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The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These policies in most countries are regulated by three United Nations treaties: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Single Convention treaty, meaning that signatories can allow medical use but that it is considered to be an addictive drug with a serious risk of abuse.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent treaty body, one of the four treaty-mandated bodies under international drug control law.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. Native to Central and South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive component of cannabis, which is one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as an extract.
This is a list of the annual prevalence of cannabis use by country as a percentage of the population aged 15–64. The indicator is an "annual prevalence" rate which is the percentage of the youth and adult population who have consumed cannabis at least once in the past survey year.
The International Nonproprietary Name Dronabinol, also known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or under the trade names Marinol, Syndros, Reduvo and Adversa, is a generic name for the molecule of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in the pharmaceutical context. It has indications as an appetite stimulant, antiemetic, and sleep apnea reliever and is approved by the FDA as safe and effective for HIV/AIDS-induced anorexia and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting only.
Cannabis is legal in Uruguay, and is one of the most widely used drugs in the nation.
Cannabis in Egypt is illegal, but its used undercover and not publicly. It is illegal only if you have it with the chemical called “ketamine,” which is deadly. Also, its use is a part of the common culture in the country for many people. Large-scale smuggling of cannabis is punishable by death, while penalties for possessing even small amounts can also be severe. Despite this, enforcement of the law is lax in many parts of Egypt, where cannabis is often consumed openly in local cafes.
Cannabis in Brazil is illegal and criminalized, but possession and cultivation of personal amounts and for private use were de-penalized in 2006. Use of cannabis medications is allowed for terminally ill patients or those who have exhausted other treatment options. It is also possible to import, manufacture and sell cannabis-based medicines.
Cannabis in Luxembourg is decriminalized for recreational use and legalized for medical use. Prosecution depends on the amount of cannabis one possesses. Since 2001, prison penalty has been substituted by a monetary fine ranging from 250 to 2,500 euros.
Cannabis in Pakistan is illegal for recreational use, although since September 2020, extracts of cannabis can be used for industrial and medical use. Cannabis is widely consumed in Pakistan as charas and bhang.
The list includes and details significant events that occurred in the global history of national-level implementations of, or changes made to, laws surrounding the use, sale, or production of the psychoactive drug cannabis.
Cannabis in Bhutan is illegal, but grows prolifically in the country and has multiple traditional uses, such as feeding pigs and producing textiles.
Cannabis in Benin is illegal. The country is not a major drug producer or consumer, but increasingly serves as a transshipment point for drugs produced elsewhere. Cannabis is the only drug produced locally in Benin, though mostly on a small scale.
Cannabis in New Caledonia is illegal, but is cultivated illicitly. Sources note that "hard drugs" are rare in New Caledonia, and their drug issues are primarily confined to cannabis, with local Kanak chiefs being anti-drug and working to eradicate cannabis plantations.
Cannabis in Montserrat, the British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean Leeward Islands, is illegal under British law.
Cannabis in Gibraltar is illegal, but due to its proximity to North Africa and to mainland Europe, the area around Gibraltar in Spain is frequently used for cannabis trafficking. Gibraltar itself is not a usual destination for drug smuggling from Morocco as it only has a small population and customs controls with Spain make it difficult to move the merchandise further on into Europe. Gibraltarian authorities take a hard line on drug smuggling and prohibited the use of fast speed boats in its waters in 1995, a measure introduced by Spain in 2018.
Cannabis in Mozambique is illegal; the drug is locally referred to as suruma.
Cannabis in Antigua and Barbuda is illegal but decriminalized. The islands are not a major producer of cannabis, and instead import the drug from Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Cannabis in the Republic of the Congo is illegal. Cannabis is known locally as mbanga.
Two main questions arise in the law surrounding driving after having ingested cannabis: (1) whether cannabis actually impairs driving ability, and (2) whether the common practice of testing for THC is a reliable means to measure impairment. On the first question, studies are mixed. Several recent, extensive studies–including one conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and one conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA)–show that drivers with detectable THC in their blood are no more likely to cause car crashes than drivers with no amount of THC in their blood. Others show that cannabis can impair certain abilities important to safe driving –but no studies have been able to show that this increases the actual risk of crashing, or that drivers with THC in their blood cause a disproportionate number of crashes. On the second question, the studies that have been conducted so far have consistently found that THC blood levels and degree of impairment are not closely related. No known relationship between blood levels of THC and increased relative crash risk, or THC blood levels and level of driving impairment, has been shown by single-crash or classic-control studies. Thus, even though it is possible that cannabis impairs driving ability to some extent, there are currently no reliable means to test or measure whether a driver was actually impaired.
References
- ↑ William R. Brownfield (1 May 2011). International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control. DIANE Publishing. pp. 286–. ISBN 978-1-4379-8272-5.
