The phytochemical study of C. dactylon revealed details of its constituents like flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids etc. are responsible for its dermatological action . Similarly, the anti-diabetic activities of A. parviflflora have been confirmed by various researchers . Several studies have revealed that today’s youth are uninterested in the traditional medical system . They have little or no knowledge of plants, not even about the species of plants found in their surroundings. Only a few old people are left to pass on their knowledge to the next generation, but it has not been very effective . The knowledge of medicinal plants of the Himalayan region has been reduced due to the absence of proper documentation and knowledge in the present-day generation . Therefore, it is important to preserve ethnomedicinal knowledge by documenting literature and by proper interaction with the younger generation. This is because, notwithstanding the coordinated efforts to disrupt cannabis market, both supply and consumption indicators have constantly increased over the past decades . It is estimated that in Europe around 15% of young adults used cannabis in 2019, and the prevalence reaches 19% when only 15- to 24-year-olds are considered .
Since 2013, Uruguay, 10 jurisdictions in the United States and Canada have passed laws that license the production and retail sale of cannabis to adults for non-medical purposes, often referred to as recreational use. In parallel, a renewed debate about reforms to the national cannabis policies has developed in Europe . In fact, although there is some European Union regulation concerning cannabis trafficking offences, legislative responses to unauthorised cannabis use and minor possession are still primarily responsibility of individual member states and therefore little harmonised . As an example, cannabis policies range from the more liberal example of the Netherlands, with a system of limited distribution, to countries like Hungary, where personal possession of cannabis is punishable with imprisonment. Furthermore, some countries legally treat cannabis like other drugs, whilst in others penalties for cannabis are lower, typically because the level of harm that the use of the drug may cause is taken into consideration . As an outcome, over the past years several European countries have implemented policy reforms modifying thesize of the penalties for cannabis possession for personal use: despite a general trend to reduce punishments, few countries moved in the opposite direction.
Some countries have reduced penalties for low-level offences, have removed criminal sanctions for possession or use, or have introduced formal or informal procedures that decrease the likelihood of sanctions being applied . Others have increased penalties for personal possession, either treating them as criminal or administrative offences . This results in a variety of policy approaches running in parallel in Europe, which range from administrative to criminal offences for personal cannabis possession , with the notable exception of the Dutch system. The potential effect of policy reforms to the treatment of cannabis possession for recreational use on rates of cannabis use is a topic of considerable debate . However, empirical research on the effects of the different types of control policies is still limited . Gathering scientific evidence firstly on whether and which type of cannabis policy reforms are able to affect the availability of the substance and the prevalence of use, and secondly by which type of users and by how much seems crucial in order to understand their public health impacts.
In particular, while cannabis policy changes are currently limited to adults, increasing attention is being devoted to the effects that these might have on adolescents . This is because cannabis is by far the most popular illicit substance among youth, particularly in Europe, where adolescents report high rates of easy access to the substance and show higher prevalence of cannabis use compared to the adult population . Furthermore, research shows that initiation into cannabis use typically occurs during the mid to late teens and that there is a strong positive relationship between early first use and the length and intensity of cannabis consumption during adulthood , with a range of possible associated poorer outcomes later in life.In general, policies ruling cannabisrelated offences are primarily targeted at adults and some authors suggest that they do not affect adolescent consumption . Despite this, several authors suggest that policy changes might indirectly affect adolescents by modifying their access to cannabis and by contributing to shape the social norms of a society . Most of the existing studies on cannabis use associated with cannabis control policy reforms has been conducted in the United States, Australia and Canada, and mainly focused on the adult population.