Foreword

Sir Harry Greenfield, C.S.I., C.I.E., Chairman, International Narcotics Control Board, Geneva.

This Symposium is abundantly welcome for a variety of reasons: first as yet another example of constructive
research by the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence in natural and logical succession to its two earlier Symposia on The Botany and Chemistry of Cannabis
(organised by Dr Joyce) and on Cannabis and its Derivatives, Pharmacology and Experimental Psychology (organised by Professor Paton).

It is even more welcome for the solid contribution which it can be expected to make to the growing international harvest of accurate information regarding this particular drug, the more so since, like its predecessors, the Symposium has the special merit of being directed to a limited and clearly defined area of study and aims at reaching positive and sustainable conclusions. A rigorous scientific approach of this kind is, I need hardly say, essential in studies directed to all aspects of such a subject, in which public interest is closely engaged, yet where public understanding is clouded by insufficient knowledge of what is, let us frankly admit, a complex subject and by consequent inability to appreciate the implications which it may hold for the individual and for the community at large.

The flow of agreed findings emanating from symposia such as this, which assemble and analyse in conjoint discussion the results of researches by the individual participants themselves and by other scientists, is of great assistance to the International Organs whose duty it is to formulate international policy in this field. Moreover, as you may be aware, the World Health Organisation has lately instituted a series of studies into the
long-term effects of cannabis consumption.

Not only are these scientific interchanges of great service to the International Organs, they also provide a valuable source of authentic information for inclusion in health education programmes, - a vitally important sector to which the I.S.D.D. is now in process of making a significant contribution.

The Report of the International Narcotics Control Board makes appreciative reference to the rapid growth of basic research on cannabis in a number of countries and to the fact that the detailed data yielded thereby is gradually enhancing scientific knowledge of this substance. The Board emphasises, however, that much has still to be learnt, especially in regard to effects of long-term consumption; and it points out that the need for fuller knowledge is rendered even more urgent by the newly-manifested availability of cannabis concentrate in liquid form, which opens up disquieting new perspectives. It was doubtless with these perspectives in mind that the WHO decided to launch the series of studies on long-term effects of cannabis which I mentioned above.

I hope therefore that the talented scientists whom Dr Connell has assembled here in the scholarly setting so generously provided by the CIBA Foundation will not only feel that the Symposium has an immediate and worldwide relevance but that they will hereafter pursue their researches in the knowledge that they will be assisting authorities, national and international, in coping with one of the great social problems of the present age.

1975    H.G.