When you think of cannabis production, certain countries come to mind; Canada and the U.S., maybe. This makes sense, given North America’s increasing legalization of cannabis for medicinal and recreational use. Indeed, according to the Telegraph, the U.S. and Canada come second and fourth respectively for global cannabis use by population percent. So it is something of a surprise that the UN today revealed that the top country in the world for medical and scientific cannabis production and export is: the United Kingdom.
According to the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the UK, which comes 26th in terms of cannabis use per population percent, produced 95 tonnes of legal cannabis in 2016. This is an increase of more than double from the previous year. But the really shocking figure is the UK’s cannabis export weight which, at 2.1 tonnes, accounted for 67.7% of the world’s total. This is a staggering amount for a country which will not permit legal or even medical use of the product that it is exporting.
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Before the news spreads too much confusion, it’s important to note a crucial detail: the UK produces and exports the world’s largest amount of medical and scientific cannabis, and not cannabis for recreational use. In that regard, it is far outpaced by North America. Canada’s largest private production company, Canopy Growth Corp (TSE:WEED), is permitted to produce 31 tonnes of cannabis alone.
Even so, it would be hard not to accuse the UK of hypocrisy when it comes to cannabis. It doesn’t make much sense for a country to produce so much of a medical product which it sees as having ‘no therapeutic value’, according to drug lobby group Transform. There is actually one UK-licensed medical cannabis product: Sativex. Essentially a cannabis plant in spray form, it is used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis. But it is only available on the NHS in Wales, and that’s it.
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Transform’s Senior Police Analyst Steve Rolles said of the UN report: “It is scandalous and untenable for the UK government to maintain that cannabis has no medical uses, at the same time as licensing the world’s biggest government-approved medical cannabis production and export market.
“The government must relax restrictions that grant a monopoly for a single product to a single company. It must allow access to cannabis-based medicines that serve patients’ needs – what they don’t need is the government’s cruel and misguided war on people who use drugs,” he concluded.
As news of the UN report spreads, a backlash is sure to come the UK’s way. It remains to be seen what the government’s move will be in response, but it is entirely possible that it will reconsider its stance on medical cannabis afterward.
Featured image: Marijuana.com
