Cannabis and Convention on Narcotic Drugs

Why in news?

• United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on Wednesday voted to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
• At its ongoing 63rd session, the 53-member CND has chosen to affirm a World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation from 2019 to remove cannabis from its ‘most dangerous’ category, with 27 Member States voting in favour, 25 against, and one abstention.
• India was part of the voting majority, along with the US and most European nations. China, Pakistan and Russi

About Cannabis:

• According to the WHO, cannabis is a generic term used to denote the several psychoactive preparations of the plant Cannabis sativa.
• The major psychoactive constituent in cannabis is Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
• The Mexican name ‘marijuana‘ is frequently used in referring to cannabis leaves or other crude plant material in many countries. 
• Most species of cannabis are dioecious plants that can be identified as either male or female. The unpollinated female plants are called hashish.
• Cannabis oil (hashish oil) is a concentrate of cannabinoids — compounds which are structurally similar to THC — obtained by solvent extraction of the crude plant material or of the resin.
• The WHO says that cannabis is by far the most widely cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug in the world.

Under international law

• The Vienna-based CND, founded in 1946, is the UN agency mandated to decide on the scope of control of substances by placing them in the schedules of global drug control conventions.
• Cannabis has been on Schedule IV–the most dangerous category– of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs for as long as the international treaty has existed.
• Since it was first scheduled, however, global attitudes towards cannabis have changed dramatically, with many jurisdictions permitting cannabis use for recreation, medication or both, despite it remaining on Schedule IV of the UN list.
• Currently, over 50 countries allow medicinal cannabis programs, and its recreational use has been legalised in Canada, Uruguay and 15 US states.

Indian Law

• Currently in India, the NDPS Act, 1985, illegalises any mixture with or without any neutral material, of any of the two forms of cannabis – charas and ganja — or any drink prepared from it.
• The law does not ban use if seeds and leaves of the cannabis plant if these are not mixed with other parts of the vegetation.
• This is why bhang, commonly consumed by people in northern and eastern parts of India during Holi festival, is not illegal to consume. Similarly, chutney made from cannabis seeds and popular in the Himalayan regions particularly Uttarakhand is not banned.

The relevance of CND vote

• The reclassification of cannabis by the UN agency, although significant, would not immediately change its status worldwide as long as individual countries continue with existing regulations.
• Still, the vote could impact this process, as many nations follow the lead of international protocols while legislating.
•  As per drug policy experts, the CND decision would add momentum to efforts for decriminalising cannabis in countries where its use is most restricted, while further legalising the substance in others.

About Convention on Narcotic drugs:

• The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotics allows for control over trafficking in narcotics, marijuana, cocaine and coca leaf.
• The signatories have to criminalise any “cultivation, production, manufacture, extraction, preparation, possession, offering, offering for sale, distribution, purchase, sale, delivery on any terms whatsoever, brokerage, dispatch, dispatch in transit, transport, importation and exportation of drugs” that is in violation of the Convention.
• The convention classifies over 100 substances in four schedules, which is according to different degrees of control to which they must be subjected.
• While Schedule I contains substance considers “most addictive” and harmful, the fourth schedule is a smaller subset of drugs with “particularly dangerous properties”.
• Cannabis and cannabis resin continue to reside in Schedule 1.

PRELIMS QUESTION
Consider the following statements:
1.Afghanistan is the largest producer of Opium in world.
2.Recreational use of cannabis is illegal in India.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question