I didn't know the UN was the dictator of the world?

I guess the UN better go ahead and invade the Netherlands, where marijuana has been legal for decades.

so that other nations had the same draconian approach as right wingers here - against the wishes of many of those nations.

Marijuana isn't legal in The Netherlands. Its use is tolerated (or ignored) and regulated via cafes that are only allowed to have a certain quantity on site.

Growing cannabis is illegal in The Netherlands.

Now that The Netherlands has a right wing govt, they have done things like raided the Cannabis Cup - it was a show, but a show of intolerance. They're also making cannabis cafes illegal for (some) foreigners. v
Drug-related treaties

via wiki -
There are three drug related treaties that guide UNODC's drug related programs. These are: The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol ; the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988.

It has been decriminalized in Amsterdam, but is still technically illegal. the law is simply not enforced. Marijuana is illegal in the rest of the Netherlands.

They're very different, the Basques. Their language comes way back from around 1200 B.C. to around 500 B.C., and they call their language, Euskera. In Euskera, I love you is: maite (love) zaitut (I, to you). (My former sister-in-law is named Maite).

They have been seeking their independence from Spain for many years because they feel different. There are theories that they are different genetically from other people in regions around them. They are so independent and their language so different, that General Francisco Franco, the dictator of Spain, forbid the speaking of Basque by punishment of even death.

Very interesting people. And now they have decriminalized the cultivation of marijuana, which is an herb. I don't smoke it, but I know it's vital for people who suffer from many illnesses, including cancer.

Good for them!

(from Nov. 18th)

It's for the city, not the country of Denmark - but, again, other nations are looking at other options.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/8899243/Copenhagen-votes-to-legalise-marijuana.html

The scheme, if approved by the Danish parliament at the start of next year, could make the city the first to fully legalise, rather than simply tolerate, marijuana consumption.

"We are thinking of perhaps 30 to 40 public sales houses, where the people aren't interested in selling you more, they're interested in you," said Mikkel Warming, the Mayor in charge of Social Affairs at Copenhagen City Council. "Who is it better for youngsters to buy marijuana from? A drug pusher, who wants them to use more, who wants them to buy hard drugs, or a civil servant?"

The City Council voted on Thursday night, by a margin of 39 votes to nine, to empower Mr Warming's Social Affairs committee to draw up a detailed outline of how the plan would work.

"We want to make it a little bit more concrete what kind of decriminalisation we want: should it be a public buying system, should there be an age limit?" Mr Warming explained.

If this passes, it will have to be approved by the Danish Parliament. A similar proposal 3 years ago was voted down. Copenhagen already has an area of town in which is now autonomous, Christiania, where, until 2004, cannabis was sold openly on the street.