Hablando de la iniciativa de cannabis y la necesidad de regular con un enfoque de justicia social

Creo que vale la pena leer los argumentos de Canadá para legalizar y regular estrictamente el mercado de cannabis para uso adulto ante la Comisión de Estupefacientes.  ¡Gracias al CND Blog por siempre mantenernos al tanto!

Canada would like to express its sincere appreciation for your efforts to guide us towards consensus on a work plan for the Commission’s preparations for the Ministerial segment in 2019. However, I take the floor today to discuss a different issue. Last week (on June 21), Canada’s legislation to legalize, strictly regulate, and restrict access to cannabis received Royal Assent. While the Cannabis Act is now law, it will only take effect on October 17, 2018, in order to give the provinces and territories in Canada time to prepare. At that time, individuals in Canada who are 18 years of age or older will be legally able to purchase, possess and consume limited amounts of cannabis, and authorized entities will be able to cultivate, produce, distribute and sell cannabis legally, under license. We recognize that the topic of cannabis legalization is a policy issue that is of great interest to the Commission and of concern to some States Parties to the drug Conventions. We are also conscious that it is an issue of concern to the International Narcotics Control Board and to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as indicated by statements released on June 21. As you know, Canada has briefed the CND and the International Narcotics Control Board on our cannabis policy on several occasions in recent years and, I welcome the opportunity to do so again today.

Canada’s new Cannabis Act will: o restrict youth access to cannabis to protect young people from promotion or enticements to use cannabis o deter criminal activity by imposing serious criminal penalties for those breaking the law, especially those who import or export cannabis, or provide cannabis to youth o protect public health through strict product safety and quality requirements o reduce the burden on the criminal justice system o provide for the legal production of cannabis to reduce illegal activities o allow adults to possess and access regulated, quality controlled legal cannabis; and o enhance public awareness of the health risks associated with cannabis Four additional points about the content of the Act: 1. The Cannabis Act, for the first time, makes it a specific criminal offence to sell cannabis to a minor and creates significant penalties for those who engage young Canadians in cannabisrelated offences. 2. The Act contains strict and specific restrictions on packaging and labeling including strict requirements that packaging be child resistant and tamper evident. 3. The illegal movement of cannabis and cannabis products across international borders will remain a serious criminal offence as it is today. 4. Driving while impaired by cannabis or any other drug is, and will remain, a serious criminal offence. Law enforcement officers across Canada are trained to detect drug-impaired drivers. Madame Chair, having briefly described our new law, let me review some of the reasons why Canada has taken this approach. First, I want to be clear that Canada is undertaking this policy change to better protect the health and safety of Canadians, especially Canadian youth. The reality is that, in Canada at least, our former approach simply did not work. Despite nearly a century of strict criminal prohibition of cannabis, supported by substantial law enforcement resources, cannabis use has become widespread across Canada today and the drug is easily available to Canadian youth and adults alike. In fact, despite prohibition and the threat of criminal sanctions, the rates of cannabis use among Canadian youth are among the highest in the world. One in five Canadian youth aged 15-19, and one in three young adults aged 20-24, report having used cannabis in the past year.

This is the public health and safety problem Canada currently confronts. We are well aware that the health risks associated with cannabis use are particularly acute in young users, and these high rates of use are therefore of concern from a public health perspective. By contrast, we have seen the percentage of youth who use tobacco, which has been available for legal purchase in Canada for decades, drop from 27% in 1985 to 10% in 2015, due to a successful combination of strict regulation and sustained public education about its risks. This is a public health success story, and we have applied these lessons to inform our approach to the legalization and strict regulation of cannabis. Public education and awareness are fundamental to achieving our public health and safety objectives. For this reason, the Government of Canada has made significant investments to ensure that Canadians have access to information to understand the health and safety risks of cannabis use. The total planned investment in cannabis public education, awareness and surveillance is more than $100 million. Since spring 2017, our health ministry has targeted an ongoing public education campaign at parents and youth, using advertising, social media, web content, and articles aimed at helping Canadians learn the facts about cannabis, and also supporting parents to talk with their teens about cannabis use and health effects. Additionally, an evidence-based, public health approach is being taken with respect to the requirements for packaging and labelling of cannabis products to minimize its appeal to children and youth; protect against accidental consumption; and provide consumers with information they need to make informed decisions before using cannabis, including the potential risks and harms of cannabis use. The Cannabis Act includes specific restrictions on packaging and labelling of cannabis products: The packaging and labelling must not appeal to youth. Plain packaging and labelling will be required for all cannabis products. Cannabis packaging must be child-resistant and tamper-evident. These measures will be complemented by the ongoing public education campaign I mentioned a moment ago to educate Canadians, particularly youth and young adults, about health and safety facts about cannabis.

Madame Chair, our Government recognizes that our new approach will result in Canada being in contravention of certain obligations related to cannabis under the UN drug conventions. I want to emphasize that Canada has not taken this decision lightly. We wish to avoid doing any harm to the Conventions, though we recognize the concerns of some delegations that we nevertheless risk doing so, despite our best intentions. Based on extensive public consultations and the available scientific evidence as well as the experiences of other States, we have concluded that legalization and strict regulation is the best framework for Canada to respond to our domestic public health and safety challenges associated with cannabis. I want to be clear that this is strictly a domestic policy decision, designed to respond to current challenges in Canada. We do not advocate cannabis legalization as a solution for others, and we do not intend to legalize any other scheduled drugs. We have been asked whether decriminalizing cannabis, which could have kept us within the bounds of the Conventions, might have been a good alternative to legalization. It is our view that Canada’s challenges could not be solved by decriminalization alone, since it would preserve the illicit market that currently sells cannabis, including to our youth, and provides organized criminal groups with proceeds estimated at about $7 billion a year. CND members will recognize that that level of criminal activity carries with it a host of other social risks. These risks are not acceptable to the Government of Canada. Our experience with medical cannabis, which has been available in Canada for over a decade, has demonstrated that a well-regulated, licensed Canadian industry can produce cannabis products under secure conditions that are of high quality and meet our Government’s rigorous safety standards. In short, we believe we have an opportunity to reduce the role played by the thriving illicit market, with all its associated risks to public health and safety, in favour of a strictly regulated one that, when enforced by appropriate penalties for violations, will enable us to better meet our challenges.

Madame Chair, we know that the success of this policy change will depend upon whether it meets the goals of better restricting youth access to cannabis and displacing organized crime. Our Government is committed to measuring the health and social impacts of our cannabis policies and Canada has, moreover, offered to share outcome data with other CND members.  I would like to reiterate an important point: Canada remains a strong supporter of the international drug control system, as established by the three Conventions. We are committed to finding solutions that promote the health and safety of Canadians, while maintaining the international drug control framework as the foundation for international collaboration on drug policy. We recognize that our treaty partners are pursuing different policy approaches to cannabis, and we do not intend for our system to negatively impact their efforts. Thus, I also want to emphasize that the illegal movement of cannabis and cannabis products across our borders will remain a serious criminal offence under Canadian law. Canadian law enforcement agencies will continue to work with their international partners to combat drug trafficking. In addition, the Government is establishing a Cannabis Tracking System with the purpose of tracking highlevel movements of cannabis throughout the supply chain to help prevent diversion of cannabis – that is, the movement of both legal cannabis to the illegal market and illegal cannabis to the legal market. Any person authorized to conduct activities with cannabis will be required to report into the Cannabis Tracking System. We will continue to work in the CND and with our international partners to advance the objectives of the international drug control framework, including through the exchange of information and intelligence on new and emerging drug threats, sharing expertise on approaches to mitigate the harms of problematic substance use, and supporting capacity-building to combat international drug trafficking.  While our domestic law on cannabis has changed, Canada’s commitment to international cooperation to counter and address the world drug problem has not changed in any way.  I hope that this short briefing on Canada’s new Cannabis Act has been of interest to the Commission, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue on this issue.

Russia: We would like to draw your attention to the dramatic developments in the international drug control policy related to the recent measures taken by the Canadian authorities. Last week the Parliament of Canada adopted by majority vote the legislation on marijuana legalisation. Upon completing final procedures this legal initiative is due to come into force quite soon. When implemented this undertaking will tangibly breach the UN drug control conventions, which as we all know limit the production and use of drugs exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. It is worth recalling that the UN Secretary General’s Commentary of 1973 highlighted this basic principle as one of the most important achievements of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961.Today the “initiative” of the Canadian side brings this achievement under question. In this regard the International Narcotics Control Board, which is mandated to monitor the compliance of States with their legal drug control obligations, forwarded to the Canadian parliamentarians in April this year a written brief with its assessment of the developments. Then the Board underlined that the bill was incompatible with the treaty obligations which Canada is bound to. The INCB believes that the adoption of the legislation constitutes a fundamental breach of those international treaty provisions that are “absolute and unequivocal in nature”. In its latest statement on this subject dated the 21stJune the Board used even more precise and definitive language: legalization of cannabis constitutes a violation of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and undermines the international legal drug control framework. It is worth mentioning in this context that the international community, including Canada, unanimously reaffirmed in the outcome document of the 2016 2 UN General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem that the UN conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988 constitute “the cornerstone of the international drug control system”.

The intention of the Canadian authorities to legalize so-called recreational cannabis threatens to shake this cornerstone. It is regrettable that the INCB warnings were totally ignored in Canada. The process of cannabis legalization in Canada is proceeding at full speed. What is more, Canadian authorities frankly acknowledge that the draft law contradicts the UN conventions, but consider it to be admissible. Advocates of the so-called recreational marijuana legalization try to validate their position by Paragraph 1 of the Preamble of the Single Convention of 1961 and argue that this measure will contribute to protecting the health and welfare of people. This argument is completely false and means a switch of the notions. It is for the sake of safeguarding the health and welfare of humankind that the conventional norms were adopted. As for the Canadian initiative, it would by the very meaning of the conventions be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the humanity. This was reconfirmed by the INCB once again in its statement of the 21st of June. Apparently, it is assumed in Ottawa that this serious violation of the drug control conventions will pass unnoticed by other States Parties to these international treaties. This assumption is absolutely wrong. We need to remind our Canadian counterparts that the above-mentioned conventions constitute the legacy of the entire international community. As the INCB rightly pointed out they are founded upon the principle of common and shared responsibility of their States Parties. Ottawa has no right to make unilateral decisions, which are meant to impact the integrity of the international drug control conventions, and promote a selective approach to their implementation, thus opening the Pandora’s box. If other countries choose to follow the path taken by Canada we will see the international legal drug control regime undergoing deep erosion and potentially being destroyed.

This is totally unacceptable. The intention of the Canadian authorities to legalize drugs is all the more defiant bearing in mind that this country is currently a member of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. A CND Member State, which by virtue of this status should safeguard the strict adherence to the conventions, is in fact destroying them from inside. We strongly believe that this development, if the new bill enters into force, must become a subject of a thorough scrutiny by our Commission, including during the forthcoming ministerial review of the global drug control situation in 2019. We would like to use this opportunity to express our full support to the strong stance of the INCB that is scrupulous in carrying out its mandate. We would like to underline the importance of responsible and comprehensive instead of selective implementation of the UN conventions by all their parties.

One last point. The Canadian authorities often advocate for a rules-based world order. Regrettably in the drug control matters they are in effect going in the opposite direction by undermining the basic rules, which are of a legally binding nature. We would like to recall once again that in accordance with Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties a party to an international treaty must perform its obligations in good faith (pacta sunt servanda). Moreover Article 27 of the same Vienna convention states that “a party cannot invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty”. We call upon our Canadian counterparts to return to the fold of the international law and bring their policy in line with the principles and goals that they declare. As we understand it, the new law is supposed to become operational on 17th October. That means that Canada still has sufficient period of time to reconsider its current policy and to refrain from a gross violation of international law, which may have very destructive implications. We hope that a responsible approach will finally prevail in Ottawa.

USA thanks Canada for the comprehsive explanation and encourages CND members to not single out member states and politicize treaty compliance – we consider it unproductive and distracting from serious serious challenges, such as improving approach to NPS that contribute to 1000s of deaths worldwide. It is up to state parties to interpret convetions and implement them in consultations with the INCB and its members. The USA suggests a brief on national developments during a standalone event outside of CND.

Japan’s perspective is that control conventions are the cornerstones of the international legal frame and in addressing the world drug problem. CND had been aiming at a united response so it is of cruicial importace that each state party implements the conventions in line with the work of INCB.

Kyrgyzstan: In accordance with the 3 conventions, it is our common obligation to limit activities related to drugs. Countries should assure that these activities are punished. We regret the decision of the Canadian government as it undermines the national legal framework of drug control. Despite the fact that Canada is a party to all 3 conventions, they initiated a process that is in breach of them. The free sale of marijuana will lead to drug dependence among young adults and INCB noted that legalization is in contrary to the conventions.

Singapore: INCB and UNODC both issued a statement on the 21st of June to express their concern over the decision of legalization of cannabis for non medical use. This contravenes with the conventions and undermines the legal framework and world order. The 3 conventions are cornerstones and full compliance has been reiterated during recent meetings, joint action plans, etc. All member states reaffirmed collective determination in 2016 and while countries have freedom to legislate in a way that best suit national environments, it has to be within the framework. Some texts are open to interpretation but legalization of recreational use is not one of those. This is a delibareate breach of the conventions and undermines the UN system. We urge member states to comply to our agreements and the international community to uphold the system.

New Zealand: Canada recognizes the availability of illicit cannabis and aimed to distrupt the black market. Their decision has not been taken lightly and they have been consulting for several decades. Our perspective is that Canada is a responsible contributor to the drug control framework and we support a health focus to drugs and are interested to hear about alternative approaches.

Tajikistan: There are serious risks with the non medical use: serious threat to our societies, expecially regarding smuggling of drugs originated from Tajikistan. We are deeply concerned by the circulation of illegal substances and we ratified the conventions with transnational crimes taken into account. We adopted a national strategy 2013-2020 and it is regretfull that some member states adapt laws that deliberately contradict these efforts. Canada’s decision to legalize cannabis is highly alarming, may impair the international work and carry serious national consequences. We remain, more than ever, committed to the conventions and call on the CND to consider this issue seriously.

Netherlands thanks the through brief of Canada. Providing context is essential to fulfil our mandate. We are confident that Canace will continue to monitor the effectiveness of new policies and report on it. With ongoing developments, member states may feel the need to discuss new realities and we stand ready for an open debate. It is a sensitive matter and such debates have key elements: in the Vienna spirit, we don’t support member states being singled out, it is not constructive and it is not useful to focus on treaty compliance. We attach importance to evidence based and well prepares discussions that do not happen in the expense of other important elemtns including human rights issues, access to medicine, law enforcement, etc.

Pakistan: This is a standing item, nothing unusual to discuss this. The conventions are the cornerstones of our work and essential to counter the world drug problem. There were several resolutions where we reiterated the central role of conventions. We have serious concerns in some regions regarding legalization of non medical use. It might impede the effects of our efforts to counter the world drug problem. We urge the commission and INCB to play an active role within their respective mandates to address this.

Syrian Arab Republic shares the concern regarding the violation of the treaties and the collective efforts of 2009. The UNODC and ICNB stated how Canada’s decision is contravening and undermines the status quo. National action should be taken in line with the 3 treaties and member states should be comprehensively abiding to the treaties, no exceptions. We call on Canada to consider the reprecussions of their noncompliance.

Kazakhstan is deeply concerned about cannabis for recreational use. All member states should actively support the implementation of the 3 conventions and only allow scientific and medical use. We also highly support the INCB.

China shares concerns, fully supports UNODC, INCB and their June 21st statement made it clear that this decision is in breach of the conventions that are the cornerstones of the international drug policy framework. According to the latest data, with the decrease in problematic drug is in China, drug control measures are effective and China fears the negative rippel effects of Canada’s decision across the World. China urges all member states to act responsibly, in coherence with international agreements and deeply regrets this decision.

Iran regrets Canada’s decision and warns that domestic legislation should be in line with all the treaties. Any legislative measure allowing the non medical or scientific use of cannabus is incompetible with the treaties and pose serious threat to the international. This decison is against recent consensus in 2016 where the commission unanimously underscored the importance of the treaties. It might carry sersious reprecussions on other states and so this debate is important and should not be labelled as politically motivated.

Belarus: Nonmedical nonscientific use is incompatible with the conventions on which the international community relies on.

Algeria is concerned with the trend of recreational use. Canada’s decision is not consistent with the spirits of the internationally agreed framework. The conventions are the cornerstones of the international drug control system.

Malaysia agrees that the conventions are the cornerstones of the international drug control system and allowing other than medical and scientific use are clear violations. Malaysia calls all member states to adhere to the conventions.

Germany associates with the Dutch statement. Great interest in INCB and not against the debate on legalization of Cannabis but we don not consider this spontaneous peer, review finger-pointing to member states, in line with the Vienna spirit that is focused on cooperation.

France understands the differences in domestic dialogues and is against nonmedical use. Nevertheless, this forum should not serve to single out member states – it is not in line with the Vienna spirit.

Namibia is concerned with the decision of Canada and calls on member states to respect the rules set out by the conventions that are the cornerstones of the international drug control system.

Armenia fully shares Russia’s position.

Canada thanks the comments and is conscious of the strong positions and diverse national circumstances on policies. Canada will report home and is eager to engage more as they always respected the views of colleagues and continoue to do so. Such discussion needs to be carefully prepared for and needs active participation on topics that go beyond the subject explored today.

Russia welcomes the intention of reporting accurately on this discussion, but thinks Canada does not necessarily have a comprehensive understating of the international situation. A number of Canadian senators were concerned with the prospective international response to which the minister’s response was “don’t worry, they will digest everything”. Today’s discussion shwos this might not be entirely correct, which Russia finds very good. Russa can’t believe New Zealand supports the violation of international rules. Russia doesn’t think what is happening is fingerpointing as Canada is singling itself out by refusing to comply. The drug control regime will go into erosion if delegations accept excuses for not complying.