Investors who bought into marijuana stocks will have been on a high this week, seeing their investments rally significantly following a leaked document showing the World Health Organisation (WHO) softening its stance on the drug.<\/p>\n
The leaked document, published and spread around by pro-cannabis groups<\/a><\/strong>, shows the WHO recommending that\u00a0whole plant cannabis and its resin be removed from Schedule IV – the most restrictive category of a 1961 drug convention that governs international treaties.<\/p>\n Schedule IV is reserved for substances that are seen as particularly harmful with limited medical benefits.<\/p>\n If adopted, these recommendations would recognise changing attitudes toward the drug and its medical properties, potentially encouraging fence-sitting politicians to speed up the pace of legalisation.<\/p>\n They could also be a \u201ccatalyst for Big Pharma to further assess the global medical cannabis opportunity,\u201d according to BMO analyst Tamy Chen, speaking to Bloomberg<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Investors trading in cannabis stocks, such as the\u00a0Vancouver-based cannabis company Weekend Unlimited Inc, would have seen a massive 150% climb in their investments following the news breaking.<\/p>\n According to the leaked WHO document,\u00a0it is recommended that on top of the rescheduling, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC\u00a0 – the chemical compound that creates the ‘high’) and its isomers to be completely removed from a separate 1971 drug treaty and instead added to Schedule I of the 1961 convention.<\/p>\n Marijuana and cannabis resin would also remain in Schedule I of the 1961 treaty.<\/p>\n The WHO is also moving to clarify that CBD (cannabidiol) containing less than 0.2% THC is not under international control at all.<\/p>\n