What do the UN drug conventions say about cannabis?

The international drug conventions of the United Nations set out which substances are controlled and what obligations states have in doing so. The most important convention for cannabis is the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 (Einheitsübereinkommen über Suchtstoffe). It forms the legal framework within which states develop their own cannabis rules. What those rules look like in detail is decided by the states themselves. Canada and Uruguay illustrate this.

What was decided in 2020 at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

In December 2020, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted on recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO). Recommendation 5.1 aimed to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV. The EU supported this recommendation and stated its position in a statement from Vienna. The lists of the convention, known as the Schedules, sort substances into control categories.

The EU statement is dated 2 December 2020. This guide does not report how the vote turned out, because the statement cited does not reproduce the result. The records of the United Nations are the authoritative source for that. Anyone who wants to follow the vote should read the wording of the recommendation and the decision there, not only summaries.

What the recommendations were not meant to do

In its statement, the EU expressly recorded that the WHO recommendations are not to be understood as a step towards liberalising cannabis use. This point is often overlooked in debates. Placing a substance on the lists concerns the international control of that substance. How a country designs its national approach to cannabis remains a matter for that state.

How states implement the treaties nationally

Canada regulates cannabis under the Cannabis Act. According to the text of the law, its purpose includes protecting the health of young people by restricting access. The law also names reducing illegal activity and relieving the criminal justice system. Sale is prohibited unless the law expressly permits it. More on this is covered in the article on the legal situation in Canada.

In 2013, Uruguay created its own regulatory body with Law No. 19.172, the Instituto de Regulación y Control del Cannabis (IRCCA). The article on Uruguay’s model explains how the institute works. Both countries show that national rules can differ greatly, even though both are members of the same international framework.

Conventions and national law

A convention is a treaty between states. A law, by contrast, applies within a single country and is adopted by its parliament. When a state joins a treaty, it takes on obligations that it must implement nationally. The Consumer Cannabis Act (KCanG) is a German law. It belongs to national law and must be distinguished from the international framework.

How the debate about cannabis is conducted

The international debate about cannabis has been running for years, and the 2020 vote belongs to that context. Anyone following the development should read the decisions of the UN bodies themselves and not only commentary on them. On a politically contested topic, the original text is the most reliable source.

In practice, this means that the international level sets the framework, while the national level determines everyday life. Anyone speaking internationally about cannabis has to keep the two levels apart, or misunderstandings about the situation in their own country will arise.

Terms explained briefly

• Single Convention (Einheitsübereinkommen): the 1961 UN treaty that controls narcotic drugs internationally.
• Schedules: the lists in the convention in which substances are classified.
• WHO: the World Health Organization, which issues expert recommendations on how substances should be classified.
• Commission on Narcotic Drugs: the UN body that decides on classification.

Why treaties bind states

United Nations treaties bind the states that have signed them. A country must adapt its rules to the treaty once it has committed to it. How it does so remains up to the state. That is exactly what makes the comparison between Canada, Uruguay and Germany so revealing, since all three regulate cannabis nationally.

What classification in the Schedules means

Classifying a substance in the Schedules mainly affects states and their control obligations. For individual people, what matters is what national law makes of it. The examples of Canada, Uruguay and Germany show this. The international list alone does not answer the question of what is permitted in everyday life.

The role of the WHO in the debate

The World Health Organization issues expert recommendations that other bodies can draw on. Recommendations are not the same as laws, however. In connection with the 2020 vote, the EU made clear that the recommendations do not aim at liberalisation. Anyone following the debate should keep recommendation, decision and national law apart.

What the view of Canada and Uruguay shows

Canada has a licensed market, whose purpose is stated in the text of the law. Uruguay relies on a central regulatory body with a register. Both approaches are designed nationally and rest on the same international foundations. Germany has chosen its own model with the KCanG, in which cannabis associations operate as licensed associations.

For classification, it is worth looking at the individual country articles. The article on Uruguay’s model describes the regulatory body in detail, and the article on the legal situation in Austria shows a neighbouring state with a different approach.

What you can take from this

The UN rules sit in the background, while national law governs everyday life. For Germany this means: the Consumer Cannabis Act determines what applies here. It permits possession of up to 25 grams from the age of 18 and home cultivation of up to three plants at the same time.

• Read the original statements of the missions to the United Nations when international decisions are concerned.
• Before travelling abroad, check the rules of the country concerned if you have questions about possession.
• For legal questions in individual cases, consult a specialist lawyer.

An overview of countries with their own models is given in the article Which countries have legalised cannabis?. The situation in Thailand, which has developed differently, is explained in the article on regulation in Thailand.