WHEREAS, As of March 2023, a total of 38 states and four
territories regulate cannabis for the recommendation,
registration and dispensing for approved patients; and
WHEREAS, As of June 2022, at least 21 states, two territories
and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation to
regulate cannabis for adult use; and
WHEREAS, Scientific research has shown cannabis may be
helpful in treating symptoms of epilepsy, nausea and vomiting
associated with cancer chemotherapy, loss of appetite and weight
loss associated with HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis,
anxiety, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome,
Tourette syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder and sleep
disorder; and
WHEREAS, The World Health Organization has called for
cannabis to be removed from the most restrictive category of the
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961; and
WHEREAS, The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs
voted to reclassify cannabis from the strict Schedule IV
classification of the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs that
includes dangerous and highly addictive drugs such as heroin;
and
WHEREAS, Under the Controlled Substances Act, other Schedule
I controlled substances include heroin, and Schedule II
controlled substances include cocaine, methamphetamine,
hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl; and
WHEREAS, In 2021 alone, more than 70,000 Americans died from
drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids, and the latest
provisional drug overdose death counts through May 2022 suggest
an acceleration of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids
during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
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