Concern about cannabis use is not new: ordinances were passed in 8th-century Egypt prohibiting use of hemp drugs, transgressors being subject to tooth extraction!1 In the 19th century, controversy over widespread cannabis use led to the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, a large-scale investigation into the health effects (both physical and mental) of cannabis use. The Commission's wide-ranging report found that the relationship between cannabis and "mental injury" was complex, and criticised many witnesses for their obvious bias.2 Social, moral and political agendas continue to influence both cannabis research and the "cannabis debate".3
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