None of the detrimental effects predicted by many individuals and groups has become a reality. Rather, the government has collected cannabis excise tax of 32 million Canadian dollars (US$23.7 million) from April 2019 through March 2020. Although this revenue represents only a tiny fraction of the Canadian government’s total revenues of C$334.3 billion for the period, it illustrates growth in Canada’s cannabis tax proceeds. 

Legally regulating mind-altering substances has probably been on the agenda since use of those first became widely used. 

In Sri Lanka as well as in India and in other countries, cannabis has been used since ancient times for its therapeutic properties in traditional Ayurveda medicine. 

When investigating the issue of legalising cannabis, it is appropriate first to study the parallel historical issue of use of alcohol and the reasons and procedures that led to its legalization. Then, one can apply that knowledge toward the issue of legalisation of cannabis in Sri Lanka. 

Alcohol Policy in USA
Alcohol has been a part of American culture for hundreds of years. Some Native American tribes used alcohol for ceremonial purposes. In the seventeenth century, a ship called Mayflower sailing from England to the New World, illegally and docked at Cape Cod, USA,  because they were looking to replenish their supply of beer. By the 1820s, Americans of all ages were drinking alcohol more than at any point in history.

Widespread over-consumption and public drunkenness led to the temperance movement, which gained momentum through the formation of the American Temperance Society in 1826. Temperance groups called for abstinence from alcohol and gained cultural momentum, resulting in increased demands for government prohibition. Maine passed a law in 1851 prohibiting the manufacture and sale of liquor, only to repeal it five years later. 

In 1920, Congress ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, making the production, import, transport and sale of alcohol illegal nationwide. The separate Volstead Act (designed to enforce Prohibition) went into effect the same year. 

At the same time, illegal activities rose during Prohibition. Illegally distilled spirits, such as moonshine and bathtub gin, were produced in mass. Speakeasies that served illegal alcohol gained popularity. 

Cries for repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment increased. Prohibition laws were intended to curb violence and crime, but the opposite happened. And the black market for alcohol disrupted the legitimate economy.

With the onset of the Great Depression, state governments began looking again at the tax revenue that legal alcohol sales could generate. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt secured the Democratic nomination for president and won on a platform that supported ending Prohibition. Soon after his election, in 1933, Congress proposed and the states approved the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed both the Eighteenth Amendment and Volstead Act. A few states continued statewide prohibition, but by 1966 all of them had abandoned it.

The above summary of the passage of alcohol from prohibition to legalisation mirrors the passage of cannabis in Canada. In short, legalization of cannabis in Canada has been a success story. However, it remains to be seen how it will play out in Sri Lanka given the given the controversial cultural nuances.

A Brief History of Cannabis as medicine
Many have viewed cannabis as having medical value throughout history:
The Chinese emperor Fu Hsi referenced it as a popular medicine in 2900 BC, and the herb was included in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, the Rh-Ya, in 1500 BC. By 100 AD, the Chinese had documented more than one hundred medical uses for cannabis, including treating gout, malaria and absentmindedness. In 200 AD, surgeon Hua T’o performed a number of surgeries using an anaesthetic made from cannabis resin and wine.

Bhang, a drink that combined cannabis and milk, was used as an anesthetic and antiphlegmatic in India around 1000 BC. By 600 BC, Indians believed it could prolong life, improve thinking and judgment, reduce fevers, induce sleep, cure dysentery and cure leprosy.

The Persians of 700 BC listed cannabis as the most important of 10,000 medicinal plants.

The Greeks of 200 BC used it for earaches, edema and inflammation.

By 1840, marijuana had become part of mainstream Western medicine, and was added to the U.S. Pharmacopeia in 1850. 

Cannabis was prohibited in the United Kingdom under its Dangerous Drugs Act in 1928. In the United States, all states had enacted laws regulating marijuana by 1936. Its use in medicine was replaced by aspirin as well as by morphine and other opiates. By 1942, it was removed from its place in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia and was considered to have no therapeutic legitimacy.

Merits of legalisation of cannabis far outweighs the possible ill-effects touted by the dogmatic few.  Quite frankly, this is not an issue that merits ‘burning the mid-night oil’ so to speak. It is the right time that the political and social leadership in the country take all available evidence around the world into account and act expediently to legalize cannabis.