Arguments Against Legalizing Weed: The Case the UN's Drug Watchdog Still Makes

The main arguments that still keep weed illegal in much of the world come from the international drug treaties, which only allow cannabis for medical and scientific use, and from the body that polices them, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which argues that looser laws raise risks like dependence, psychosis and impaired driving. On top of that, cannabis laws vary hugely from country to country and culture to culture, so figuring out where you stand can get complicated fast.

When you hear that cannabis has been "decriminalized," that doesn't mean growing or using it is suddenly a free-for-all. And even when a country accepts medical cannabis, that doesn't necessarily mean recreational use is allowed.

Decriminalization means that possessing or using cannabis won't lead to criminal charges. In some countries, possession isn't a crime but is still against the law. In practice, your odds of ending up in court are close to zero, but you could still face civil penalties like hefty fines or be required to complete an education or treatment program.

Legalization or decriminalization doesn't mean deregulation either. Even in countries where cannabis is legal for recreational and medical use, sales are tightly regulated, and only cannabis bought from licensed stores counts as legal.

What Are the Main Arguments Against Legalizing Drugs?

When it comes to non-medical cannabis use, the international drug control treaties come into play. On top of that, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the UN-linked body that monitors those treaties, has warned that poorly controlled medical cannabis programs pose a health risk.

In its annual report, the INCB regularly looks at recreational legalization in several US states and in Canada. Its conclusion: weak regulation of medical cannabis has let the drug be used for other purposes.

What Does the Report Say About Decriminalization?

Setting aside the many upsides that cannabis sales and use can bring, the report points out that intoxication, altered consciousness, perception problems, panic attacks, hallucinations, impaired driving and a higher risk of traffic injuries have doubled, for example, in California. In the INCB's reading, that shows cannabis has short-term adverse effects, and regular use has long-term psychosocial effects too.

The Long-Term Psychosocial Effects

According to the Board, one of the long-term psychosocial effects of regularly smoking weed is dependence. The risk it cites is 1 in 10 among people who have ever used cannabis, 1 in 6 among teenage users and 1 in 3 among daily users, with more serious and longer-lasting outcomes in teens than in adults.

Cannabis and Psychosis: What the Report Claims

The report also links cannabis use to a higher risk of psychotic symptoms or schizophrenia. Along the same lines, it associates use with a higher risk of dropping out of school early, cognitive problems, illicit use of other drugs, depressive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts and behavior, mainly when cannabis is used daily during adolescence and early adulthood.

Decriminalization and the Legal Framework: What Goes Wrong?

One of the report's key points is that even though there are very clear methods and legal frameworks for countries that have legalized medical cannabis, they aren't always followed. That weak oversight can lead to one of the big consequences the Board worries about: more cannabis being used for non-medical purposes. So how do you fix that?

The first condition, according to the treaties, is a national agency that controls production and supply. Second, the conventions establish that the state should be the one issuing production licenses, in this case for medical and scientific cannabis. Ideally, the state takes charge of the whole issue, meaning all of the production.

Along those lines, the state should hold the exclusive right to wholesale trade, essentially a purchasing monopoly, to prevent diversion. Finally, states should submit reports to the INCB with estimates of the quantities needed and the number of patients to be treated with medical cannabis.

According to the INCB report, cannabis use started climbing among adults over 21 in US states that passed medical cannabis laws, and those states also show higher rates of daily use, misuse and dependence. The number of adult men seeking treatment for cannabis-related disorders has also grown more in those places.

What the INCB Recommends to These Countries

You could hand these governments a thousand recommendations, weighing the arguments both for and against legal weed. The report's main one is that governments allowing medical cannabinoids should evaluate how their programs are working. That monitoring should include:

• data on the number of patients
• the medical conditions of the patients using them,
• assessments of the benefits by both patients and doctors,
• rates of adverse events.

Governments should also track how much of these products gets diverted to non-medical use, especially to minors.

What Else Would It Take for Legal Cannabis to Reach Everywhere?

First and foremost, any expansion in South America has to reckon with the fact that many countries lack both the infrastructure and a real state presence on the ground. That could be the case in Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.

The striking part is that conditions there are ripe for illicit crops to spread, and then there's the drug-trafficking route problem in South America. One major route is the Amazon River, where shipments from Colombia and Peru converge before moving through Venezuela and Guyana or heading out to Europe and the United States. That helps explain why not only the amount of coca being planted has gone up, but also what's known as potential cocaine production.

With all that on the table, some countries in Central America and the Caribbean have been working together, with support from the UNODC (the UN Office on Drugs and Crime) and a series of strategic initiatives, to fight organized crime and drug trafficking, and to push an approach aimed at reducing demand for narcotics.