Table 1.
Jurisdictions passing laws to allow cannabis production and distribution for non-research purposes as of August 2016 (excludes allowances for industrial hemp or personal grows).
| Country | National? | Year passed | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-medical | |||
| United States | No | 2012a | Four states allow for-profit companies to produce and sell cannabis (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington) to anyone aged 21 years and older; Washington, DC only allows home production and sharing. Production and possession remain illegal under federal law |
| Uruguay | Yes | 2013 | Residents aged 18 years and older must register with the government to either grow at home, join a collective or purchase cannabis from pharmacies. The latter will be produced by state-licensed companies and it is expected to be available in participating pharmacies by the end of 2016. The government will determine the price and potency of cannabis sold in pharmacies |
| Medical | |||
| United States | No | 1996a | 25 states and DC passed laws to allow cannabis flowers and other products to be produced and distributed; at least 15 other states allow physicians to recommend cannabidiol-oils, but not necessarily production. This all remains illegal under federal law. |
| Israel | Yes | Late 1990s | A medical program was developed per the 1995 recommendation of a subcommittee of the Israeli Parliament Drug Committee. Privately held companies that produce cannabis operate under a license from the Department of Health |
| Netherlands | Yes | 2000 | The Office of Medicinal Cannabis was established in 2000 and cannabis flowers were first available in pharmacies in 2003. Only five strains are currently allowed to be prescribed and they are all produced by one supplier |
| Canada | Yes | 2001 | Currently, all medical cannabis is supposed to be produced by federally licensed private companies and delivered via mail. Efforts are being made to eliminate the medical dispensaries that still operate in some jurisdictions. It was announced in August 2016 that registered patients will be allowed to grow at home |
| Chile | Yes | Late 2000s | A license to grow cannabis that was granted in 2009 was withdrawn before production, but the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the withdrawal was unconstitutional. In 2016, Chile is expected to harvest medical cannabis from a large, legal plantation |
| United Kingdom | Yes | 2010 | Since the 1990s GW Pharmaceuticals has produced cannabis plants in the United Kingdom to create Sativex and other cannabis-based extracts. In 2010, the United Kingdom approved Sativex to be prescribed for spasticity due to multiple sclerosis (as in many countries) |
| Czech Republic | Yes | 2013 | Domestically produced cannabis for the medical program was first delivered to the State Agency for Medical Cannabis in early 2016 (previously it had to be imported) |
| Uruguay | Yes | 2013 | Will be produced by state-licensed companies and available in pharmacies for those with a physician’s prescription |
| Jamaica | Yes | 2015 | The regulations have not been implemented, but there are plans to allow small and large- scale production of medical cannabis for residents as well as tourist and export markets |
| Colombia | Yes | 2015 | The decree signed in December 2015 permits medical cannabis under the national drug law. The new decree may be modified or superseded by an existing bill in Congress, but it currently paves the way for state-licensed commercial production, although it is unclear how much cannabis production will be permitted |
| Australia | Yes | 2016 | A law was passed at the Commonwealth level to create a regulatory framework for commercial cannabis production for medical purposes (the Tasmanian law passed in 2015 only pertained to providing cannabis for research purposes in New South Wales) |