Current and future challenges associated with emerging cannabis markets

A recording of this session is available >>

The legalization of cannabis use and supply for recreational purposes has fundamentally changed the policy landscape. The purpose of this panel is to discuss challenges that have emerged balancing public health, public safety and social justice in the development of new recreational cannabis markets in Australia, the U.S., Europe, Uruguay and New Zealand. It interrogates the latest evidence from profit-driven commercial models and impacts on arrests, consumption, traffic safety, prices and the size of the illegal market. It also interrogates some middle ground options – legally regulated cannabis social clubs and mixed supply models. In so doing it will show that legalization is not a binary choice – it involves a series of decisions that will ultimately shape public health, safety, and social equity outcomes – and that middle ground options for legal cannabis deserve more attention in future cannabis policy debates.