The annual International Cannabis Business Conference is steadily approaching this fall, gathering cannabis businesspeople, activists and allies alike to discuss the future of marijuana-related businesses as legalization measures continue to proliferate throughout North America.
Experts from all facets of cannabis culture will be in attendance to speak on behalf of their expertise. In addition to specialists in politics, cultivation, and other fields, Dr. Gabor Maté will be featured as one of ICBC’s keynote speakers.
Working in the field of addiction, Dr. Maté plans to address the issue during his presentation and why he believes addicts to drugs, including marijuana, should be treated with compassion rather than receive punishment. His views on drug policy can be read in his book, In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts.
In anticipation of ICBC, Smell the Truth recently spoke with Maté regarding his views on legalizing cannabis, giving us a small preview of what he plans to discuss during the upcoming conference. Check out the interview below.
The International Cannabis Business Conference will be held October 13-14 in Vancouver. Tickets are available online with a special Smell the Truth discount.
Smell the Truth: What topics do you plan to address at your ICBC keynote?
Gabor Maté: I’ll be talking about my own understanding of the possibilities of cannabis, which are positive and negative at the same time. I’m a medical doctor. My interest is in addiction, but it’s also in healing and symptom relief. Marijuana clearly contains every possibility.
I’ve seen it used addictively very often, I don’t care what anyone says. Addiction is by definition a negative consequence. As a palliative care physician, I’ve also used cannabis for symptom relief in terminally ill people. in other contexts, the products from the plant can be used to alleviate symptoms such as pain, nausea, and seizures. And sometimes symptoms of PTSD and so on, so there’s that possibility.
STT: How might society change once all citizens are allowed to access cannabis?
GM: In practical terms, we already have a situation where almost anybody can get their hands on cannabis if they want to. That’s already happened. The only question is do we recognize that fact legally or do we pretend it doesn’t exist?
I just think that the legal restrictions create crime where nobody’s being hurt, and they put people in jail who have no place being there. What I support is the law recognizing the real situation and recognizing that much more harmful substances like tobacco and alcohol can be sold with some regulation, why can’t marijuana?
It’s pretense that the stores that are selling it have to sell it for medical reasons. It’s nonsense. I mean, that’s good, but it’s also hypocrisy because a lot of people buy the stuff and it’s not for medical reasons at all, they just like to get high.
Any law that creates more hypocrisy and subterfuge, what does that do? It’s a more absurd society.
STT: What guiding principles should a government have in defining their drug policy?
GM: If it’s drug policy in general, I think that drugs should be completely decriminalized, all of them. What I mean is the possession of any drug should not be a legal matter, for personal use. I’d like to see the kind of sanity prevail that has prevailed in say, Portugal, where personal use is not a criminal matter anymore.
That’s not to say to legalize it in the sense of… I don’t want heroin or methadone or cocaine sold in stores, but I also don’t want anybody to go to jail for possessing them. Most people who traffic in small amounts only do it to make money to support their own habit, and that’s only because the drugs are so expensive, and the drugs are expensive only because they’re illegal.
So, most drug-related crime would stop if you just had a rational policy.
STT: You may be one of the few addiction specialists in favor of decriminalizing drugs such as cannabis. What would you tell other people in your field who oppose doing so?
GM: I’d like to know what their arguments are, what is their rationale for maintaining a cruel and harmful and useless policy. Is it because they want to see drug cartels stay in business? I don’t think so, I’m sure there’s some well-meant argument, but I would say to them, if they’re going to be scientific about it, let them look at the evidence.
There’s all kinds of evidence about the harm it does, about the destruction on human lives that it causes, the effect on families, human rights, the very illegality of the drugs that allow for the existence of the cartels…if you’re going to be evidence-based, I don’t know what the argument is.
STT: As several U.S. states and Canada consider legalization next year, what do you believe should come next in correcting society’s approach to drugs?
GM: If you’re talking about drugs in general, what you have to understand is, first of all, that there is a distinction between people who are drug addicted and people who use drugs casually. But the people that are addicted, and there’s a large number of them, are without exception traumatized people. The drug use is always a response to trauma, it’s just an attempt not to feel the pain of existence. I don’t care what drug, whether it’s cocaine, or crystal meth, or heroin, or cannabis for that matter.
We’re talking about victims, not criminals. And we need to treat them as people who suffered, and their suffering needs to be recognized, respected and healed. You don’t do that by punishing them, or by trying to control them. So I just want society to look at the evidence as to who uses drugs, and why.
Why in the United States right now are the number of opioid overdoses going up so much? People are more miserable and desperate than they used to be. They’re not going to solve that problem by controlling the drug.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: International Cannabis Business Conference Speaker Spotlight – Gabor Maté
Author: Oscar Pascual
Contact: SFGate
Photo Credit: ICBC
Website: SFGate
