In world news this week, Canada's Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that restricting the medical usage of marijuana to smoking was constitutional. Within the Controlled Drugs & Substances act, it states that while smoking the cannabis is fine, but using the plants extracts in other forms was not. The reasoning behind the court stating this issue as "unconstitutional" was due to the fact that limiting the usage of the plant to only smoking would cause unnecessary risks that could be avoided. Thus, the court found the the restriction to violate Section 7 of the country's constitution.
The response to the ruling has been generally positive, with many medical marijuana users within Canada happy that they can now use marijuana in forms other than smoking. Some of the users, who may have already had lung issues, were especially excited to know they could now take the medication smoke-free. However, many on the opposite side are arguing against any medical marijuana usage at all, and state that using marijuana in any form should be illegal, and are outraged at this recent ruling.
For many years, and especially recently, marijuana usage for both medical & recreational purposes has been widely debated within Canada and the United States. The controversy caused by medical marijuana usage especially has caused many heated discussions and appeals to many courts, both high and low. Even Puerto Ricos governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed an executive order that legalized medical marijuana in May, showing just how pressing medical marijuana has become within our society. The long-lasting benefits and consequences of these choices surrounding medical marijuana are not yet clear to us, but it is certain that it will be a heavily debated topic for years to come.