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1/ I’ve had a look at Joe Boden’s cannabis editorial for the NZMA journal and there’s a key problem: the key research he quotes (Hasin) has very little to say about the impact of *legalisation* in the US.
2/ The trends it observes, some of which are concerning, aren't attributed to recreational cannabis legalisation. Some are attributed to permissive medicinal cannabis laws, or took place under decriminalisation. And yet Boden *recommends* decriminalisation as a safer step.
3/ Otoh, youth use is either stable or falling in *all legalised states*. It could be that half-pie measures like decriminalisation actually aren't as effective as comprehensive regulation. Boden needs to demonstrate that's not the case if he's to recommend decrminalisation.
4/ So, in short, I think there are some significant unexamined assumptions in the NZMA editorial. It's saying something intuitively appealing – decriminalisation is safer than legalisation and regulation – that may not actually be true.
5/ There's also an assumption that legalisation in NZ would look like legalisation in the US. That's not necessarily the case. Boden could have looked at the impact of, say, the cannabis social clubs of Europe. They legalise and regulate the production and sale of cannabis.
6/ Finally, Boden's NZMA editorial does propose decriminalising small-scale social supply, but its solution doesn't regulate production at all. It may be easier to prevent supply to under 18 year-olds if you don't leave production and supply to the criminal market.
