The Changing World:
The situation has however, been fundamentally transformed over the last half-century since its prohibition, due to cannabis having become firmly established as part of the youth culture, particularly in developed countries. Large illicit markets have emerged to supply the demand. The strenuous efforts to enforce prohibition through policing and quasi-military operations against illicit growing and sale have failed. Meanwhile, the efforts in themselves create substantial anguish and social harms. In the United States, for example, approximately three-quarters of a million citizens are arrested every year for cannabis possession, and in certain producer/transit countries, such as Mexico, the War on Drugs, of which Cannabis is a component, has led to a virtual state of war near the US border.

International Conventions:
In 1998 the international community agreed to a 10-year programme of activity on the control of illegal drug use and markets at a United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in New York. It was characterised by the slogan: "a drug free world, we can do it". A commitment was made to review the programs progress in 2008/9. Clearly, the international community will not be able to report unequivocal success, as drugs are purer, cheaper, and more widely available than ever before. The laws themselves are often enforced arbitrarily, leading to discrimination against minorities - and nowhere is this more evident than with Cannabis. There is increasing disagreement between governments on the appropriate policies to adopt. It is therefore essential that the process of review in 2009 be as transparent as possible, and that the experts from the relevant fields have the maximum opportunity to engage with the government officials and politicians who will ultimately decide on the future directions of drug policy.

The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs has set up a 'Ministerial Segment' meeting for March 2009 to discuss the conclusions drawn from the review of the last 10 years of international drug control. The Beckley Foundation, an ECOSOC accredited NGO, will be presenting the Global Cannabis Commission Report and its findings in the margins of that meeting.

Ways Forward:
Almost fifty years after the adoption of an unequivocal international prohibition on cannabis in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, we face a very different world. The set of international rules and norms which were adopted then have not proven effective in the modern world, and they have adverse consequences for those who get caught up in their provisions.

In effect, the Conventions restrict the signatory countries' ability to adopt new cannabis policies and laws based on the evidence currently available. Furthermore, they restrict the accumulation of new evidence to inform the development of new systems of control which may be more appropriate to the modern world. There is a clear need for change, and yet the international drug control system seems increasingly paralyzed and immobile. There is no doubt that moving forward will be difficult, but it is not impossible. In this Report, the aim has been to draw on the available evidence to offer some possible paths forward to a more realistic and effective global regime for cannabis control.