TOPIC

The scientific pilot programs proposed by Project Four 2029 are already being implemented in different fashions in Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. The drug treaties acknowledge legitimate scientific and medical uses and programs within a country. While the International Narcotics Control Board has concerns over these programs, the INCB is losing credibility when it comes to cannabis. One method for the U.S. and other likeminded countries to legally justify their cannabis programs in the face of critiques from INCB and the prohibitionist countries is through Inter Se Modification.

Under international law, countries that are party to a treaty may form a sub-agreement – known as an Inter Se modification – among themselves. While this reform measure has been used in other contexts, it has not been legally tested as applied to the three international drug treaties. Inter Se modification would allow a group of like-minded countries to legally regulate the production, trade, and consumption of marijuana for adult-use, without violating their broader treaty obligations under international law.

The agreement would still require a commitment to promoting global health and welfare and maintain compliance with other treaty obligations for non-participant countries. Early signs from countries like Canada and Switzerland — where adult-use programs have shown health benefits to society like reduced youth access, declining beer sales, and shrinking black markets – offer a compelling case for an Inter Se approach based on public health. And such evidence would provide some legal and political cover for countries to attempt this approach. If the U.S. partnered with, say, Canada in such an agreement, the U.S. could begin engaging in global marijuana trade with likeminded countries that signed on to such an agreement.