On the occasion of the open session of the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence of the WHO – World Health Organization – which for the first time in the UN history is about to start a review of medical cannabis – the Luca Coscioni Association has submitted a written statement, together with Forum Droghe, Società della Ragione and DRCNet Foundation.

The session is the result of the request of a small group of Member States and dozens of non-governmental organizations that for years have advocated a “critical review” of the plant. On 15 March 2018, the Luca Coscioni Association, together with MAPS and ICEERS, organized a side event at 61th Commission on Narcotic Drug about the right to science and freedom of research of the substances included in the schedules of the UN Conventions on narcotics.

The document frames the discussion within the human right to science, presents the latest developments about cannabis in Italy, and promotes the need of a “critical review” of the plant together with the importance of not preventing those living in developing and least developed countries from accessing cannabis-based treatments.