(MintPress) – Cannabis supporters across the U.S. rejoiced on election night when it became evident that two states, Colorado and Washington, would make history and become the first to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults age 21 and older. But before the end of prohibition can truly come to the two western states, legislators and activists have a few hurdles to jump over, including one from the United Nations (U.N.).
Marijuana activists in both states were already waiting for a ruling from the Justice Department on whether states’ rights would trump the federal government when it came to marijuana legalization. Now advocates have to jump another hurdle thrown at them by the U.N. if there will truly be an end to prohibition.
The U.N. is asking the U.S. to block the recreational legalization of marijuana as the U.N.’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) fears legalization will negatively affect the health and well-being of U.S. citizens, especially youth. The head of the INCB, Raymond Yans, is concerned young Americans will not see the dangers of marijuana usage and will abuse the drug.
Why does the UN care?
In 1961 the U.N. held a convention in which an anti-drug treaty, entitled the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, was drafted. The document states that signatories may legalize cannabis for industrial and horticultural uses, such as hemp, but all nations agree to adopt necessary measures to “prevent the misuse of, and illicit traffic in, the leaves of the cannabis plant.”
Unfortunately for marijuana advocates, the U.S. is one of the some 185 states that signed the treaty, and Yans told the Associated Press he hopes U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder “will take all necessary measures” to keep marijuana possession and usage illegal throughout the U.S.
Yans said marijuana legalization is in violation of the international drug control treaties and it sends “a wrong message to the rest of the nation” and abroad. In a document sent from the U.N. Information Service to the U.S., Yans expressed “grave concern” about the impact recreational legalization would have on the “health and well-being of its citizens.”
Legalization of medicinal marijuana in several U.S. states was not met with resistance from the U.N., as the treaty allows the limited use of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes. But Yans has expressed concern that recreational usage of the drug “would send wrong and confusing signals to youth and society in general, giving the false impression that drug abuse might be considered normal and even, most disturbingly, safe.”
But, as pointed out by an activist post, Yans’ concern about the health and well-being of global citizens seems a little odd given the failure to protect those who are affected by drug wars. In a 2011 report, the Global Commission on Drugs argued that the “global war on drugs has failed” and advocated for governments to legalize marijuana and other controlled substances.
Yet Yans continues to do all he can to remind the U.S. government about the treaty that U.S. officials signed, but at the end of the day the INCB doesn’t have the ability to enforce the U.S. to follow the treaty.
Will the US comply with the UN’s request?
Although marijuana was legalized by Colorado and Washington, U.S. federal law still classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning there is currently “no accepted medical usage in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use even under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.” Under Obama, the U.S. government has cracked down during the past two years on more than 500 marijuana dispensaries in several states, but no one has faced federal prosecution for personal use.
Holder and the Obama administration were mum on whether or not Colorado and Washington would be allowed to move forward with legalizing marijuana, most likely because they didn’t want to be the ones delivering the bad news about legislation that was widely supported. But this latest opinion from the U.N. may be just enough for the federal government to disallow legalization and have someone else to blame.