You also have to factor in social attitudes, for example the dutch are not just tolerant and logical when it comes to cannabis use, its a factor which can be seen throughout society in their attitude to prostitution for example, albeit a pretty obvious example. There are still large parts of England which believe it is still like the ' good old days ' and legalising cannabis would shock these people and there outdates view on modern English society as well as the nature of drugs. The key factor with the legalisation of cannabis will be time, as the new generations move into power, they will change laws accordingly. Untill then, nothing will change imo.
Actually, I think that it is the Dutch
pragmatism which allows for the coffeeshops and legal prostitution, rather than a particularly high level of tolerance.
Hashish was made illegal by the League of Nation's (Forerunner to the UN) revised International Opium Convention, in the the 1920's. (Signed in 1925, went into effect in 1928.)
It was not even part of that treaty until some joker from Egypt, said that if opium was to be declared illegal, then why not hashish. He then went on to some fantastical lengths to portray hashish as the very epitome of evil. After which, the stupid fuckers, who did not have a clue about hash, decided to add hashish to the opium treaty.
Later, Cannabis, in all its forms, other than hemp, was made illegal, in "Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs", in the early 1960's. Although, I think the US banned Cannabis in the 1930's (For some reason 1937 springs to mind, but I am not sure about that.) Many other countries soon followed suit, thinking that the US was on the right track.
Dont answer that question, I just wanna be emotional...