The legalization of cannabis: An American experiment with global consequences

Most countries have signed the international treaties banning the production, distribution, and
possession of cannabis. Several countries have nevertheless decriminalized the use of these drugs,
and even implemented some forms of attenuated or “de facto” legalization, the best-known case
being found in the Netherlands since 1976. These trends nonetheless remained marginal to the
international prohibitive system, which was headed by the U.S. since its inception. Surprisingly,
in the last decade, some American countries have implemented major processes decriminalizing
the use and legalizing the production and sale of marijuana and its derivatives. These legal
changes were initially restricted to therapeutic and palliative uses, but recently they have involved
free or “recreational” use as well. In this paper, we briefly review the legalization processes that
are taking place in Uruguay, Canada, and the United States, as well as the main factors that may
have facilitated them. Then we review the main aspects of the legalization processes as well
as the initial perceptible effects of these changes on consumption levels and patterns, on the
public perception of risks, and on the transformation of cannabis products, and their forms of
administration. We also appraise the data available on the effect of these processes on the use
of other psychoactive drugs, traffic accidents, intoxications and levels of criminality. We conclude
by questioning how these American experiments could affect the legal status and the dominant
policies in Europe concerning the most widely-demanded of illegal drugs.