 The expert committee on drug dependence of the World Health Organization recommended the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 2018 to revise the scheduling of cannabis in the framework of the International Drug Control System. According to the recommendations, cannabis should be moved from Schedule 1 and 4 of the 1961 Convention to only Schedule 1 of the same Convention. This would recognize the medical value of the cannabis plant and resin, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the main psychoactive substance of cannabis, should be moved from Schedule 1 and 2 of the 1971 Convention to Schedule 1 of the 1961 Convention with minimal difference in its control. They recommend that cannabidiol or CBD, another important compound known for its therapeutic use, remains unscheduled in the future because it has no relevant risk to public health. Specific pharmaceutical cannabis preparations should be placed in a new entry in Schedule 3 of the 1961 Convention as substance is posing no risk to public health. Because of the resistance from some member states, the vote is still being postponed by the CND until December 2020. We interviewed several professionals about the rescheduling of cannabis at the CND, among them Gilles Forte from the World Health Organization. Because cannabis was scheduled in 1961 when all this information was not available, it was about time to review the scheduling and to apply scheduling or recommend the scheduling that was more in line with the current evidence. It's about reviewing the level of scheduling and making sure that on one hand we prevent harm from cannabis, but on the other hand when there is evidence of therapeutic use, the cannabis-based preparations and cannabis-based medicines are available for people who need them, particularly populations like kids that suffer from epilepsy or people that suffer from multiple sclerosis. Any recommendation that the committee will issue is based on science and is clear of any political consideration. And this is what makes at the moment the international drug control system relevant because at the beginning of the process, at the centre of the process, there is an independent, transparent decision, recommendation that is made on those substances. First of all, on the recommendations, many of them are good. Some of us would argue they don't go far enough. The recommendation is to keep it within schedule one next to the most harmful drugs considered by the scheduling system of heroin and cocaine and that seems to be a political decision to keep it there. So how evidence-based is that decision, but it's not a criticism of the ECDD, it just demonstrates what political pressure they are under even though their mandate is to be independent and based on science and evidence. For reform towards recreational cannabis, it doesn't have much impact. Cannabis remains in schedule one, although the WHO, the expert committee did say that it actually doesn't belong there, but for reasons that it's used worldwide at a large scale, they keep it there, which is I think procedurally a dubious debate and from there, the problem starts. The whole scheduling system is inconsistent. The whole exercise shows that actually you need another kind of scheduling system. So what change it will make in people's lives or in accessing these medicines at home? It's about reducing the barrier at country level and the regulatory barriers in the distribution and in supply prescribing and dispensing of those medicines. Another impact of those recommendations will be also on research and development of new medicines. At the moment, there are about more than 300 clinical trials that are done on cannabis, which means that there is a huge interest in finding out more medical indications from cannabis. Although we understand the need for member states to properly assess and understand the recommendations, I ask you, dear delegates serving on this commission in narcotic drugs, fulfill the mandate of the International Drug Control System to ensure access to medicine. Medicine is capable of relieving human suffering. We have waited long enough. Thank you. Take care of yourself and ensure access for all. Beside the science, you know, that is informing the recommendations. There is also a vote that goes beyond science that involves different other parameters that are of concern to countries. Member states are moving ahead anyway with medical cannabis. Many of them, every single day, you hear of another country that's deciding to do this. So the fact that here we cannot acknowledge what is happening in the real world, it's just another example of, you know, yeah, it's rather out of touch with reality, space in which member states are discussing drug control policies here in Vienna.