Solves and avoids the DA.

Amending the Convention is possible under Article 47, but the process is arduous, and the US would likely need to push for this change to occur.[9] The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs requires a uniquely difficult process to enact an amendment and somehow, international affairs move more slowly than domestic U.S. affairs.[10] There is a way to modify the substances list to move marijuana to a less-restricted category which could ease pressure in the event of a domestic U.S. policy change, but this would not eliminate the legal conflict entirely. In 2020, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs moved cannabis from schedule IV (the most restricted category) to schedule I, which loosens control on it but still does not allow for recreational use.[11]

If the United States chooses to legalize or de-schedule marijuana on a federal level, the international community, namely the INCB, will expect the U.S. to address its international obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. If the U.S. began efforts to amend the Convention now, then this could be completed by the time the federal government comes around to legalization, but this is unlikely to be a domestic priority any time soon. If the U.S. declines to decriminalize marijuana on a federal level and allows a complex, often discriminatory system of laws to continue, then it is fair for marijuana legalization advocates to ask, “is compliance with this convention worth the sacrifice?”