The Netherlands pioneered a progressive attitude about cannabis in Europe many years ago, leading to it's prominent role in cannabis genetics and horticulture, government monitored quality control, medical research and patient access.

Video - Therapeutic Cannabis in the Netherlands, Willem Scholten, PharmD, MPA -
Since 2003, The Netherlands has been distributing Medical Cannabis through pharmacies by prescription. From the Office of Medicinal Cannabis (Ministry of Health), Willem Scholten explains how this came about and discusses production, standardization, Cannabinoid assays and quality control. Video from our Third National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, held in May of 2004 in Charlottesville, VA.

England has also benefited from government santioned research into cannabis medicine, specifically the development of plant-derived cannabis medicines (phytocannabinoids) by GW Pharmaceuticals- a British firm working with Dutch cannabis breeders to produce Sativex_TM - a sub-lingual spray now in human trials for MS and pain therapy.

GW's president, Geoffrey Guy, MD presented his product development progress, trials and results at our second and third national conferences on cannabis therapeutics. In this video from the Portland, OR conference in 2002, Dr. Guy explains protocols mandated by treaty and government regulations and provides insight into how government and scientists can work together for every one's benefit. - Video - Medical Cannabis Strains - Geoffrey Guy, MD

Nutt, D. (Oct. 2009). Estimating drug harms: A risky business? Eve Saveille Lecture 2009. pp. 1-13. Published by Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, King’s College London.  www.crimeandjustice.org.uk (Nutt reviews the relative safety of cannabis compared to other drugs)