1. Ethical Inquiry into Cannabis Pilot Projects
Susanne Uusitalo
Moral and social philosophy, University of Helsinki
October 24-26, 2017, Lisbon addictions 2017

2. Disclaimers and whatnots
No conflicts of interest
My suggestion is not meant to cover all ethics regarding these cannabis pilot projects,
E.g., not cost-benefit ratios or public health
Rather, but presents an aspect that needs to be covered:
perspective is of the socially embedded individual
The method employed is applied ethics

3. My claim:
The feasibility of cannabis pilot projects requires an ethical scrutinity, starting from the identification of morally relevant features of each project.
The relevant and decisive features are likely to vary from case to case.

4. Setting the scene
3 cases to illustrate that different features count in different settings
Recreational cannabis use
Access to cannabis for medicinal purposes
Access to cannabis for individuals who are dependent on the substance
The target populations are likely to have fuzzy and overlapping boundaries with each other in practice.

5. Reflective equilibrium
Different levels: principles, rules, considered judgements (moral and non- moral)
Nothing foundational: a possibility to revise each component
Strives for coherence
Principlisim
Respect for autonomy
Beneficence
Nonmalificence
Justice …

6. Fleshing out the analyses
Recreational cannabis use
Further societal levels to be considered (not merely e.g., competence)
Medicinal cannabis use
The conditions used for
Competence
Medical practices apply
Cannabis for dependent
The question of intoxication?

7. Concluding remarks
The ethical considerations are dependent on the substance, the impact of substance on everyday life, the level of dependence, among other things.
Also all kinds of vulnerabilities such as age, social status, level of education, well-being… need to be considered
Furthermore, all kinds of societal issues such as public health or traffic safety need to be weighted.
In short, simply having access to cannabis as a relevant factor falls short of any ethical consideration of the pilot projects in question:
A case by case analysis with reflective equilibrium