In 1961, governments signed the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, placing cannabis in the narcotics category alongside heroin.

Signed under US pressure, this international agreement criminalized cannabis production and distribution.

Now, approximately 50 years later, the World Health Organization (WHO) says the 1961 treaty should be revised. Its call covers all cannabis components, including cannabinoids such as THC and CBD.

WHO's call means humanity has been wrong for years!

WHO wants whole-plant cannabis, cannabis resin and other main components, such as THC and CBD, removed from Schedule IV of the 1961 convention.

It wants THC removed from a separate drug treaty signed in 1971 and treated under the 1961 convention as medicine rather than a narcotic. It also argues that CBD products containing less than 0.2% THC should face no international control.

In brief, WHO wants a vote on cannabis. If it is removed from the narcotics category, authorities will acknowledge they were wrong for years about its dangers. Many countries have already acknowledged this and allowed controlled access.

How the US will vote remains uncertain

A global “cannabis revolution” is taking place. It is slow and uneven, but recent years have seen effective expansion of medical legalization worldwide and national adult-use legalization in countries such as Uruguay and Canada.

Some member states' votes are easy to predict. Russia and China, with strict drug laws, will reject WHO's initiative. Canada and Uruguay will naturally support it, especially since their legalization conflicts with the existing 1961 treaty.

The United States is the unknown factor. In 1961, it placed cannabis in Schedule IV, the Single Convention's strictest control regime. It argued the classification was necessary because cannabis was “widely abused.” When researchers began discovering medical efficacy in the 1980s through the discovery of the human endocannabinoid system, no international effort sought to revise the treaty. WHO now wants UN delegates to vote this year to correct that inconsistency.

The United States, the treaty's most fervent supporter in 1961, has not yet made its position clear. However, given legalization in many states, it would be reasonable to expect a vote to remove cannabis from the narcotics category.