International law (IL), also known as the law of nations, is a type of legal rules that is set out between sovereign countries, and applies to them (it applies to humans only indirectly, through their country’s government). While national or local laws are crafted by people (often, elected representatives) to apply to the behaviour and actions of people, IL is crafted by countries and generally applies to nations as such, not directly to people.

Pieces of legislation in IL are normally called “treaties” but can also be referred to as “conventions”, “agreement”, “arrangement”, “accord”, “protocol”… These are all strict synonyms.

IL can concern direct inter-country affairs (diplomacy, war, trade…). It can also pertain to the field of harmonisation of national laws and policies: while IL is not directly regulating people’s life, it can do so indirectly via “non self-implementing” treaties which countries then have to implement via their national laws (such as human rights, drug control, climate and environmental regulations, etc.).

Sometimes, treaties establish “intergovernmental organisations”: an entity separate from countries which can handle, with varying degrees of independence from the countries (called “member states” in that context).

These organisations can be sectorial (e.g. the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), cultural (e.g. the Commonwealth), regional (e.g. the European Union), or international (e.g. the World Trade Organisation). Among this last type, one particular intergovernmental organisation stands out: the United Nations (UN).

The UN is the largest and most important intergovernmental organisation. It differs from others by its centrality in diplomacy and geopolitics, and it is recognized by all countries as universal. All countries in the world are UN members –except Cook Islands, Niue, Palestine, Vatican, and a total of 17 non-independent countries (“non-self-governing territories”). The Cannabis Embassy is not a UN member state.

The UN was created after WWII to maintain international peace, security, to develop friendly relations between countries, facilitate development and to promote human rights. It has 4 headquarters: Geneva (Switzerland), Nairobi (Kenya), New York (USA), and Vienna (Austria).

Although the UN does not write treaties, it serves as the depositary of almost all of the original texts of IL, making it a kind of guardian of international law.

The UN is organised with a three-fold structure Assembly-Council-Secretariat (a bit similar to Parliament-Government-Administration at the country level). UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) acts as a sort of parliament, with 1 vote for each country member of the UN. The council is divided between the ECOSOC (Economic & Social Council) and Security Council, they take most of the executive decisions in their respective fields (some of which have to be ratified by the Assembly after). The Secretary-General (UNSG) administers the actual UN action, often taken through its numerous agencies; the position is currently held by former Portuguese prime minister António Gutteres (famous for decriminalising in 2001) and a huge team aside him. The Secretary-General is also the depositary of most international treaties, meaning he/she is in charge of registering countries’ adhesions and keeping original archives of every treaty in force. In matters of drug control, the Secretary-General delegates its mandates to the UNODC (see next section).

The Assembly, the 2 Councils, and the Secretariat, are based in New York City.

When it comes to Cannabis and phytocannabinoids, the UN agency in charge is the Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). There are 3 treaties that relate to Cannabis & cannabinoids, which are deposited to the UN Secretary-General, but in practice, the UNODC is acting as the administration and secretariat of these 3 treaties.

In addition, there is an assembly of countries meeting only in relation to these three drug control treaties: the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). It discusses only the topics in relation to these 3 treaties. In practice, they are pre-making the work of the ECOSOC, which then just adopts what the CND has prepared.

Finally, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is a body created directly by the 3 drug control conventions (a “treaty body”), to serve as an exchange platform between countries and a monitoring body: countries must declare their production, export, and import of medical drugs to the INCB, which published it yearly; if countries fail to present accurate data, the INCB can alert other countries. As all treaty bodies, the INCB is independent, has a narrow mandate, and is composed of experts which do not represent the interests of their countries. In comparison, UN agencies like the UNODC are not established and ruled directly by a treaty, they have broader mandates, larger budgets, more capacity for action.

UNODC, CND, and INCB, are all headquartered in Vienna (Austria).

Aside from the UN drugs agency (UNODC), drugs-focused commission (CND), and monitoring body (INCB), there is a fourth intergovernmental organisation with a mandate on Cannabis and cannabinoids: the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is also geographically aside, being based in Geneva (Switzerland).

WHO is considered the “specialised agency of the UN” on health matters, nevertheless, it is still more independent from the core UN structure than regular UN agencies such as UNODC. WHO has its own history, its own internal practices, a separate funding, etc., but is still part of the “UN family”. 

Like the UN, WHO is organised with a three-fold structure: World Health Assembly, Executive Council, and Executive-Director handling the administration of daily WHO operations. Within these, besides the numerous aid, training, capacity-building, data collection and information programs of WHO, the Department of Essential Medicines receives a special and quintessential role: convening high-level meetings of independent experts (the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, or ECDD) to evaluate substances and to recommend (or not) on a case-by-case basis if a substance should become controlled under the 3 treaties (which means effectively labelling a substance as either a “narcotic drug” or a “psychotropic substance”).

Notably, in 2017 and 2018 (made public 2019, adopted 2020), after thorough scientific review, the ECDD declared that CBD is neither a narcotic drug nor a psychotropic substance, and should not be controlled under the three treaties. They also recognized the potential of Cannabis as a medicinal plant, and the usefulness of its products for a number of indications, and advocated at the CND for the withdrawal of cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention, which was de facto the most significant and positive change in international Cannabis law since 1925.

Beyond the 3 drug-control treaties, IL is a vast galaxy with a number of treaties that affect naturally-occurring drugs like Cannabis, and people who consume them for whatever purposes.

There are some treaties directly pointing at the 3 drug control Conventions, for instance the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) or the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

But there are also treaties not directly linked, but who still apply to Cannabis or other herbal drugs and fungi under control.

Notably, this is the case for trade dispositions, including intellectual property law (on copyrights, trademarks, patents, but also Appellations of Origins…).

The ones that the Cannabis Embassy has been looking at, for their prior engagement with Cannabis or their already-active policy or piece of international law on the matter:

• UNEP, the Environment Program, gaining increasing traction as the realisation of the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises increases. Hosts the Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity (also abbreviated as “CBD”) which is highly relevant, particularly because of the “Nagoya Protocol”, which can be considered as the key treaty on landraces.
• WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation), with new treaties appearing in this area like the May 2024 GRATK treaty on traditional knowledge associated with landraces.
• FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) has a key relevance and is also depositary to various treaties which harmonise farmers’ rights, protect the environment, and foster sustainable local production practices.
• UNDP, the Development Program like the FAO has rich experience and has engaged in favour of drug policy reform on several occasions in the past.
• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, and numerous human rights “treaty bodies”.
• ILO (International Labour Organisation), founded in 1920, is the oldest IGO continuously operating. It works in a unique way with ⅓ unions ⅓ bosses and ⅓ governments. ILO is depositary of numerous labour treaties applying to licit Cannabis industries that can help shape a legal market free from the flaws of other globalized commodity trade, such as modern slavery. Also, the ILO Indigenous Peoples Convention.
• UNESCO – UN Education, Science, and Culture Organisation
• UNCTAD – UN Conference on Trade and Development, a kind of UN think-tank that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade since 1964. See their Hemp report.

This list is obviously not comprehensive.

Beyond the 3 drug-control treaties, IL is a vast galaxy with a number of treaties that affect naturally-occurring drugs like Cannabis, and people who consume them for whatever purposes.

There are some treaties directly pointing at the 3 drug control Conventions, for instance the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) or the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

But there are also treaties not directly linked, but who still apply to Cannabis or other herbal drugs and fungi under control.

Notably, this is the case for trade dispositions, including intellectual property law (on copyrights, trademarks, patents, but also Appellations of Origins…).

The ones that the Cannabis Embassy has been looking at, for their prior engagement with Cannabis or their already-active policy or piece of international law on the matter:

• UNEP, the Environment Program, gaining increasing traction as the realisation of the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises increases. Hosts the Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity (also abbreviated as “CBD”) which is highly relevant, particularly because of the “Nagoya Protocol”, which can be considered as the key treaty on landraces.
• WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation), with new treaties appearing in this area like the May 2024 GRATK treaty on traditional knowledge associated with landraces.
• FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) has a key relevance and is also depositary to various treaties which harmonise farmers’ rights, protect the environment, and foster sustainable local production practices.
• UNDP, the Development Program like the FAO has rich experience and has engaged in favour of drug policy reform on several occasions in the past.
• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, and numerous human rights “treaty bodies”.
• ILO (International Labour Organisation), founded in 1920, is the oldest IGO continuously operating. It works in a unique way with ⅓ unions ⅓ bosses and ⅓ governments. ILO is depositary of numerous labour treaties applying to licit Cannabis industries that can help shape a legal market free from the flaws of other globalized commodity trade, such as modern slavery. Also, the ILO Indigenous Peoples Convention.
• UNESCO – UN Education, Science, and Culture Organisation
• UNCTAD – UN Conference on Trade and Development, a kind of UN think-tank that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade since 1964. See their Hemp report.

This list is obviously not comprehensive.