Recreational Marijuana Use Violates International Law, UN Body Says

The recreational use of marijuana is a violation of international law, the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) warned the United States this week.

Raymond Yans, president of the INCB, spoke about new laws in Colorado and Washington that legalize the recreational use of marijuana, at the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna. He noted U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in December that, regardless of any changes in state law, growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Yan called this “good, but insufficient,” Reuters reports.

He added the United States has an obligation to ensure the implementation of international drug control treaties throughout the country. Recreational marijuana use violates the U.N. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, Yan said.