In past centuries Europe and Asia served as the driving forces behind the stigmatization of cannabis use. What was perpetrated by Napolean and leaders in the UK at the time was that cannabis caused lethargy and altered the state of mind in a negative way, despite cannabis’ potential medicinal properties, and thus was frowned upon for use in their armies. In the 1900s cannabis prohibition swept North America. Since that time, anti-cannabis propaganda and political pressure led largely by the United States pushed the world to scrutinize the use of cannabis even further. Decades of prohibition have created tremendous stigma regarding the cannabis plant and that continues to negatively impact cannabis reform and industry efforts around the world, particularly in North America. Cannabis reform is now sweeping the continent, with Canada having legalized cannabis nationwide in 2018 and Mexico on the cusp of legalization, in addition to a growing list of legal states in the U.S. This panel will discuss the potential impact of ongoing cannabis reform in North America, on Europe’s cannabis reform and industry efforts and how social stigmas continue to haunt us globally in different ways.

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