9, p. 23Google Scholar. Regime change: Re-visiting the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 18 Article 21 in connection with article 6, paragraph 2. 8, chapter III and annex D. 41 Article 2, paragraph 5 (first alternative: paragraph reference 55). } It was authored by Pablo Osvaldo Wolff, a former Secretary of the Expert Committee on Addiction Producing Drugs of the WHO. 37:17. The fact that the use of kif is so widespread and taken for granted most certainly influences their views: a practice as common and as widely tolerated as this could not be regarded as a very serious offence or the drug a very harmful product.41. 58BL, UN, E/CONF.34/24. This was largely a compilation of observations from the country surveys on the subject conducted since 1952. Professor of Modern History at the University of Strathclyde, The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at. 2012. The protocol signed at Paris on November 19, 1948, bringing under international control drugs outside the scope of the convention of July 13, 1931 for limiting the manufacture and regulating the distribution of narcotic drugs, as amended by the protocol signed at Lake Success on December 11, 1946, subsequently referred to as the 1948 Protocol. Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. All rights reserved. 30 ECOSOC Resolution 246 D (IX), 07 6, 1949Google Scholar. Uwinkindi, Francois Content may require purchase if you do not have access. >> Report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (Fifth Session), p. 38. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. It assured readers that as the State and Federal authorities are fully aware of the existence of the illicit traffic in and use of cannabis in Brazil and as they know the places where these mainly occur, their concerted drive against the spread of the traffic in and use of the drug has not slackened. Indeed, the possibility that cannabis was entirely useless as a medicine had also been formally recognised in the draft treaty, although only as an option. 17Expert Committee on Drugs Liable To Produce Addiction, Third Report (Geneva: WHO Technical Report Series no. Classification of controlled drugs - topic overview - Europa This was the section that meant that Indias reservations about cannabis leaves had been respected and that the only stipulation regarding these was the vague assertion that The Parties shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to prevent the misuse of, and illicit traffic in, the leaves of the cannabis plant. Date of Conclusion: 30 March 1961: Registration Date: 13 December 1964: Subject Terms: Narcotics: Type of Document: Multilateral: Depositary: Secretary . Shulman, Lawrence N. 9, paragraph 471. In 1971, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs was changed to allow nations to choose not to punish drug users, but to offer them treatment, therapy, medical care, rehab, and education instead. Commentary on the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. For comments received on earlier drafts see Documents E/CN.7/AC.3/5 and Add.1 and Corr.1, E/CN.7/AC.3/8 and Add.13, and E/CN.7/308 and Add.12. The Question of Cannabis, 30th April 1959. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs | Encyclopedia.com Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 The Single Convention aims to combat drug abuse by coordinated international action. 7 The provisions relating to the illicit traffickers were primarily in the 1936 Convention. 5 0 obj Di Ciano, Patricia Coming into Force: 13 December 1964: . Many attorneys offer free consultations. So far as it can see, there is no justification for the medical use of cannabis preparations.17, The vice-Chair of the 1952 meeting was R.N. 8BL, UN, E/CN.7/AC.3/3. 5F-MDMB-PICA (5F-MDMB-2201) (chemical name: Methyl 2- (1- (5-fluoropentyl)-1 H -indazole-3-carboxamido)-3,3-dimethylbutanoate) is a synthetic cannabinoid that has been sold online and used to mimic the biological effects of THC, the main psychoactive constituent in marijuana. 9, pp. 63Perhaps the high point of this empire-building and territory-claiming came in the early 1950s when Leon Steinig, head of the UNs Division of Narcotic Drugs, proposed that he would head up a world monopoly on opium, which he later sought to extend to cover nuclear material too. << /Type /Catalog Furthermore, a growing number of states, including California and Massachusetts, have even legalized the recreational use of marijuana, despite federal prohibition. He was removed in 1952. 65 Document E/CN.7/AC.3/9 and Add.1, article 22, paragraph 3. Cannabis Britannica: Empire, trade and prohibition 1800-1928. 2The UN and Narcotic Drugs: Half a century of successful struggle against crime, disease and social affliction, (New York, 1960), pp. 94 Article 50, paragraph 2. The WHO submitted its definitive statement on The Physical and Mental Effects of Cannabis for consideration. Survey of the situation in Brazil, 19th April 1955, p. 14. Jelsma, Martin It pointed out that no experiments are reported on its effects on isolated mammalian cells. Modern medicines that contained cannabis were in Schedule I of the Convention and their prohibition was not recommended. Expert Committee on Drugs Liable to Produce Addiction, Third Report. stream The International Opium Convention, signed at Geneva on February 19, 1925, subsequently referred to as the 1925 Convention. Visit our attorney directory to find a lawyer near you who can help. The Parties, Concerned with the health and welfare of mankind, Recognizing that the medical use of narcotic drugs continues to be indispensable for the relief of pain and suffering and that adequate provision must be made to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs for such purposes . It is not difficult to explain why this firm stance on cannabis was taken as William McAllister has argued that an inner circle of control-advocates was in the ascendant at the UN in the late 1940s and early 1950s and was determined to set a radical agenda on questions related to narcotics.9 However, the report of the 5th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs which discussed the draft convention shows that national delegates did not immediately agree on which of the two options to back, many members of the Commission thought that Indian hemp drugs have no medical value and, consequently, expressed themselves in favour of the first alternative other members did not share this view and gave preference to the second alternative. endobj Eventually the Government of India succeeded in forcing the UN to recognise as legitimate the production of cannabis for non-Western medical systems. Survey of the situation in Brazil, 19th April 1955, pp. Buswell, Lori Much of this limited deliberation was taken up by the Indian delegates report on a meeting in his country of that year and some excitement about mixtures of hashish and chocolate available in Arab countries. Any agreement on cannabis would have to work around south Asias long experience of using preparations of the plant.33. It only remained for Mr Yates of the Secretariat to confirm that he agreed with the WHO representative that for all practical purposes cannabis preparations were no longer necessary. Implications of U.S. Noncompliance with the Single Convention on The Chairman, the French representative, proposed that a resolution be drawn up to recognise the emerging consensus at the Commission that cannabis had no legitimate medical use. It quoted Wolffs conclusion that cannabis drugs were dangerous from every point of view and added its own assertion that they are used for euphoric purposes in many parts of the world where their consumption constitutes a traditional and widespread habit and often a serious social evil.45 The same report was forced to admit that, While cannabis drugs are addiction producing within the meaning of this term as defined by the WHO, it is agreed that they do not cause physical dependence in the same way as morphine, i.e. In the United States, most states have legalized the use of medical cannabis, but the federal government continues to officially prohibit its use (while allowing states to implement their own laws). Based on the premise that cannabis had no legitimate medical use that could not be met by other less dangerous substances, the Commission approved the proposal that the production of the plant for purposes of manufacturing drugs should be entirely prohibited save for those small amounts necessary for scientific experimentation.31, That was not quite the whole story, however, as the agreement included controversial exceptions for India. You may switch to Article in classic view. >> We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. 20 Article 6, paragraph 2, of the 1953 Protocol. 22Union of South Africa, Report of the lnter-Departmental Committee on the Abuse of Dagga (Pretoria: Government Printer, 1952). When the Commission met in 1955 it was greeted with new evidence on cannabis from the WHO and others. 712. Under the third draft also, members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (see article 48, paragraph 1, in connection with ECOSOC Resolution 689 J [XXVI], 07 28, 1958)Google Scholar were admitted; no reference was made to the Statute of the Court. "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, 3 0 obj The country has adopted the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs from 1961. The Single Convention limits 'exclusively to medical and scientific purposes the production, manufacture, export, import, distribution of, trade in, use and possession of drugs' (art. Vincent. Document Latin-American Treaties Collection Ratification Status Table of Actions Cited in Related. Draft of the Single Convention, 27th February 1950, pp. With the issue of cannabis once again deferred for more information, the Secretary-General of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs wearily reported in 1953 that there are a number of major difficulties inherent in the problem of Indian hemp which makes it very hard to decide what measures would be most effective in leading to its solution.13 It noted among these the lack of agreement on its medical value, the traditions of recreational and ritual use in parts of the world, the industrial use of the plant and its ready availability in wild and remote areas. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 is an international treaty to prohibit production and supply of specific (nominally narcotic) drugs and of drugs with similar effects except under licence for specific purposes, such as medical treatment and research. UN adopted the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, where it was noted that the problem requires urgent and priority, and in 1984 in the "Declaration on the fight against drug trafficking and drug abuse" the entire conglomerate of problems, ranging from illicit manufacturing and trafficking to abuse, called "shameful and disgusting crime". Commission on Narcotic Drugs Report of the Eight Session, p. 16. It should be emphasised, however, that it was the interests of large firms which produced indigenous medicines36 that were being protected in India rather than those of the humble bazaar herbalist. Rudakemwa, Emmanuel 1921. the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 (Single Convention) as amended by the Protocol Amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961; the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (Psychotropics Convention); and the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Trafficking Convention). contend with semi-breves, which among country folk is a rhymed and sung dialogue in which each reply (usually in quatrains) begins with the challengers cue or last words. 1961 Convention, Single Convention, Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Drug Control, Prohibition, Treaty, International law, International Drug Control System Collection opensource Language English Commentary on the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. 8, paragraphs 99 and 100. Total loading time: 0.322 If you need an attorney, find one right now. Germany, as most other countries globally, is party to the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961. In the United States, federal implementation of the Single Convention (known as the Controlled Substances Act) makes it a crime to possess even small amounts of narcotics, including marijuana. Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs, 1961 (Part 2) Hemp Barons. and Commission on Narcotic Drugs Tenth Session Summary of the Two Hundred and Sixty-Sixth Meeting 20th April 1955, p. 14. Lande, The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, International Organization, 16, (1962), 782. 50 ECOSOC Resolution 689 J (XXVI), 07 28, 1958Google Scholar. SINGLE CONVENTION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS, 1961. When the United Nations Conference for the Adoption of a Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, meeting at United Nations Headquarters from January 24 to March 25, 1961, adopted the new Convention on March 25, 1961, it completed a work which had occupied international organs since 1948. 4c). Cannabis was no longer used in the country. /Filter /FlateDecode However, it gave the sense that matters related to the drug were proceeding much as they had in the 1930s, at a leisurely pace in which the collection of information seemed to be the central objective.6. 16BL, UN, E/CN.7/276. (1966). It had been agreed that his office should prepare this to get the ball rolling on the process of agreeing a single convention.7 When the Secretariat presented its ideas on 27th February 1950 the proposals for cannabis were radical. 52BL, UN, E/CN.7/399.The Question of Cannabis, Note by the Secretary-General, 5th December 1960, p. 7. Each nation that accepts the treaty as a signatory must implement the treaty as a domestic law -- they can make the law stricter, but they can't make the law less strict. Dr Halbach, the representative of the organisation at the Commission, blustered that he was convinced that the Expert Committees statement on the obsoleteness [sic] of cannabis as a therapeutic agent would remain unchanged and pointedly asserted that it was not easy to imagine, in the present state of knowledge, the reintroduction of cannabis as a means of rational therapy based on modern conditions. Only the Indian delegate was intrigued by reports of use of preparations of the plant in South Africas indigenous medical systems and he asked for more information about consumption of the drug there at social and ceremonial occasions.24. 19The WHO representative was Pablo Osvaldo Wolff. 13 For a comparison of the provisions of the existing treaties with the Single Convention, see Document E/3527. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 Full text and Schedules This Convention aims to combat drug abuse by coordinated international action. There are two forms of intervention and control that work together. 14 Production is a treaty term for harvesting. The Single Convention entered . Weedn, Victor W. 156157. Play Audio. The 1961 U.N. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs UN Conference for the Adoption of a Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Summary Records of Plenary Meetings, Thirteenth Plenary Meeting, 8th February 1961, pp. Delegates had reports from eighteen countries in front of them and lingered for little more than an hour and a half in chewing them over. 32BL, UN, E/CN.7/SR 267. However, this was on the strict condition that this reservation would cease to be effective unless renewed by annual notification made to this effect and accompanied by a description of the progress in the preceding year towards the abolition of such non-medical use and by an explanation of the continued reasons for the temporary retention of such use.8 In other words, the starting-point for discussions had cut through the patient dithering over voluminous and contradictory evidence which had marked the League of Nations approach and that of the early United Nations. This group had provided a clear and definitive position on the therapeutic use of cannabis, and this was as negative as could be. Ntirenganya, Faustin 45BL, UN, E/CN.7/324. Compilation of comments on the single convention (Third draft), Iran: amendment to the redraft of article 39. Still, some of the individual member nations (including the United States) aren't always consistent with the CND's rules. 61 Document E/CN.7/AC.3/9 and Add.1, article 37. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs In 1961, in an effort to incorporate the discovery and growing use of synthetic opioids such as methadone, as well as cannabis and drugs with similar effects that were not a part of previous treaties, the U.N. developed the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. For example, federal law specifically prohibits transportation of narcotic substances, and as theres no federal recognition of medical cannabis, transporting medical cannabis across state lines is technically a violation of federal law. In countries where there was significant consumption of cannabis products for recreational purposes, it was proposed that a reservation be made that allowed the continued production of cannabis for this marker. By signing the treaty, the member states of the Convention are explicitly obliged to prohibit, among others, the cultivation and trade of cannabis outside of medical or scientific purposes. Finally it speculated that. Established in 1949, this Committee met for only five days in that year and for the same in 1950 and 1952 before declaring that, It was of opinion that cannabis preparations are practically obsolete. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 - United Nations The report reads as a hatchet job as it questioned the legitimacy of the science behind the positive reports with no good reason, inferred that lack of a corporate backer was evidence of ineffectiveness on the part of a substance, and speculated on the likely results of an imaginary trial of cannabis antibiotics against those already available to conclude that the latter were superior to the former. No such reservation was permitted in respect of article 21, paragraph 4, also applicable to non-parties. See article 24 of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961. Cannabis and cannabis resin, however, were included in Schedule IV of the Convention, which meant that the prohibition of their medical use was recommended. >> 87 Documents E/CONF.34/C.10/SR.23, and E/CONF.34/1819. 557571CrossRefGoogle Scholar plus corrigendum. 2, chapter III; (13th session) Supplement No. 51BL, UN, E/CN.7/399. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818300011620, Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. By 1957 the Commission had also moved on to consider the surveys of the cannabis situation that had been commissioned by the WHO back in 1953 and which had focused on the most important centres of consumption such as South Africa, India, Brazil and Morocco.37 Each of these reports conformed to a set format, so that data was collected from different contexts in order to be readily compared. PDF SINGLE CONVENTION ON - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 9 Economic and Social Council Resolution 667 H (XXIV), 08 1, 1957Google Scholar; see also ECOSOC Resolution adopted at the 34th session on August 3, 1962 (Document E/3692, Resolution F). 67 Document E/CONF.34/SR.19; see also Document E/CONF.34/SR.18. The master craftsman smokes with his staff or forms groups with his customers, to whom, it is said, he gives the drug and equipment free of charge solely for the pleasure of smoking in company kif addicts only incur the half-hearted disapproval of the healthy members of the population. 47BL, UN, E/CN.7/L.212. Murenzi, Gad 14UK National Archives (NA), Home Office (HO) 45/24948. the single convention on narcotic drugs, 1961 (single convention, 1961 convention, or c61) is an international treaty that controls activities (cultivation, production, supply, trade, transport) of specific narcotic drugs and lays down a system of regulations (licenses, measures for treatment, research, etc.) International treaties like the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs are best understood as a baseline for laws created in each individual nation. This was because the cannabis plant was represented in Hindu holy texts as sacred.44 Such glimpses add to the sense that the picture presented in these reports was of a police problem rather than a social problem. The mention in various pharmacopoeia showed, however, that there was still a residual situation to clear up, including the use of cannabis for veterinary purposes. Some American commentators have argued that, even if Congress wanted to promote national drug reform, it has its hands tied, since the courts are bound by international law to implement the treaty (which, of course, criminalizes production, sale, use, and possession). Survey of the situation in India, 30th April 1956, pp. On the 30th of March, to mark the adoption of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Science for Democracy, together with a coalition of Italian NGOs, organized a webinar with international experts to assess the last 60 years . 7BL, UN, E/1673. The British representative returned to the issue of corn plasters that had haunted the countrys position on cannabis since the 1920s, before Harry Anslinger20 of the USA made his nations position plain stocks held by pharmacies in the United States had been turned over to the public authorities upon enactment of the Cannabis Tax Act. The email address cannot be subscribed. 64 Article 14, paragraph 3 of the 1931 Convention. Resources. Lande Adolf. As such he went beyond his remit to outline the social impacts of cannabis use, quoting reports from Greece, South Africa, Puerto Rico and Mexico which insisted that cannabis apparently brings to the surface of the subconscious vices and tendencies which have been submerged by education and environment. Fifty Years of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs: A << /Type /Pages The uneasy consensus on the medical obsolescence of cannabis that the WHO and colleagues in the UN had worked so hard to establish in the 1950s faced a final challenge late in the decade, this time from the microbial world. Please try again. This draft was considered at the 5th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at New York on Friday December 1st 1950. 4See chapter 2 of J. Mills James. See footnote 14. 30BL, UN, E/CN.7/SR 267. International Conventions | Office of Drug Control Mills, Colonial Africa and the international politics of cannabis: Egypt, South Africa and the origins of global control in J. H. Mills and P. Barton, eds, Drugs and Empires: Essays in modern imperialism and intoxication, c. 1500-c. 1930, (Basingstok 2007), pp. Regime change: re-visiting the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs In many signatory nations, medical cannabis is illegal. 57, 1952), p. 11. 79. While the above report from French Morocco pointed to the place of cannabis consumption in the routine social life of the region, the survey of Brazil identified the place of the drugs in the countrys cultural practices, In Alagoas the drug is used during sambas and batuques, dances introduced by Negroes: it is also consumed by those who porfiam na colcheia i.e. /Kids [4 0 R 10 0 R 15 0 R 20 0 R 25 0 R 30 0 R 35 0 R 40 0 R 45 0 R 50 0 R 55 0 R 61 0 R 66 0 R 71 0 R 76 0 R 81 0 R 86 0 R 91 0 R 96 0 R 101 0 R 106 0 R 112 0 R 117 0 R 122 0 R 127 0 R 132 0 R 137 0 R 142 0 R 147 0 R 152 0 R 157 0 R 163 0 R 168 0 R 173 0 R 178 0 R 183 0 R 188 0 R 193 0 R 198 0 R 203 0 R 208 0 R 214 0 R 219 0 R 224 0 R 229 0 R 234 0 R 239 0 R 244 0 R 249 0 R 254 0 R 259 0 R 265 0 R 270 0 R 275 0 R 280 0 R] Lurie, Ira 26 Economic and Social Council Official Records (26th session), Supplement No. for this article. In what is a huge step forward for the normalization of medical cannabis and the cannabis market overall: the UN just removed cannabis from Schedule IV of th. 4 0 obj Mpunga, Tharcisse While governments such as the US and the USSR had been entirely convinced that the plant had no legitimate medical uses throughout the 1950s it is striking that the mention of antibiotics had rapidly caused them to reconsider. Consumers from across the continents were lumped together in the following brief description; Apart from unemployed persons who generally figure prominently among consumers, there are also mentioned traffickers who also consume the drug, labourers, odd-jobbers, vagrants, criminals, seamen and a few students and cabaret artists. In the 1920s cannabis had first been caught up in the international regulatory system because of the competing interests of national and colonial governments such as the UK, the US, Egypt and India. The confusion and curiosity in international policy circles about cannabis in the inter-War period was replicated early in the 1950s. Firms, legalized the recreational use of marijuana, Expungement Handbook - Procedures and Law. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 by , 1968, For sale by the Supt. 47 Economic and Social Council Official Records (26th session), Supplement No. UN Conference for the adoption of a single convention on narcotic drugs, ad hoc committee to deal with article 39, 23rd February 1961, p. 2. Both assumed that recreational consumption was bad and ought to be rigorously discouraged. Since the 1970s, several organizations have argued that illegal possession as described in Article 36 of the Single Convention is limited to possession for the purposes of trafficking or dealing drugs, as opposed to personal use. 4, chapter III and annex C; (18th session) Supplement No. He was supported by Egypt, Turkey and Mexico among others but France and the Netherlands were chief among those that resisted. Drug Diplomacy in the twentieth-century: An international history. It questioned the validity of the experiments and argued that none of the available reports on clinical use appears to refer to a properly conducted trial with adequate controls. There are three United Nations treaties that together form the international law framework of the global drug control regime: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971, and the Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988. and This Convention aims to combat drug abuse by coordinated international action. 1 SINGLE CONVENTION.ON. About us; People; Partners; Researchers; Contact us; In the media; Newsletter Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 44 For a detailed discussion of the second draft see Lande, A., La Codification du droit international des stupfiants, 2 Annuairc Franfais de Droit International (1956), pp. The Commission did not neglect more longstanding interests, however, and quickly attempted to impose a world-wide monopoly on opium.2 This met with some resistance on the part of the worlds opium producers and was eventually watered down in the 1953 Protocol on Opium, which never actually came into force.3 The chief concern of the Commission throughout the 1950s was to come up with a simplified system to replace the various treaties devised in the 1920s and 1930s and the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 was eventually to satisfy this ambition.