United Nations Just Says No to U.S. Legalizing Pot

After years of waging an international war on drugs, the United States now finds itself facing criticism from the United Nations because two of its states have voted to liberalize their individual narcotics laws. Despite investing millions trying to wipe out marijuana production in countries like Mexico, America is coming under fire for softening its own cultivation policies.

Moreover, that policy shift is inspiring pot activists abroad to step up their push for decriminalization.

Raymond Yans, president of the U.N.s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), recently called the votes to decriminalize pot in Colorado and Washington State a great threat to public health and the well-being of society far beyond those states.

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Hes got a pointat least in the fact that the Colorado and Washington votes are reverberating beyond their borders. Activists in British Columbia, the Canadian province north of the Evergreen State, are taking stock of marijuana decriminalization campaigns south of the border and working to replicate that success.

B.C. pot activist Dana Larsen, who leads a group called Sensible BC, recently withdrew a petition to decriminalize pot so he could spend the next 10 months organizing volunteers and gathering support in order to raise the chances of decriminalization. His inspiration, he said, was what happened south of the border, a sentiment echoed by other Canadian activists.

To further complicate the Obama administrations point of view, municipalities in Michigan and Vermont also passed pro-marijuana ballot initiatives on Election Day.

The drug war has been going on in the world because of the United States, Greg Williams, a British Columbia-based marijuana decriminalization advocate recently told Canadas CBC. So if they begin to soften, and it begins to crumble there, it will change around the world very quickly.

Washington States Initiative 502 and Colorados Proposition 64, both of which were voted into law on November 6, decriminalized pot possession and established a taxation structure. Both states are holding off on implementing the voter-mandated reforms while waiting to see what the federal government plans to do about enforcing national marijuana prohibition laws. In his first term, President Obama was seen as tough on weed.

To further complicate the Obama administrations point of view, municipalities in Michigan and Vermont also passed pro-marijuana ballot initiatives on Election Day.

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United Nations Just Says No to U.S. Legalizing Pot