WASHINGTON (Nov. 4, 2015) - The O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law, in collaboration with the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), has received a $250,000 grant from the Open Philanthropy Project to help develop guidelines on how states, countries, and other jurisdictions that opt to legalize cannabis for medical or recreational purposes can create regulatory frameworks, consistent with the goals of legalization, that will work effectively to protect and promote the public health.

"Now is an opportune time to develop regulatory approaches and guidelines that can prevent unnecessary public health harms from the legalization of medical or recreational cannabis while maximizing the potential public health benefits," says the project's lead investigator, Oscar Cabrera, Abogado (JD equivalent), LL.M., executive director of the O'Neill Institute. "With new ballot questions and legislation pending, it is especially important, now, to avoid elements that will unnecessarily create health risks...