The end of prohibitionist hegemony over cannabis? An analysis of the 2020 CND vote and its meaning

Resumo

Throughout the 20th century, cannabis prohibition became hegemonic in a process led by the United States and its “war on drugs”. However, a series of recent looseness in the control of this plant point to ruptures in this prohibitionist hegemony of cannabis. We propose to understand such ruptures in the international scenario by analyzing the change in the status of this plant on the international drug control lists due to the vote that took place in 2020 at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. We conclude that this vote indicates the existence of new values, understandings and interests related to cannabis based on the health-security binomial and linked to capitalism.