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| A young man with several grams of cannabis in his hand |
In the draft prepared by the Ministry of Health for the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, it is sanctioned that the level of the substance tetrahydrocannabinol, known in short as THC, should not be higher than 0.2 percent.
The draft law also allows advertising in print and electronic media of products and by-products from plants that contain a concentration lower than this level.
THC is the plant's main psychoactive substance. The level set by Albania is lower than the level allowed in some US and European states, where no more than 0.8 percent is set.
About 65 percent of the 38-nation Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, allows the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes. In the vast majority of them, the maximum level of THC is set at 0.4 percent.
Most of these countries have decriminalized personal recreational use, but apply fines. Six countries classify it as a criminal offense. Even in Albania, this remains the case. The draft of the Ministry of Health does not decriminalize the recreational consumption of hashish.
The OECD countries where consumption is allowed are Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Chile, Portugal, and Mexico, while in Italy and Luxembourg consumption and possession in minimal quantities is decriminalized, but prohibited in public and fined.