U.N. Suggests Global Ban On Cannabis Advertising, Many Advocates See This As Positive Sign

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issued its 2021 World Report Thursday in which it suggested placing a global ban on cannabis advertising.

According to the report, many countries have lost sight of the risks cannabis consumption presents as legalization spreads around the globe, the number of users rises and THC potency increases. UNODC noted that a “comprehensive ban on advertising, promoting and sponsoring cannabis would ensure that public health interests prevail over business interests.”

While UNODC does not have the mandate to place such a ban, it strongly recommends all jurisdictions incorporate it while acknowledging that more studies on the negative effects of non-medical cannabis use are needed. 

Some advocates see this move as a sign of the U.N.’s acceptance that cannabis legalization is inevitable. Previously UNDOC's stance signaled that cannabis should remain prohibited. 

The report notes that the advertising ban should be akin to provisions set for the tobacco industry under the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. 

Steve Rolles, a senior policy analyst for the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, told Marijuana Moment that this appears to be “a tacit acknowledgment that the game is up—they aren’t going to turn back the tide” on legalization.

“The fact they are weighing in at all on the regulation debate, and haven’t before, feels significant,” he said. “It feels like a distinctive shift and break with the past.”

An important first sign of a possible shift of its position on cannabis regulations came last year, when the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs removed cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, upon the WHO’s recommendation.

Photo by David Gabrić on Unsplash