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United Nations Reclassifies Cannabis

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The United Nations Commission for Narcotic Drugs has voted to reclassify cannabis as less dangerous than other, more harmful substances.

On December 2, the commission officially voted to reclassify cannabis from its current position as a Schedule IV substance. The commission meeting was made up of 53 member states and took place in Vienna, Austria. The decision to reclassify was close, a mere two-vote difference at 27 to 25, with Ukraine declining to vote. Countries who voted in favor of reclassification included the United States, many countries in Europe, China, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Russia. This decision comes over a year-and-a-half after the World Health Organization recommended cannabis reclassification in February 2019.

Nearly 60 years have passed since the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs went into effect, which originally classified cannabis as a Schedule IV substance. Other substances in this classification include heroin, among other dangerously addictive substances.

The New York Times notes that this landmark decision won’t make any immediate waves in terms of how governments decide to categorize cannabis. However, the United Nations’ decision will likely affect future decisions because of its global influence—and has the potential to help cultivate even more interest and acceptance in studying the plant and its many properties. “This is a huge, historic victory for us, we couldn’t hope for more,” Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli, an independent substance researcher, told The New York Times.

Although cannabis’ reclassification is a welcome change, the commission did reject a proposal, referred to as Recommendation 5.5, to exempt CBD with less than 0.2 percent THC. “The establishment of the 0.2% THC limit is not supported by scientific evidence, and the proposed wording does not exclude divergent interpretations concerning the calculation of that limit,” said Germany’s UN representative, Gerhard Kuentzle, told Hemp Industry Daily. “However, we would welcome further consultation with all relevant stakeholders on the recommendation on the appropriate level of the international control for cannabis preparations with low THC content.”

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