Editing Harm reduction (section)

=====Cannabis=====
{{Further| Cannabis (drug)|Legal issues of cannabis|Health issues and the effects of cannabis}}

Specific harms associated with cannabis include increased crash-rate while [[Effects of cannabis#Effects on driving|driving under intoxication]], [[Cannabis dependence|dependence]], [[Long-term effects of cannabis#Psychosis|psychosis]], detrimental psychosocial outcomes for adolescents who use substances, and [[Cannabis-associated respiratory disease|respiratory disease]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Wayne Hall |last2=Benedikt Fischer |title=Chapter 8 : Harm reduction policies for cannabis |url=http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_101262_EN_emcdda-harm%20red-mon-ch8-web.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110114122128if_/http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_101262_EN_emcdda-harm%20red-mon-ch8-web.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2011 |access-date=11 August 2016 |website=Harm reduction: evidence, impacts, and challenges}}</ref> Some safer cannabis usage campaigns including the UKCIA (United Kingdom Cannabis Internet Activists) encourage methods of consumption shown to cause less physical damage to a person's body, including oral (eating) consumption, vaporization, the usage of bongs which cool and to some extent filters the smoke, and smoking the cannabis without mixing it with tobacco.

The fact that cannabis possession carries prison sentences in most developed countries is also pointed out as a problem by [[European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction]] (EMCDDA), as the consequences of a conviction for otherwise law-abiding people who use substances arguably is more harmful than any harm from the substance itself. For example, by adversely affecting employment opportunities, impacting civil rights,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fact Sheet: Impact of Drug Convictions on Individual Lives |url=https://www.kcba.org/druglaw/pdf/drugconviction.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102162838/https://www.kcba.org/druglaw/pdf/drugconviction.pdf |archive-date=2 January 2011 |access-date=11 August 2016 |website=Kcba.org}}</ref> and straining personal relationships.<ref name="emcdda-cannabis">{{Cite web |title=Chapter 8: Harm reduction policies for cannabis |url=http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_101262_EN_emcdda-harm%20red-mon-ch8-web.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809220109/https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_101262_EN_emcdda-harm%20red-mon-ch8-web.pdf |archive-date=9 August 2021 |access-date=23 June 2010 |vauthors=Hall W, Fischer B}}</ref> Some people like [[Ethan Nadelmann]] of the [[Drug Policy Alliance]] have suggested that organized marijuana legalization would encourage safe use and reveal the factual adverse effects from exposure to this herb's individual chemicals.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 January 2014 |title=Should Latin America End the War on Drugs? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/05/30/should-latin-america-end-the-war-on-drugs/regulate-drug-use-dont-criminalize-it |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408034200/https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/05/30/should-latin-america-end-the-war-on-drugs/regulate-drug-use-dont-criminalize-it |archive-date=8 April 2023 |access-date=4 March 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

The way the laws concerning cannabis are enforced is also very selective, even discriminatory. Statistics show that the socially disadvantaged, immigrants and ethnic minorities have significantly higher arrest rates.<ref name="emcdda-cannabis" /> Drug [[decriminalisation]], such as allowing the possession of small amounts of cannabis and possibly its cultivation for personal use, would alleviate these harms.<ref name="emcdda-cannabis" /> Where decriminalisation has been implemented, such as in several states in Australia and United States, as well as in [[Portugal]] and the [[Netherlands]] no, or only very small adverse effects have been shown on population cannabis usage rate.<ref name="emcdda-cannabis" /> The lack of evidence of increased use indicates that such a policy shift does not have adverse effects on cannabis-related harm while, at the same time, decreasing enforcement costs.<ref name="emcdda-cannabis" />

In the last few years certain strains of the [[cannabis]] plant with higher concentrations of [[THC]] and [[drug tourism]] have challenged the former policy in the Netherlands and led to a more restrictive approach; for example, a ban on selling cannabis to tourists in [[Cannabis coffee shop|coffeeshops]] suggested to start late 2011.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 May 2011 |title=Amsterdam Will Ban Tourists from Pot Coffee Shops |url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/05/amsterdam-ban-pot-sales-tourists/38248/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226021612/https://www.theatlantic.com/global/2011/05/amsterdam-ban-pot-sales-tourists/38248/%20 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |access-date=23 June 2011 |work=Atlantic Wire}}</ref> Sale and possession of cannabis is still illegal in Portugal<ref name="Emdrug">{{Cite web |title=Drug policy profiles – Portugal |url=https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/drug-policy-profiles/portugal_en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204162346/https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/drug-policy-profiles/portugal_en |archive-date=4 February 2024 |access-date=14 July 2023 |publisher=Europa (web portal)}}</ref><!--Law 30/2000 – Decriminalisation; The new law of 2000 maintained the status of illegality for using or possessing any drug for personal use without authorisation. However, the offence changed from a criminal one, with prison a possible punishment, to an administrative one." --> and possession of cannabis is a federal crime in the United States.