“Governments of opium-producing Parties are required to “purchase and take physical possession of such crops as soon as possible” after harvest to prevent diversion into the illicit market.”
-from the The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961
Opium meditations in a Szechuan poppy field. Prof. E.D. Burton – 1909
World War on Weed
Before WW2 many world powers followed treaties signed by The League of Nations. Following the mayhem of WW2 the United Nations was set up to take the League’s place in policing the world…
With cocaine and opium already illegal under The League of Nations treaties, it was now time to broaden the war…
The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs – 1961
“The work of consolidating the existing international drug control treaties into one instrument began in 1948, but it was 1961 before an acceptable third draft was ready.”
-from the The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961
In 1961 the UN held The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This single meeting would start a World War with Weed…
“In 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the bedrock of the United Nations drug control system, limited “the production, manufacture, export, import, distribution of, trade in, use and possession” of cannabis “exclusively to medical and scientific purposes”.
During the negotiations on the Convention there was even a failed attempt to make cannabis the only fully prohibited substance on the premise that “the medical use of cannabis was practically obsolete and that such use was no longer justified”.
Instead, it was included under the strictest controls in the Convention. Cannabis is listed twice: in Schedule I, as a substance the properties of which give rise to dependence and which presents a serious risk of abuse; and in Schedule IV, among the most dangerous substances, including heroin, by virtue of the associated risks of abuse, its particularly harmful characteristics and its extremely limited medical or therapeutic value.”
China, cannabis field with village in background 1931
Not only did this Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs declare war on weed worldwide, but also required each country in the treaty to enforce the new laws in there own country.
Article 36 requires Parties to adopt measures against “cultivation, production, manufacture, extraction, preparation, possession, offering, offering for sale, distribution, purchase, sale, delivery on any terms whatsoever, brokerage, dispatch, dispatch in transit, transport, importation and exportation of drugs contrary to the provisions of this Convention,”
adding,
“Intentional participation in, conspiracy to commit and attempts to commit, any of such offences, and preparatory acts and financial operations in connexion with the offences referred to in this article”
The World War on Weed had begun…
China, woman with opium pipe, sitting next to a spinning wheel (notice the hemp to the left) – 1940
While this Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs declared a war on weed worldwide, it also loosed restrictions on the opium trade…
The 1953 New York Opium Protocol limited opium production to seven countries; the Single Convention lifted that restriction…
Adding…
Cultivators must deliver their total crop to the agency, which must purchase and take physical possession of them within four months after the end of harvest. The agency then has the exclusive right of “importing, exporting, wholesale trading and maintaining stocks other than those held by manufacturers.”
East Indian Trading Company weighing opium at a government factory, 1890’s