“The therapeutic potential of cannabis is one of the factors driving the push for legalization of cannabis use…
Decisions regarding the legal status of cannabis have long been framed (for the public at least) with reference to the perceived health risks and harms associated with use. Yet, drug policy and legislation relating to the use of cannabis are rarely based on the scientific evidence of the known risks and harms.
There are many reasons for this discrepancy, with the politicization of cannabis use, where ideology and moralizing are given precedence over the science, being one.
Thus, we begin this research topic with Aggarwal discussion of how such politicization has contributed to the current smokescreen that is obscuring our understanding of cannabis, including the impact it has on the ability of researchers to collect and disseminate accurate information about the effects of cannabis use.”