The INCB has NOT exceeded its mandate or interfered with the operations of sovereign nations.INCB emphasized that it is the responsibility of the Government of the United States to fully implement the provisions of the 1961 Convention with respect to all narcotic drugs, including cannabis. INCB pointed out that the obligations of the international drug control treaties are applicable in the entire territory of each State party, including its federated states and/or provinces. The United States has ratified the 1961 Convention

I am sure that when alcohol prohibition was repealed, the major opponents to that change in public policy were the Al Capone-affiliated bootleggers and the Harry Anslinger-affiliated cops. Why should it be different today? As long as prohibition keeps the value of illicit substances artificially high (particularly cannabis) and keeps tax dollars flowing into the coffers of gun-slinging (and civil rights trampling) "drug worriers", we will make no progress in reducing the direct and indirect consequences of these substances. After four lost decades of our never-ending war on "some" drugs, victories are almost nonexistent. US teenagers continue to report that marijuana is easier for them to obtain than alcohol. But as long as everyone (drug dealers, corrupt cops, self-serving moralists) continue to get their "cut", we will continue implementing the same ineffective policies over and over again, expecting different results. There is one thing that all JTO readers should agree on: denial is not just a river in Egypt.

The United States Government has ratified the 1961 Convention with respect to all narcotics. Cannabis is included in this Convention due to it's narcotic properties. Therefore, together with some 200 nations the U.S. Government has a responsibility to fully implement these provisions. The INCB is correct in reminding recalcitrant parties of their obligations. The have a duty to do so.

Grainne Kenny is absolutely correct. This nonsense with legalization of a dangerous drug has got to come to an end as well as this medical marijuana red herring.

I want to praise those nations that had the guts to think through the issues around drug abuse and realize that the only long term solution was to decriminalize and regulate the production and sale of various addictive substances. Shame on the INCB for kissing the but of the US and it's totally innefective approach to this issue.

The only thing decriminalization will affect are the huge profits being made by governments who are profiting from the War on Drugs and the suppliers of military hardware. The current "war" mentality in combating a health and economic problem has not been working and a new approach is needed.

We begin to gain courage and progress towards sense when international stalwarts like Grainne Kenny (Ireland/Europe/Romania) urges governments to honour their obligations. Ask millions of parents (electorate) what would happen if their children are allowed to "consume" dangerous drugs, legally. gettly

"Marijuana (mj) is not a narcotic. It is pharmacologically distinct from the family of opium derivatives and synthetic narcotics. Mj is not addicting, though in under 10% of users, a psychological dependence can develop. The mj habit is gregarious and easily abandoned. Mj is not detrimental to the user's health. Even when used over long periods of time, it does not cause physical or psychological impairment. Mj does not produce aggressive behavior. On the contrary, its use inhibits aggressive behavior. Mj does not lead to the use of addicting drugs. Using mj produces feelings of euphoria, reduction of fatigue and relief of tension. It also increases appetite. Mj is safer and more beneficial than tobacco or alcohol (both of which are physically toxic; both of which are addicting), and there is no basis for legalizing these two dangerous drugs while outlawing one which is not dangerous. The classification of mj as a narcotic and the mj prohibition law is based upon an arbitrary and unreasonable classification having no reasonable relation to the public health, safety, welfare, and morals. The classification of mj as a narcotic is unconstitutional and void in violation of the Eighth Amendment provision against cruel and unusual punishment, and the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Mj does not constitute a social hazard. It is not damaging to the user or to society, and therefore should not be outlawed." (Excerpted from the Schaffer Commission Report, appointed by President Nixon, which agreed with every other commission ever convened to study mj.) My thanks to the other posters here who use their real names.

I mis-cited the previous post, and want to correct it. The excerpts were not from Nixon's Shafer Commission (I had mis-read the "Schaffer Library" portion of the link), but are instead drawn from the "Marijuana (Cannabis) Fact Sheet", produced by the Bruin Humanist Forum (Los Angeles) in 1967, a document that is on the Schaffer Library web-site. My apologies for the incorrect citation. However, I think the conclusions reflected in the excerpts I posted from that Schaffer document yesterday still stand. Marijuana is not a narcotic, and should never have been treated as one by any national or international body concerned with regulating truly hazardous drugs. (Cannabis is not one of them.)

I would also like to point out the that 1961 U.N. Drug Convention was pushed and promoted by the United States, which demanded (and continues to demand) that other countries follow it, threatening repercussions and reduction of funds if they don't comply, and then uses the existence of the Convention as the "reason" we cannot change our outrageous, mean spirited, foolish, self-defeating drug policies. When one looks closely at the whole cloth one sees that irrationality and hypocrisy are its warp and woof, and greed the color used for dye.

When any treaty or legislation, regardless the original lofty intent, becomes corrupt it will remain as what I term an illicit "money-go-round". This was true of the U.S.A. attempt at Prohibition. It produced corruption and organized crime and remained in place until the income from legalization, regulation, and taxation during the "Great Depression" outweighed the continued cost of enforcement. This now hold true for marijuana and we will see it legalized, regulated, and taxed in response to the current financial crisis in the U.S.A. The rest of the drugs will be decriminalized and we can cut our cost in enforcement during lean times. As a long time Professional Addictions Futurist, I projected this outcome 15 years ago.