Uruguay paved the way when it legalised cannabis in 2013. But it is the reform in Canada, a G7 member, that has done most to heighten international tension over cannabis’s legal status. Last year it fully legalised the drug. Part of its rationale was that a regulated legal trade would curb the black market and protect young people, who were buying it there. Canada’s change has caused fierce fights within the UN in Vienna, according to Martin Jelsma of the Transnational Institute, a think-tank. A possibility that intrigues international-policy wonks is for Canada and other law-breakers to form an “inter se” (between themselves) agreement, allowing them to modify existing drug-treaty provisions. For this to be an option, Canada will probably want to wait until the club of outlaws is bigger.

Learn how lessening the barriers for small farmers while raising them for large companies can help to steer legal cannabis markets in a more sustainable and equitable direction based on principles of community empowerment, social justice, fair(er) trade and sustainable development.

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In recent years, the international debate on drug policy reform has intensified, and with it has come a productive exchange of information between academics, activists and advocates on the diverse models and approaches in different countries. Portugal’s decriminalization model is the subject of numerous reports and articles, the legalization of cannabis in a number of U.S. states and Uruguay is heavily studied. Heroin-Assisted Treatment (HAT) in Switzerland is often discussed, and the Czech Republic’s progressive drug policy has been much heralded. On the outside looking in is Spain, a country with a curious mix of cannabis clubs, decriminalization of drug possession for personal use, innovative harm reduction policies, drug checking, and more. It also occupies an interesting geographical position as a transit hub for drugs entering Europe from the Americas and North Africa. Yet in mainstream drug policy discussions, little is known of the Spanish approach to drug policy, with the possible exception of cannabis clubs.

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While many Canadians have focused on the supply problems and overly optimistic business projections that have marred Ottawa's marijuana legalization project, it's also left behind some international loose ends that still haven't been tied up. Not all other countries have accepted Canada's right to forge a new path on cannabis law. And the ending of Canada's 95-year ban on cannabis appears to have accelerated the demise of a worldwide consensus and treaty regime that, for decades, underpinned the global war on drugs. A year after legalization, Canada remains in flagrant violation of UN drug treaties that it signed — an uncomfortable situation for a country that likes to see itself as a stickler for international laws and treaties.

En su Informe correspondiente a 2022, la Junta Internacional de Fiscalización de Estupefacientes (JIFE), el “órgano independiente y cuasi judicial constituido por expertos” que supervisa la aplicación de los tratados de fiscalización de drogas de la ONU, se centra en la legalización del cannabis. Cada año, en el primer capítulo de su informe anual, la Junta aborda una cuestión específica que considera importante para los debates sobre políticas de drogas y el funcionamiento del sistema internacional de fiscalización de estupefacientes. Este año se centra en la legalización del cannabis, porque, como muchos han observado, una década después de que el primer Estado regulara legalmente el cannabis recreativo para adultos, “un número creciente de Estados ha adoptado políticas que permiten el consumo de cannabis con fines no médicos ni científicos”.

In the context of a fast changing and well documented market in legal highs, the case of khat (Catha edulis) provides an interesting anomaly. It is first of all a plant-based substance that undergoes minimal transformation or processing in the journey from farm to market. Secondly, khat has been consumed for hundreds if not thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. In European countries, khat use was first observed during the 1980s, but has only attracted wider attention in recent years.

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Persverklaring (PDF in Dutch)

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 fromNorth America andScandi­navia show that a ban will not solve problems associated with kath but tend to increase them.

Voici une enquête qui va briser un tabou dans la consommation du canna­bis. A la question, «existe-t-il dans votre entourage proche ou connaissez-vous un ami ou un parent qui fume du canna­bis?», l’enquête rapporte une réponse sans la moindre ambigüité. C’est un non pour 65% des répondants. A l’inverse 32% affir­ment qu’elles connaissent des personnes qui en utilisent et 3% avouent ne pas le savoir. Compte tenu de l’interdiction de la consommation de haschich, les marocains semblent encore peu enclins d’en parler probablement par peur. La loi relative à la détention et à la consommation du canna­bis prévoit une peine de 2,5 mois à 1 an de prison. (Lire aussi: Pour l'OICS, le Maroc a été champion des saisies de cannabis en 2018)

La Constitución marca el inicio de un nuevo paradigma para la coca, lo que se concretó con la denuncia de Bolivia a la Convención Única de 1961 y su readhesión en 2013, bajo la reserva sobre el derecho al uso tradicional, ritual, cultural y medicinal de la planta en su estado natural. Esta reserva nos obliga a establecer mecanismos de control sobre el cultivo para prevenir la producción ilícita de estupefacientes extraíbles de la hoja. Así nace en 2017 la Ley General de Coca, para regular la cadena de producción solo en territorio local, lo que dificulta la apertura de mercados internacionales. El artículo 12 de la Ley de Coca cita como prioridad nacional su exportación.

Cannabis has become a part of everyday culture in Germany and now, policymaking. The coalition government of center-left Social Democrats (SPD), environmentalist Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) stated clearly: "We are introducing the controlled supply of recreational cannabis to adults in licensed shops." To turn these words into practical policies, however, is proving to be a monumental task. It involves almost every federal government ministry, which makes the legislative process very complex. Although all signs point toward legalization, a cannabis consumer gets caught in the net of the police and judicial system every three minutes. That is why activists are calling for the consumption of cannabis to be decriminalized immediately as a first step, something provided for in the UN conventions.

The Transnational Institute (TNI) has always believed in the need to find global answers to global problems, been a strong defender of multilateralism and an advocate of a well-functioning United Nations which stands as the guarantor of universal human rights. On the drugs question, our position is straightforward: drug control should respect human rights. An accessible but comprehensive primer on why TNI believes that human rights must be at the heart of any debate on drug control.

On May 1, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland appeared before the Canadian Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (AEFA) to discuss the international dimensions of Bill C-45 to regulate cannabis. She acknowledged that regulating cannabis would entail “contravening certain obligations related to cannabis under the three UN drug conventions,” adding that, “we have to be honest about that.” Asked about the ‘inter se’ proposal, whereby like-minded nations can negotiate amongst themselves to contract out of certain provisions of the treaty, Minister Freeland replied that the government had discussed the ‘inter se’ concept and that it was worth thinking about: “We are definitely open to working with treaty partners to identify solutions that accommodate different approaches to cannabis within the international framework.”

The president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is questioning whether the agency’s decades-old drug conventions are outdated given global policy developments in recent years involving drugs such as cannabis. During a presentation for the 2019 INCB annual report, President Cornelis P. de Joncheere discussed the developments taking place with regard to cannabis and synthetic drugs. “We have some fundamental issues around the conventions that state parties will need to start looking at,” he said. “We have to recognize that the conventions were drawn up 50 and 60 years ago.” De Joncheere said 2021 is “an appropriate time to look at whether those are still fit for purpose, or whether we need new alternative instruments and approaches to deal with these problems.”

The INCB dedicated one of its latest series of Alerts, from June 2019, to the issue of ‘State responses to drug-related criminality’, covering decriminalisation, proportionate sentencing, the death penalty and extrajudicial killings. The Board has recently taken a more positive stance towards decriminalisation, in particular under the leadership of Werner Sipp in 2016. In April 2017, the INCB had already published an Alert on the issue, although mostly reiterating language included in the UN drug conventions. This month’s Alert goes into further detail, explaining the ‘more differentiated’ approach adopted by member states in recent years – as 26 countries have now moved towards a decriminalisation model.

La Junta Internacional de Fiscalización de Estupefacientes (JIFE) ha recordado al Gobierno de Uruguay que el uso recreativo del cannabisva en contra de la normativa internacional. La JIFE sostuvo una reunión telemática con altos funcionarios del Gobierno uruguayo centrada en la ley adoptada en 2013 que legalizó el consumo recreativo de cannabis, informó este organismo de Naciones Unidas, que vela por el cumplimiento de los tratados internacionales sobre drogas. La Junta recordó que la Convención Única sobre Estupefacientes de 1961 establece que el uso de cannabis debe limitarse a actividades médicas y científicas, y que otras normativas prohíben su "producción, distribución o venta". (Véase también: Legalización de cannabis en Uruguay incumple tratados, ¿cuáles?)

La volonté du Grand-Duché de légaliser le cannabis récréatif est clairement opposée à l’engagement pris pour limiter l’usage de cette substance à des fins médicales ou scientifiques. L’Organe international de contrôle des stupéfiants (OICS) confirme que «la légalisation du cannabis à des fins non médicales par un État parti à la convention de 1961 constituerait une violation manifeste des obligations juridiques qui lui incombent». Cette limitation reste «un principe fondamental auquel aucune dérogation n’est permise». La tournure diplomatique pour répondre à l’OICS est que «le Luxembourg reste engagé en ce qui concerne la mise en œuvre des conventions et reste ouvert à discuter avec les autres pays et organisations des problèmes qui résulteraient éventuellement de la légalisation nationale».

Luxembourg met a possible hurdle in legalising cannabis as a parliamentary question brought to light that the current plans are in violation of international drug control treaties. The Grand Duchy is a signatory of three United Nations treaties, which together form a global drug control framework, and which lay down that cannabis may only be used for medical or research purposes. Canada has run into trouble with the International Narcotics Control Board - the guardian of the treaties - over its legalisation of recreational cannabis, and Luxembourg faces a similarly damning verdict. The government is now discussing the issue with UN authorities and with Canada, the country whose model to legalise cannabis it wants to follow, health minister Etienne Schneider in answer to a parliamentary question.

An analysis by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) concludes that most of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) cannabis scheduling recommendations would either have little impact on international drug controls or actually tighten requirements. The analysis was provided to member states shortly before the start of the first in a series of UN meetings. The WHO recommendations are often celebrated as a positive step toward the easing of the international control of cannabis, which would be a positive development for the industry. But regarding practical implications in the level of international control, the INCB document found that, if adopted two recommendations would imply no meaningful change and two others would mean more control for pure THC.

La Junta Internacional de Fiscalización de Estupefacientes (JIFE), de la Oficina de Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito (UNODC), recordó a México que es firmante de tratados internacionales que contemplan que la marihuana solo se puede comercializar por motivos médicos. "Esperamos que el Congreso mexicano tome en cuenta esos factores y haya una ley (de consumo de cannabis) que cumpla los acuerdos internacionales", dijo a Efe Raúl Martínez del Campo, miembro experto independiente de la JIFE. A raíz de un mandato de la Suprema Corte de Justicia, el Congreso mexicano está tramitando una ley para regular el consumo lúdico de marihuana en el país, que busca crear un mercado legal de cannabis y combatir la crisis por el narcotráfico.