Global Ganja Report

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) March 9 denounced efforts by the UN International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) as it met in Vienna to meddle in United States marijuana law reform efforts. In a recent report, the INCB said it was "deeply concerned" that 14 state medical marijuana laws are sending the "wrong message to other countries."

Additionally, the INCB said it is "concerned over the ongoing discussion in several states on legalizing and taxing the 'recreational' use of cannabis, which would be a serious contravention of the 1961 convention." However, MMP points out that the Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs explicitly grants exception for any country to make laws that agree with its constitutional and legal requirements. "The last thing the INCB should be doing is meddling in our states' affairs," said Aaron Houston, MPP director of government relations. "We are a federalist society and our states are granted the right to decide their own policy—not the federal government, and certainly not the United Nations. Who is the U.N. to tell Texas, Mississippi, Ohio or any other state what to do?" The INCB has also criticized several Latin American countries, including Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, for decriminalizing possession of cannabis. (MPP, March 9)

Photo by the Mad Pothead