Alex Massie Alex Massie

UN Report Makes Sense: Can it Actually Exist?

Well, this is common-sense. So, obviously, don’t expect it to have an impact.

A report on cannabis prepared for next year’s UN drug policy review will suggest that a “regulated market” would cause less harm than the current international prohibition. The report, which is likely to reopen the debate about cannabis laws, suggests that controls such as taxation, minimum age requirements and labelling could be explored.

The Global Cannabis Commission report, which will be launched today at a conference in the House of Lords, has reached conclusions which its authors suggest “challenge the received wisdom concerning cannabis”. It was carried out for the Beckley foundation, a UN-accredited NGO, for the 2009 UN strategic drug policy review.

There are, according to the report, now more than 160 million users of the drug worldwide. “Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco,” according to the report.

A regulated market for cannabis might, mind you, be a “gateway” to regulated markets for other drugs, including cocaine and heroin and that, obviously, cannot be countenanced, let alone permitted. Better to stick with current successful policies…

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