UN: We didn’t ask Nigeria to legalise cannabis

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says it did not ask Nigeria to legalise cannabis.

Sylvester Atere, communication officer of UNODC, said this in a statement issued on Thursday.

A representative of the organisation in Nigeria had atteneded a public hearing organised by the senate.

Atere said the representative told the lawmakers that the legalisation of cannabis is not supported by the three UN international drug conventions.

“To keep the record straight, on invitation by the senate committee on drugs and narcotics, UNODC made a presentation at the public hearing and reiterated the following recommendations contained in 2017 International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) report, where the board urges all governments to gather data on prevalence of drug-use disorders and the accessibility and utilization of treatment,” the statement read.

“Invest in making treatment and rehabilitation evidence-based; allocate sufficient resources to treatment and rehabilitation, the two major components of demand reduction; pay particular attention to special population groups; share, nationally and internationally, best practices and build capacity; [and] stimulate research into new interventions.

“Our representative clearly stated that legalisation of Cannabis is not supported by the three UN international drug conventions (Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 as amended by the 1972 protocol; Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971; UN convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988).

“The UNODC did not urge Nigeria to legalise cannabis.”