{"id":366,"date":"2021-08-10T13:52:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T13:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=175035"},"modified":"2021-08-10T13:52:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T13:52:00","slug":"un-cannabis-attitudes-are-shifting-and-not-in-the-cannabis-industrys-favour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=366","title":{"rendered":"UN cannabis attitudes are shifting\u2014and not in the cannabis industry\u2019s favour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <title>UN cannabis attitudes are shifting\u2014and not in the cannabis industry\u2019s favour | Leafly<\/title>     <!-- Quotes = strings--><!-- No quotes = boolean-->\t   <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v15.9.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->                  <!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- BEGIN Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Sailthru Horizon Meta Information -->  <!-- Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- End Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --><br \/>\n <!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <title>Leafly<\/title>     <title>Leafly \u00ae<\/title>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              <title>Loading\u2026<\/title>     <\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-white fixed flex hidden inset-0 items-start md:h-auto md:items-center overflow-auto\" id=\"age-gate-container\">\n<div class=\"bg-white md:h-auto mx-auto p-lg text-sm w-full\" id=\"age-gate\">\n<p><label for=\"select-country\">Where are you from?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__info\">\n<p><button class=\"button\" data-testid=\"age-gate-no-button\" id=\"tou-cancel\">no<\/button><button class=\"button ml-md\" data-testid=\"age-gate-yes-button\" id=\"tou-continue\">yes<\/button><\/p>\n<p><label class=\"checkbox__label my-xl\"><span class=\"text-xs\" id=\"remember-user-label\">Remember me for 30 days. <br \/>I confirm that this is not a shared device.<\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<p class=\"error error--underage hidden\">Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p>The UN has called for a worldwide ban on cannabis advertising, causing confusion in countries that have a thriving legal industry.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the United Nations Office on Crime and Drugs released its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unodc.org\/unodc\/press\/releases\/2021\/June\/unodc-world-drug-report-2021_-pandemic-effects-ramp-up-drug-risks--as-youth-underestimate-cannabis-dangers.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">World Drug Report 2021<\/a>, calling for a comprehensive ban on advertising, promoting or sponsoring cannabis to ensure that public health interests prevail over business interests.<\/p>\n<p>The report argued a ban is necessary due to increasing potency and youths\u2019 belief that cannabis is not harmful, claiming \u201ccannabis use is associated with a variety of health and other harms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAggressive marketing of cannabis products with a high THC content by private firms and promotion through social media channels; can make the problem worse,\u201d the UN officials wrote in their report.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-industry-leaders-aren-t-terribly-surprised\">Industry leaders aren\u2019t terribly surprised<\/h2>\n<p>Deepak Anand, CEO of Materia ventures and one of the Canadian industry\u2019s longest-running commentators on international cannabis business, said he wasn\u2019t surprised by the report.<\/p>\n<p>However, after years of hard-line support for cannabis prohibition, the UN has shown its attitudes toward cannabis to begin to soften over the past year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt class=\"wp-image-175063 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/un-cannabis-attitudes-are-shifting-and-not-in-the-cannabis-industrys-favour.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/un-cannabis-attitudes-are-shifting-and-not-in-the-cannabis-industrys-favour.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/un-cannabis-attitudes-are-shifting-and-not-in-the-cannabis-industrys-favour.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/un-cannabis-attitudes-are-shifting-and-not-in-the-cannabis-industrys-favour.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>According to the UN, potency of cannabis has increased by as much as four times in parts of the world over the last 24 years (Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/politics\/in-historic-move-united-nations-reclassifies-cannabis-as-less-dangerous-drug\">In December<\/a>, the UN Commission for Narcotic Drugs (with 53 member states) voted to remove cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (CND), effectively signalling the body no longer believes cannabis is as dangerous as heroin.<\/p>\n<p>Though largely dismissed as a symbolic win, it nonetheless augured future tectonic shifts within the UN\u2019s attitude to cannabis.<\/p>\n<p>For those expecting the UN vote will prompt quick changes, Anand suggests caution. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t exactly a unanimous vote\u2014it narrowly passed, with one country moving it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLegalization of cannabis in Canada, and a number of other countries since then both for medical and recreational purposes, has clearly resulted in movement on the UN\u2019s part.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-not-all-un-members-want-to-ban-cannabis\">Not all UN members want to ban cannabis<\/h2>\n<p>There are indications many at the UN are willing to encourage that movement to continue. Anand notes several member states within the Commission on Narcotic Drugs look pragmatically at the issue of legalization and recognize the UN view of cannabis as more dangerous than alcohol or tobacco is fundamentally unreasonable.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-xxl wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-related-articles\">\n<p><h2>Related articles<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, the way the UN works, and CND in particular works, they\u2019re using more of a consensus approach than a voting approach,\u201d Anand explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey do vote on certain things, but generally they\u2019re looking to get consensus on issues. And this is definitely an issue you\u2019re not going to be able to get consensus on from [ardently anti-drug] countries like Russia and China\u2014they\u2019re going to be very much diametrically opposed,\u201d says Anand.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-canadian-legalization-pushed-the-status-quo\">Canadian legalization pushed the status quo<\/h2>\n<p>Canada leads the world as the first G7 nation to legalize adult cannabis use for recreational purposes on a national scale. Anand says Canadian legalization \u201cled to the UN recognizing this as an issue they\u2019re going to have to deal with, whether it be now or later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Canada already has some tight regulations around cannabis advertising. Retail stores resemble adult paraphernalia shops, with windows shaded so products can\u2019t be seen from the street. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/canada\/seth-rogens-houseplant-brand-is-leaving-canada\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Celebrity endorsement<\/a>, sponsorship, and any sort of promotional advertisement are all extensively restricted.<\/p>\n<p>Even prior to Canadian legalization, discussions about decriminalizing cannabis were happening on state-level scales in various US locales, while other G7 nations are warming to the idea as well. What that adds up to, for Anand, is that the UN \u201crecognizes this is an issue that can no longer be put off.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He credits the widening acceptance of medical cannabis across many UN nations as another important pressure on the UN to modernize its stance.<\/p>\n<p>That pressure is necessary.<\/p>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. 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Last month, the United Nations Office on Crime and Drugs released its World Drug Report 2021, calling for a&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}