Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on Illicit Cannabis Cultivation in a Time of Policy Change.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews some of the different adaptations made by cannabis growers in countries where cannabis has not been legalised.FindingsCannabis growers are adjusting to different legal settings by focusing on home production. Participation in cultivation is a crime, but can also be activism: an effort to change the law. Medical use of cannabis is a particularly important driver here. Having to break the law to alleviate symptoms and treat illnesses provides both a greater sense of urgency and a level of sympathy not usually granted to illicit drug users.Practical implicationsGrass-roots advocacy may drive policy change.Originality/valueThis is an original assessment of current state of knowledge on cannabis cultivation in countries where cannabis cultivation remains restricted.
Highlights
To the disappointment of several hundred activists assembled on the patch of green on Parliament Square in the freezing cold it never got to a vote, as the discussion on the preceding motion, Overseas Electors, dragged on
The event captured many of the issues transforming the field of drug policy, at least as related to cannabis
Cannabis use in the UK, as in many other countries, has come of age, its respectability confirmed by the rising flow of scientific evidence of its therapeutic benefits
Summary
On Friday 23rd February 2018 the medical cannabis bill introduced by UK Member of Parliament Paul Flynn went in for its second reading in the House of Commons. To the disappointment of several hundred activists assembled on the patch of green on Parliament Square in the freezing cold it never got to a vote, as the discussion on the preceding motion, Overseas Electors, dragged on. As well as campaigning for legalisation – whether for medical cannabis or for drug use more widely – users and sympathisers often engage in the illegal activities of cultivation and supply as well as possession and use It is this activism, and the wider backdrop of cannabis policy change, that provides the focus of this special issue. Many of the consumers driving change in cannabis policy confound societal perceptions and fears of the ‘drug taker’.7 They use cannabis not from addiction, the search for pleasure or oblivion but in order to control pain, fight nausea or keep any of a number of medical conditions in check. The process for patient and medical practitioner is cumbersome, and health insurance companies often refuse to reimburse the costs
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