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A United Nations commission voted on Wednesday to remove cannabis for medicinal purposes from List IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, a list of the most dangerous drugs in the world where it was listed alongside highly addictive opioids such as heroin. With the decision, the body officially recognizes the medicinal properties of the plant.
The UN recognized the medicinal properties of cannabis on Wednesday in a vote in Vienna by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the executive body on drug policy of the United Nations. (We recommend: The Colombian anachronism against cannabis for adult use)
The simple majority of the 53 States of the Commission have decided to withdraw cannabis and its resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Convention on Drugs, which means that the medical usefulness of this plant is officially recognized, the recreational use of which will continue to be prohibited in international regulations. In this Convention, cannabis is classified in lists I and IV, the latter reserved for the most dangerous drugs and under the strictest control, such as heroin, and to which little medical value is granted.
Almost all the States of the European Union – with the exception of Hungary – and many of the Americas have added a simple majority of 27 votes to approve the change – one of the most important on drugs in recent decades – while a large part of Asian and African countries objected.
[ERRATUM] Brazil was not on the list of countries that voted “No” to recommendation 5.1. And the Czech Republic was incorrectly on the “No” list. With apologies. pic.twitter.com/ouhpPxmWh4
– IDPC (@IDPCnet) December 2, 2020
Experts say that, although the vote will not have an immediate impact on the relaxation of international controls, because governments will still have jurisdiction over how to classify cannabis, the recognition of the United Nations is a symbolic victory for the defenders of the policy change of drugs, as many countries look to global conventions for guidance. (It may interest you: New attempt to regulate cannabis use approved in the first debate)
Therefore, this change is expected to facilitate research with cannabis, which has active ingredients that have shown promising results in the treatment of Parkinson’s, sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic pain and cancer.
A WHO recommendation
The vote came almost two years after a World Health Organization (WHO) ruling that recognized the medical utility of cannabis and recommended its removal from List IV.
At the same time, it was proposed to keep cannabis in List I, where narcotics are found under international control due to their addictive nature, but accessible for medical activities, a situation in which other narcotics are found, such as morphine.
That recommendation – now adopted with 27 votes in favor, 25 against and one abstention – was based on the WHO’s first critical study of cannabis, the world’s most popular drug with some 200 million users, according to UN estimates. (We recommend: After 4 years of the medical cannabis law in Colombia, where were the patients?)
The WHO is responsible for scientifically assessing for the Commission both the possible therapeutic properties and the harm generated by drug addiction under international control, and its recommendations are usually adopted without much controversy.
However, in this case the vote was preceded by an enormous debate and several postponements in the last two years due to the differences between those States in favor of change and those that demanded to maintain the “status quo”.
The EU countries -except Hungary- along with others such as Argentina, Canada, Colombia, the USA, Mexico, Uruguay and Ecuador, among others, have supported following the scientific criteria of the WHO.
Around 50 countries have launched different medical cannabis programs and this United Nations decision, predictably, will promote this type of policy, as well as research with the plant.
Argentina already decided in November to legalize the self-cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use and will allow the sale of oils, creams and other derivatives of the plant for therapeutic purposes, based on the WHO recommendation that has now been officially adopted.
Until now, medical research with cannabis was possible in a limited way, since the inclusion in List IV acted as a brake for many laboratories due to the restrictions and the different legal criteria applied in each country.
States that voted against the change, led by Russia, China, Brazil and Pakistan, believe that relaxing cannabis control now sends the wrong message.
The States against any change consider that this decision trivializes the use of cannabis and minimizes the damage to health that it produces, such as an increase in certain mental disorders.
The change also comes when several countries such as Canada, Uruguay and a dozen US states have legalized the use of cannabis and others such as Mexico, Luxembourg or Israel have ongoing legal initiatives along the same lines. The commission also considered five other recommendations, but a proposal to ease restrictions on cannabis derivatives like THC did not garner enough support to pass.
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