Amendment to the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs

Eligible Signatories: This can, and should, be signed by everyone. The United Nations belongs to us all.

We, the undersigned, considering that the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (herein referred to as the convention) states (Article 28, section 2) that it shall not apply to the cultivation of the cannabis plant exclusively for industrial purposes (fibre and seed) or horticultural purposes, thereby petition the United Nations to include controls, in consultation with representatives of the Hemp Industries Association, that will prevent nation states breaking this important international law, thereby preventing the cultivation and processing of the taxonomic genus Cannabis, which is an important, environmentally sustainable, industrial source of raw cellulose.

We, the undersigned, believe that such a control should effectively prevent the illegal incarceration of, for example, Canadian hemp farmers in Nicaragua, on the advice of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, for cultivating verifiable, government approved, fibre and seed industrial Cannabis with a THC (narcotic) content of, for example, 1.6 percent when introducing a northern hemisphere hemp variety into a tropical climate to produce fibre and seed. We, the undersigned, therefore consider it appropriate that international legislation reflects the last 80 years research findings in this area.

Further, given that the existing Convention permits industrial Cannabis production for fibre and seed, we, the undersigned, petition the United Nations to take immediate action against the United States of America Federal Government with regard to their policy of non-distinction within the genus Cannabis, enshrined in a House Committee Report in the 1970 Justice Department Act - which created the DEA - stating that, marijuana would be prohibited except . . . for the emergency production of hemp. This policy is unscientific and breaches the Convention.

We, the undersigned, consider United States Federal Government policy on this issue to also be in clear material breach of the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development, specifically Article 3, sub-section 3, according to which, States have the duty to co-operate with each other in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development. States should realize their rights and fulfil their duties in such a manner as to promote a new international economic order based on sovereign equality, interdependence, mutual interest and co-operation among all States, as well as to encourage the observance and realization of human rights.