Why recent “historical” cannabis legislations are actually impeding progress
By: Justin Buck
Tags: United States, Politics, Marijuana, United Nations, Cannabis

In my own personal life, I have found it to be extremely advantageous to be optimistic and look at life with the “glass half full” mindset. Fortunately for me, I am not an ancient medicine that was used for thousands of years just to be outlawed by ignorant politicians. I might not be so positive then and advocates for cannabis should be fed up with the constant facade of progress. This month, two “historical” headlines have grasped the attention of legalization hopefuls that portray progress but impede it in reality. On a global scale, the United Nations decided to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule IV narcotics that are accompanied by other drugs such as heroin and several forms of fentanyl.¹ On a domestic level, the House of Representatives voted to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act that I discussed in a previous article.

The first event that occurred this month was the United Nations decision. In 1961, The United Nations (UN) held the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This was the first international prohibition effort to control the international trade of drugs. The intentions of the convention were noble because the goal was to correct drug abuse and addiction throughout the world. Unfortunately, good intentions can still lead to detrimental decisions. During this convention, drugs were placed into schedules of I-IV, with schedule I drugs being the most harmful and addictive substances — which cannabis is still listed on today. Schedule IV is a subcategory of Schedule I, which lists specific substances in Schedule I that are the greatest threat to public health and contain very little medical use. The United States then used this convention as the blueprint for the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, which placed cannabis under Schedule I as well. A few days later, the United States House of Representatives passed the MORE Act. Among other things, the MORE Act would federally decriminalize cannabis in the United States. It would officially remove cannabis from any schedule under the Controlled Substances Act but would require regulation similar to alcohol. So, what is the issue? Misconception. Things are not as they seem, and progression has not been made.

These events are impeding the overall progress of cannabis legalization because the headlines are creating an illusion to the public. The performative votes and sentiment around these two events hold no weight and change nothing. The UN was given 5 different suggestions from the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding cannabis progression. Only one was approved and four were rejected.² Removing cannabis from Schedule IV (the subcategory of Schedule I that doubles down on the most harmful drugs to public health with no medical value) was the only recommendation approved by a tight voting margin of 27–25. The number of votes against removing cannabis from Schedule IV, the amount WHO recommendations rejected, and cannabis still being on Schedule I clearly show that no real progress has been made.

Another and possibly more detrimental performative act happened shortly after the UN’s decision — the United States House of Representatives passed the MORE Act. They performed this act knowing the media would mark this as a “historical” event, although it will have no impact on actual law. Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, sarcastically criticized the House of Representatives for spending any amount of time voting on the bill because of the complete lack of interest to move it forward within the senate.

“It’s an unserious bill that was voted on in an unserious manner and we rest easily knowing there is zero interest in moving this bill in the Senate and zero interest in supporting it in either the current administration or the incoming one,” stated former White House Office of National Drug Control Policy advisor, Kevin Sabet.³

Yes, these votes and events may have never happened before but are they historic if the events have no tangible impact? Cannabis advocates should not become complacent because although progress has been made previously, these events haven’t done and will not do anything to move the needle forward towards legalization.

Resources

1. Nations U. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961. unodc.org. https://www.unodc.org/pdf/convention_1961_en.pdf. Accessed December 11, 2020.

2. Nations U. CND votes on recommendations for cannabis and cannabis-related substances. unodc.org. https://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CND/CND_Sessions/CND_63Reconvened/Press_statement_CND_2_December.pdf. Accessed December 11, 2020.

3. Stracqualursi V, Dezenski L. House passes bill decriminalizing marijuana at federal level. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/04/politics/house-vote-more-act-marijuana-legislation/index.html. Published December 4, 2020. Accessed December 11, 2020.