The latest annual report from the United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board comes as Germany, which has one of the world’s largest economies, is set to legalize cannabis for adult use.
The INCB – and, by extension, its annual report – serves as a sort of watchdog for countries’ adherence to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the primary global drug control treaty. The treaty requires member states, or treaty signatories, to limit the use of controlled substances, which includes cannabis, to medical or research purposes. However, more and more countries are contemplating full legalization outside of these boundaries.
In recent years, the report has more loudly sounded the alarm over the global shift toward adult use cannabis legalization, and last year, for the first time, the report devoted an entire chapter to cannabis, as Cannabis Wire reported at the time.
“INCB reiterates its concern regarding the legalization of the use of cannabis for non-medical purposes,” said INCB president Jallal Toufiq during the report launch on Tuesday, citing this treaty. “The apparent tension between these provisions and the trend towards legalization must be addressed by the signatories to the drug control conventions.”
A reporter in the room from Germany asked Toufiq for comment on the argument from the German government that adult use legalization will help combat the illegal drug trade and also reduce cannabis consumers’ exposure to other drugs that might be sold in the illegal market.
Toufiq reiterated that adult use legalization is outside the bounds of drug control treaties.
“That will remain until it’s decided otherwise by the international community,” he said. “And I think it’s really for the member states to deliberate on this and it’s for the member states to make decisions once and for all. It’s not for the INCB.”
While the INCB monitors treaty compliance, it is the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs that makes decisions on drug policy and scheduling.
He continued: “Are there benefits, be it on the public health, be it on the drying up the markets, be it on the trafficking? That’s something that I leave it to the German governments. But from the INCB, that’s the firm statement and a clear one, from the time being. Now if you want to take it to the member states, I think that’s the best platform for discussion.”
Broadly, the report found that the “licit” cannabis supply chain is growing.
“The licit cultivation, production and utilization of cannabis have grown significantly since 2000, when more countries worldwide began employing cannabis and cannabis extracts for medical purposes and scientific research,” the report notes. “Over the past 20 years, global cannabis production has consequently surged, reaching 797 tons in 2022.”
The report highlights the uptick of cannabis-related activity in Africa, pointing to the fact that, for this year, “12 countries in Africa submitted their estimates to the Board for the cultivation, production or consumption of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes, compared with 10 countries that submitted such estimates for 2023.”
In parts of the report that describe where countries have gone further, and have either legalized or plan to legalize cannabis for adult use, there are bolded reminders.
Such reminders accompany sections about Colombia, where the country’s National Drugs Policy, released in September 2023, includes adult use cannabis legalization as a policy objective, and about adult use pilot programs and experiments underway in European countries. But the lengthiest such warning is in a section about legalization across the United States.
“INCB underscores that article 4 (c) of the 1961 Convention requires States parties to take such legislative and administrative measures as may be necessary, subject to the provisions of the Convention, to limit exclusively to medical and scientific purposes the production, manufacture, export, import, distribution of, trade in, use and possession of drugs,” the bolded reminder reads, in part.
A similar warning is included among the report’s 29 recommendations, which emphasizes that “the developments in a few countries that have legalized or permitted the use of cannabis for non-medical purposes or that have tolerated its legalization at the subnational level are undermining the universal adherence to the three international drug control conventions and the commitment to their implementation.”
Finally, the role of the Internet in drug trends is a major focus of this latest report, and the subject of a dedicated chapter.
“Another unintended side effect of knowledge diffusion through use of the Internet is seen in the influence on the social and cultural norms associated with drug use. The legalization of cannabis in some jurisdictions may have inadvertently reduced informal social control related to cannabis in jurisdictions where it is illegal, contributing to its further normalization,” the report notes.
“Social media influencers and dispensaries in regions where cannabis is legal promote its use as part of a healthy lifestyle, despite the known health risks,” it continues.
