IMPACT OF MEDICAL CANNABIS LEGALISATION: A THEMATIC REVIEW

EKMIL KRISNAWATI ERLEN JONI, SHAHRUL MIZAN ISMAIL, ROHAIDA NORDIN

Abstract


The usage and values of cannabis, or cannabis for medicinal purposes, have been recognised in history since ancient times. Evidence from clinical research demonstrated the therapeutic advantages of cannabis in an extensively wide area of medicinal aspects. Resultantly, many nations have decided to legalise the medicinal use of cannabis. Despite the recognition of medical cannabis internationally, Malaysia maintains the status quo of cannabis prohibition as a highly addictive drug with no medicinal value. The Malaysian government argues that the harmful effects of medical cannabis legalisation outweighs the benefits. Nevertheless, a lack of thematic review studies has been observed on the impact of medical cannabis legalisation. Therefore, this thematic review utilised the ATLAS.ti 9 software to synthesise literature from 2017 to 2021 to identify recent academic discussions on the impact of legalising medical cannabis. A keyword search and the screening process utilising Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases inclusion criteria yielded 718 peer-reviewed academic journals articles. Nonetheless, only 72 articles were selected for final evaluation following the exclusion and inclusion process. The thematic review of the 72 publications identified 19 preliminary codes on the impact of medical cannabis legalisation. The publications were grouped into five themes: (1) impact on health, (2) impact on policy, (3) impact on the society, (4) impact on health system and (5) impact on criminal activities. The findings will benefit future studies on implementing medical cannabis law (MCL) in Malaysia. However, this study is limited to Scopus and WoS databases. Furthermore, the impact of recreational cannabis legalisation is not included in this study. The findings may benefit future research on medical cannabis legalisation and the suitable regulatory framework of medical cannabis policy for Malaysia.


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