As the tide of cannabis regulatory reform wafts through North America and beyond, it strikes me that the cannabis legalisation lobby started from a strong position. The weight of evidence and cogent arguments at their disposal to counter the totally unhelpful criminalisation of cannabis users was enormous. The economic potential of legalisation and the benefits of not ruining lives with a pointless criminal record were pretty impressive. I also assume health harms and benefits were scrutinised. Experts would have been called in to give evidence, legal submissions made, often I guess comparing the health risks of cannabis to those of alcohol and tobacco. They will have stressed the potential medical benefits. They probably did not shout too loudly about the 10%+ of people who use cannabis who are dependent, that cannabis is a gateway to tobacco, the potential harms on developing young brains and exacerbating mental illness or effects on motivation or relationships of heavy use. I am sure these concerns were raised by evaluating committees. Perhaps advocates responded that a regulated market offered potential solutions to some of these issues not available when the drug is illegal. I don’t know...…..