International law on cannabis (IL)

International law (IL) is made of “international legal instruments” — which can be called treaties, conventions, agreements, accords, protocols, memorandum of understanding, etc. (all synonyms). IL is made by and between sovereign countries (called “States” in this context) and applies to them first, with people affected mainly through national laws. In the Cannabis (legal) field, that means the real legal framework starts with treaties that shape how States regulate cultivation, trade, health, human rights, and enforcement. But repression and actual Cannabis laws are made by States, not by the treaties themselves, which only provide the general framework and/or guidance on national legislation.

For Cannabis sativa L., the key instrument remains the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961. It draws careful legal lines between (a) the living plant, harvested “cannabis and cannabis resin”, and other botanical parts, and (b) different purposes such as “medical and scientific use”, “non-medical use”, and illicit activities. Read through that lens, international cannabis law becomes less mysterious: the plant is treated differently from the product, and the purpose of the activity often decides the legal regime. The good thing is that the Single Convention has everything planned, and includes a legal framework for medical uses, another one for recreational cannabis (“non-medical”) and yet another for industrial hemp without psychoactive effects.

Importantly, there are other treaties framing how States have to address Cannabis nationally, including treaties on plants, biodiversity and biopiracy, intellectual property law, human rights, intangible cultural heritage, and others.