The UN Has Never Prevented Canada from Legalizing Cannabis, Despite Treaty Violations

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasized that his government’s fears of potential United Nations (UN) sanctions for the legalization of cannabis, which could violate international treaties, have not been reflected in reality.

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Since the reform was passed in 2018, no UN official has entered into a discussion with Canada on the issue

The remarks come as some anti-cannabis U.S. lawmakers are pressuring the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reject a recommendation to reclassify cannabis. They argue that easing restrictions could expose the country to UN sanctions.

Legalization defenders point out that Canada has not experienced any consequences from the international organization since cannabis was legalized throughout the country. Trudeau confirms these observations, although admitting that initially his government was afraid of the consequences of this move.

” The only problem that particularly concerned us was that we might violate some international drug control treaties ,” Trudeau told France.tv. “We thought they could punish us because we were not compliant with the treaties. But no one talked to us about it. They were interested and watching what we were doing.”

The prime minister was a major supporter of legalization, and the government defended the decision, including during the 2020 meeting of the United Nations Commission on Drugs.

These new remarks by Trudeau are particularly relevant in the U.S. in the context of the DEA’s ongoing review of cannabis classification, initiated by President Joe Biden. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) advised the DEA last year to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The DEA has previously cited the need to comply with international treaty obligations when rejecting reclassification requests, and legalization opponents hope the agency will maintain that position by rejecting a reclassification recommendation.

Lawyers recently published an opinion piece arguing that a move to Schedule III would better meet the country’s broader obligations under international law to regulate cannabis in a way that protects public health and safety.

Meanwhile, HHS has requested a legal opinion on the implications of a possible reclassification of cannabis from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), and some suspect it involves potential consequences under international treaties.

Recently, the UN International Drug Control Board (INCB) reiterated that it considers the legalization of cannabis for purposes other than medical or scientific purposes to be a violation of international treaties.

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(Featured image by festivio via Pixabay)

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First published in FaktyKonopne. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the articles from the originals. In case of discrepancy, the originals will prevail.

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