International Drug Warriors Say Uruguay Pot Legalization Breaks Treaties

Treating people like they have the right to their own bodies is apparently a bad thing

Uruguay's legalisation of marijuana violates an international drug control convention and fails to consider a negative health impact, a body set up to monitor compliance with the five-decade-old treaty said on Wednesday.

The president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Raymond Yans, said the change would not protect young people but would rather have the "perverse effect of encouraging early experimentation" and lowering the age of first use.

Adding weight to the criticism of Tuesday's move by Uruguay—the first country to take such a step—the U.N. anti-drugs office said it agreed with the INCB and that states should work closely together to deal with the global drugs challenge.