The narcotics enforcement agency of the UN is questioning whether decades-old drug conventions are outdated given recent global policy developments.

Thursday, during a presentation for the International Narcotics Control Board’s (INCB) 2019 annual report, President Cornelis P. de Joncheere discussed current global trends regarding cannabis legislation.

“We have some fundamental issues around the conventions that state parties will need to start looking at,” he said, adding, “We have to recognize that the conventions were drawn up 50 and 60 years ago.”

Joncheere said 2021 is “an appropriate time to look at whether those are still fit for purpose, or whether we need new alternative instruments and approaches to deal with these problems.”

The comments come as the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) – the agency’s main drug policymaking body – is scheduled to meet next week in Vienna to discuss the World Health Organization’s cannabis recommendations.

“One thing is certain: If the CND rejects the recommendations of WHO on cannabis, the divide between governments will increase,” Riboulet-Zemouli said. “If the deadlock surrounding cannabis policy reform persists in the coming years, it will likely accelerate the end of the policy regime of the conventions as a whole.”

Joncheere’s predecessor as INCB head, Viroj Sumyai, took the reins of a medical cannabis company in Thailand last week.

Source: MJBizDaily