Why Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Thinks the Time Has Come to Legalise Cannabis

In April this year, from the 19th to the 21st, the United Nations General Assembly will convene a special session on the use of substances and, in the words of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "the world will have the chance to change course." He says that the meeting must be a key event to determine whether the countries involved are on the right path or simply following the same policy as has been prevalent over the last 50 years, which has merely led to violence, corruption and instability.

Annan, also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is convinced that a policy based on popular opinion and sentiment may have undesirable consequences. He has given the example of medical cannabis and explained that, "by looking carefully at the evidence" from the United States, we now know that legalisation for medical purposes has not fostered an increased use of marijuana among teenagers, as used to be argued.

He is also certain that, whenever restrictive measures are successful in one area, production simply relocates somewhere else as does illegal trafficking. Worse still, the ban on consuming or possessing substances has failed to reduce their use, which is why, to his mind, the global war on such substances "has not succeeded."

Annan maintains that all that has been achieved with restrictions is the generalised criminalisation and punishment of users, which means that "the war on drugs is, to a significant degree, a war on drug users - a war on people," for which reason "we need to refocus international and national policy on this key objective."

The first steps to be taken in the direction of change must be oriented towards the decriminalisation of personal use, not to mention harm reduction measures, education and legal regulation that “protects health” and favours people’s awareness of what they are taking. Annan has pointed out that the legalisation of cannabis in some U.S. states has not resulted in an upsurge in its use or in any related crimes. What is more, the black market has actually dwindled and thousands of young people have been saved from being burdened by criminal records for the rest of their lives.

Annan, like many users, holds the view that whatever decisions are taken in future by authorities should be informed by scientific evidence as well as issues of both health and human rights. This spring could well be a good moment for achievements to be made in this field.