The general legalise cannabis campaign has been working away since the late 1960's. People have been calling out for the legalisation of cannabis since that time. I personally was a member, and later (1988) a Committee member, of the now defunct Legalise Cannabis Campaign in London during the 1970's and 1980's. Many grass-roots campaigning groups sprang up, mostly in the USA, as well as in the UK, Holland and other countries. Early groups such as NORML, founded by Keith Stroup in 1970, have established themselves as major mainstream campaigning groups; with teams of professionals who react immediately to important situations and continue to take the lead in doing an excellent work within the campaign.


For all of the good intentions of some groups, the personal in-fighting concerning conflict of opinions, one-upmanship and lack of focus on the subject of cannabis law reform were always the turn-offs for many group members and many otherwise good campaigners refused to get involved in the unfriendly bickering, or left the campaign altogether, having been unable to find an alternative group. Even today, within the campaign for cannabis legalisation, we hear opinions that would like cannabis to be allowed to be grown on the same level as tomatoes, or a herb garden. Some of these ideological arguments for legalisation are very interesting and often times funny to listen to, but in point of reality - THEY ARE GOING NOWHERE when it comes to cannabis law reform.


And why not? Because cannabis contains a drug called THC and as we know already, tomatoes and parsley do not. Cannabis is a commodity that is internationally traded illegally on the black market. This market is HUGE, for the single reason that people like to get high. Yes, MMJ folk also use cannabis, but the overall general supply line is grown in California and reaches the card-holding MMJ user by being home-grown, or through a collective or via the MMJ dispensary system, a model that US federal government is currently attacking and seeking to close down. It is hard enough trying to convince governments of the financial benefits of a tax and regulated supply system for cannabis, without the approaching-comedy scenario of allowing cannabis to grow wild and free for everyone who wishes to plant a few seeds and grow their own cannabis plants.

We can hold onto all of the cannabis ideology that we could ever wish for, even until the day we die, but until we realise that cannabis is a commodity and that no government in this world is ever going to "free the weed" on a free-for-all level, we are only wasting our time and energy to pursue these idealistic objectives. One could even call if a "pipe dream" - because in reality THAT'S ALL IT IS. The right to grow cannabis is not an inalienable right, even though many people believe that it is. Once could say that the right to grow cannabis SHOULD BE an alienable right, but at this moment in time, it is not. It is important that we understand that the only rights that we have in this world are those that are currently afforded to us BY LAW. Even the Constitution of the United States is consequently regulated by law. Hence the need for CANNABIS LAW REFORM.

It is so much better to consolidate our efforts towards a true focus for cannabis law reform by concentrating on an agenda that has the possibility of SUCCESS. Please consider that after forty years of an unsuccessful international legalisation campaign, it is certainly time for each one of us to seriously consider these points and then adopt a strategy that is not only feasible but one that is DOABLE in that it can also be perceived as becoming eventually SUCCESSFUL.


So often the legalisation campaign has had so many good intentions within our campaign ranks, and so often we have seen our hopes and ambitions for legalisation come to nought. Time and time again we have come up against government intransigence and the stubborn refusal, on their part, to debate the issues concerning drugs, along with their repetitious comments such as "all illegal drugs are dangerous and will therefore remain illegal" which always puts the cap on any attempt to move the argument further into the political arena, with a view to the possibility of actually bringing about much needed drug law reform - law reform that, in the very least would:

1) End the criminalisation and possible career blighting of millions of otherwise law abiding citizens
2) Shut down the billion dollar trade of the drug cartels and end the tens of thousands of murders that happen each year in Mexico, Columbia and almost all other countries
3) Protect young people from the effects of illegal drug use - including the fact that prohibition has been shown to be the possible gateway to hard drugs
4) Create enormous fiscal revenue that governments can use on healthcare and other important things
5) Create untold numbers of jobs within a regulated industry
6) Roll out the production and use of the Hemp plant to provide for uses in many manufacturing industries

The above is a list of the obvious benefits of drug law reform. There are many others that could also be added to the list. I have only simplified some of the more important arguments.

There is also the problem of United Nations international treaties that govern and prohibit the possession of drugs and every national signatory to these treaties is treaty-bound to follow the rules to the letter. How many times have we heard in this campaign that "we can't legalise cannabis because of the 1961 UN Single Convention."

Right. Here we have it. The three UN treaties that govern drug use on an international level have proved themselves to be the true obstacles to national drug reform laws. Now we know for sure what must be done to open the door for countries to be able to explore and implement their own national drug policies - we need to either a) change b) replace or c) abolish - these three UN treaties.

This is where the Global Initiative for Drug Policy Reform comes into its own. It is THE one most focussed, prestigious and far-reaching organisation that is solidly working with a focussed attitude concerning these three UN treaties. The Beckley Foundation (sponsor of the Global Initiative for Drug Policy Reform) is a professional organisation that has the world's best people on-side, working towards the global reform of drug policies.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy is a panel of 19 high-level international members who came together to call for an end to the War on Drugs. Their stated purpose is to “bring to the international level an informed, science-based discussion about humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs to people and societies.”

The Beckley Foundation is working closely with the Global Commission and other allies to extend and elevate its message around the world.

Never before has such a prominent group called for such far-reaching changes in global drug policy – including not just alternatives to incarceration and greater emphasis on public health approaches to drug use, but also decriminalisation and experiments with legal regulation.

Following the launch of their report in New York in June 2011, members of the Commission later attended the  Meeting at the House of Lords on November 17-18th, organised by The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform and The Beckley Foundation, at which they presented the findings of their Report and further participated in the discussions around reform of the international drug policy with the other high-level political figures in attendance.

The three stated aims of the Commission are to:

1) review the basic assumption, effectiveness and consequences of the ‘war on drugs’

2) evaluate the risks and benefits of different national responses to the drug problem

3) develop actionable, evidence-based recommendations for constructive legal and drug policy reform.