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Cannabis Regulation and the UN Drug Treaties
Strategies for Reform
WOLA, GDPO, TDPF, TNI, ICHRDP & CDPC
June 2016As jurisdictions enact reforms creating legal access to cannabis for purposes other than exclusively “medical and scientific,” tensions surrounding the existing UN drug treaties and evolving law and practice in Member States continue to grow. These treaty tensions have become the “elephant in the room” in key high-level forums, including the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs — obviously present, but studiously ignored.
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Download the briefing (PDF) | Press release | Version française (PDF) -
The history of cannabis and international control
How cannabis was included in the UN drug control system and the defections that have brought the international treaties to breaking point
This timeline draws on The Rise and Decline of Cannabis Prohibition, a report that described the history of international control, how cannabis was included in the current UN drug control system and the subsequent defections by countries and states that have brought the international treaties to breaking point. TNI is calling for a revision of the treaties to be based on scientific evidence and embodying principles of harm reduction and human rights.
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Cannabis in Indonesia
Patterns in consumption, production, and policies
Dania Putri & Tom BlickmanDrug Policy Briefing Nr. 44
January 2016Cannabis use has never posed major problems in Indonesia, yet prohibitionist policies prevail. Despite the high prevalence of cannabis use, local or national discussions on cannabis policies are nearly non-existent, exacerbated by strong anti-drug views and public institutions' failure to design and implement comprehensive policies based on evidence. Because of the current anti-narcotics law – discussed in detail in this briefing – there have been many obstacles to research on cannabis, both in terms of medical and anthropological research.
READ MORE...Download the briefing (PDF) | Bahasa Indonesia -
The Rise and Decline of Cannabis Prohibition
The History of Cannabis in the UN Drug Control System and Options For Reform
Dave Bewley-Taylor Tom Blickman Martin JelsmaTransnational Institute / Global Drug Policy Observatory
March 2014The cannabis plant has been used for spiritual, medicinal and recreational purposes since the early days of civilization. In this report the Transnational Institute and the Global Drug Policy Observatory describe in detail the history of international control and how cannabis was included in the current UN drug control system. Cannabis was condemned by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as a psychoactive drug with “particularly dangerous properties” and hardly any therapeutic value.
READ MORE...Download the report (PDF 5MB)Résumé en français (PDF) Download the press release (PDF) -
Chewing over Khat prohibition
The globalisation of control and regulation of an ancient stimulant
Khat has been consumed for hundreds if not thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. Outside that area, khat use was first observed during the 1980s, but has only attracted wider attention in recent years. Where khat has been studied extensively, namely Australia, the UK and until recently the Netherlands, governments have steered clear of prohibition because the negative medical and social harms do not merit such controls. Where strict bans on khat have been introduced they have had severe unintended negative consequences and failed to further the integration, social incusion and economic prosperity of Somali communities in particular, which chew khat most widely. Experiences from North America and Scandinavia show that a ban will not solve problems associated with kath but tend to increase them.
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