The three major international drug control treaties are mutually supportive and complementary. An important purpose of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances codify internationally applicable control measures in order to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes, and to prevent their diversion into illicit channels and include general provisions on trafficking and drug use. The 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances significantly reinforced the obligation of countries to apply criminal sanctions to combat all the aspects of illicit production, possession and trafficking of drugs. (Commentaries on the conventions)
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Canada faces choice on international drug treaties over legalized pot
Legalizing pot will violate international treaties. What should Canada do?
CBC (Canada)
Monday, October 3, 2016As Canada moves forward with its plan to legalize marijuana, government officials have at least one international conundrum to sort out: what to do about the global treaties Canada has signed that prohibit making pot legal? A senior government official said there are essentially two options available. On the one hand, Canada could take a "principled stand" in favour of the international legalization of pot. The other, quieter approach, would be to withdraw from the treaties and attempt to re-enter with a special exemption for legalized marijuana. (See also: Cannabis Regulation and the UN Drug Treaties)
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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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Canada's marijuana legalization plan flouts 3 UN drug conventions
'Canada cannot pick and choose which international laws to follow,' say authors in CMAJ commentary
CBC (Canada)
Monday, May 16, 2016The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana contravenes Canada's adherence to the UN drug control conventions, according to a commentary in the CMAJ medical journal. Canada is legally obligated to follow three international treaties. "The federal government should immediately take proactive steps to seek a reservation to the marijuana provisions of these treaties and/or to initiate their renegotiation," write the authors. "If these diplomatic efforts fail, Canada must formally withdraw from these treaties to avoid undermining international law and compromising its global position." (See also: Will Canada violate international conventions if it legalizes pot? | Cannabis Regulation and the UN Drug Treaties)
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Cannabis and the Conventions: UNGASS and Beyond
Cannabis is clearly the elephant in the room at UNGASS
With an increasing number of jurisdictions enacting or contemplating reforms creating legal access to cannabis for purposes other than exclusively "medical and scientific," tensions regarding the drug conventions and evolving law and practice in Member States continue to grow. How might the UN system address these growing tensions in ways that acknowledge the policy shifts underway and explore options that reinforce the UN pillars of human rights, development, peace and security, and the rule of law?
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UNGASS 2016: Prospects for Treaty Reform and UN System-Wide Coherence on Drug Policy
Martin JelsmaJournal of Drug Policy Analysis
March 2016This paper explores key lessons from the 1990 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Drug Abuse (UNGASS 1990) and the 1998 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 1998), and tracks subsequent policy events and trends. It discusses the wide array of increasing tensions and cracks in the “Vienna consensus,” as well as systemic challenges and recent treaty breaches.
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International Law and Drug Policy Reform
Report of a GDPO/ICHRDP/TNI/WOLA Expert Seminar
Final report of proceedings
July 2015Drug policy reform is currently higher on the international agenda than it has been in recent memory. With a United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs set for 19-21 April 2016, the prominence of this issue will further increase. Significant legal and policy reforms at the national level have taken place in recent years that pose considerable challenges to the international legal framework for drug control, and beg important questions regarding states’ international legal obligations.
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Illegal drugs laws: Clearing a 50-year-old obstacle to research
David NuttPLoS Biology 13(1)
January 27, 2015The United Nations drug control conventions of 1960 and 1971 and later additions have inadvertently resulted in perhaps the greatest restrictions of medical and life sciences research. These conventions now need to be revised to allow neuroscience to progress unimpeded and to assist in the innovation of treatments for brain disorders. In the meantime, local changes, such as the United Kingdom moving cannabis from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2, should be implemented to allow medical research to develop appropriately.
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Marijuana legalization is an opportunity to modernize international drug treaties
Wells Bennett and John WalshBrookings Center for Effective Public Management
October 2014Two U.S. states have legalized recreational marijuana, and more may follow; the Obama administration has conditionally accepted these experiments. Such actions are in obvious tension with three international treaties that together commit the United States to punish and even criminalize activity related to recreational marijuana. The administration asserts that its policy complies with the treaties because they leave room for flexibility and prosecutorial discretion.
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State Department official calls for 'flexibility' on drug control treaties
The Huffington Post (US)
Tuesday, October 14, 2014Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield called for "flexible" interpretations of international drug control treaties at the United Nations in New York City, citing marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington. Brownfield's remarks were the third time this year he has made such a call. The high-profile venue underscores the pressure that state legalization efforts have put on the U.S. to allow other countries to amend strict, decades-old international drug control treaties. However, Brownfield's claim that current treaties are flexible enough to allow marijuana legalization is at odds with the text of the treaties themselves, said John Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).
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US signals shift in international drug policy
InSight Crime
Monday, October 13, 2014In a press conference at the United Nations in New York on October 9, US official William Brownfield laid the groundwork for a new US approach to international drug policy, pointing to the changing political landscape on drug regulation in the Americas. Brownfield set out the United States' position on international drug policy, including to "accept flexible interpretation" of the UN Drug Control conventions. (See also: Brownfield's Statement to the Third Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations and Reforming the global drug-control system: The stakes for Washington)
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