• Dagga ban goes up in smoke - and so do some cases

    The landmark Western Cape High Court's order regarding the private use of dagga applies only to home use and cultivation
    Weekend Argus (South Africa)
    Saturday, April 1, 2017

    Dagga aficionados - users of the intoxicating plant - may now legally grow and consume it in the privacy of their homes, without fear of arrest.  In other words, it’s okay to get high on your own supply. And anyone who has been arrested for using dagga will have their cases stayed until the laws governing the use and ownership of dagga have been brought in line with the constitution, the Western Cape High Court has ruled. (See also: Green light for new dagga law could take a while, Parliament warns | How the Western Cape High Court dagga judgment applies to you)

  • Dagga can be used at home, Cape court rules

    Parliament has 24 months to align relevant legislation to the use of cannabis with the Constitution, the Western Cape High Court has ruled
    Weekend Argus (South Africa)
    Friday, March 31, 2017

    In a much celebrated outcome, Judge Dennis Davies ruled that an adult may cultivate and use cannabis in the privacy of their own home. “The order also makes clear that the relevant provisions are only unconstitutional to the extent that they entrench upon the private use and consumption of a quantity of cannabis for personal purposes." "In the interim period, it is necessary to provide that prosecutions that fall within legal provision declared to be unconstitutional should be stayed”, the judge said. (See also: Dagga can be used in the home, Western Cape High Court rules | Now you can get high on your own supply | Parliament and High Court judgment on use of dagga in private homes)

  • Argentina gives green light to use of medicinal marijuana

    Legal change guarantees certain patients access to cannabis oil, but homegrown pot still illegal
    El País (Spain)
    Thursday, March 30, 2017

    The Argentinean Senate has passed a bill making medicinal marijuana legal, in line with other Latin American countries such as Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Chile. A unanimous 58-0 vote guarantees patient access to cannabis oil and lifts the ban on importing the plant. While the new ruling authorizes the production and use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, cultivating it yourself remains a crime with offenders facing up to 15 years in jail. In other words, nothing has changed in this respect while those providing the raw material are still in the same position.

  • «Une grande partie de l’argent du haschich ne profite pas à l’économie marocaine»

    Les autorités ne peuvent pas y supprimer la culture de cannabis, car les populations sont convaincues que la terre est impropre à tout autre culture
    Le Monde (France)
    Jeudi, 30 mars 2017

    Début mars, un rapport du département d’Etat américain a fait grand bruit, affirmant que la « production de cannabis » au Maroc équivalait à 23 % du produit intérieur brut marocain (PIB), qui s’est élevé, en 2016, à 100 milliards de dollars (93 milliards d’euros). Un chiffre considérable lancé comme un écran de fumée qui masque des réalités complexes en termes de culture et de transformation de la matière première. Les pays du Nord débattent de la légalisation du cannabis, en se concentrant sur la santé publique de leur population en matière de consommation de drogues, tandis que les pays du Sud sont stigmatisés et contrôlés à travers la publication des chiffres sur la production et le trafic. (A lire: Cannabis et PIB marocain: Des calculs qui «ne répondent à aucune logique» | Morocco and Cannabis)

  • Bipartisan “Path to Marijuana Reform” bills introduced to decriminalize, protect, regulate cannabis industry

    Three marijuana-related bills address issues such as taxation, banking, civil forfeiture, de-scheduling, decriminalization, research, individual protections and regulation
    The Cannabist (US)
    Thursday, March 30, 2017

    U.S. lawmakers introduced a package of marijuana reform bills aimed at protecting and preserving existing state-based programs while creating a framework for the federal regulation of cannabis. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, announced the Path to Marijuana Reform, a bipartisan package of three related bills that address issues such as taxation, banking, civil forfeiture, descheduling, decriminalization, research, individual protections and regulation. “This is the most comprehensive package that’s (yet) been advanced,” Blumenauer said. While some other marijuana-related bills have been introduced to get at portions of the issue, “this is an opportunity to have the big picture.” (See also: Prosecuting pot: Nation’s DAs seek consensus)

  • SPD-Politiker will Abgabe von Cannabis nach der Wahl legalisieren

    "Es ist höchste Zeit für einen Paradigmenwechsel", sagt Burkhard Blienert
    The Huffington Post (Germany)
    Donnerstag, 30. März 2017

    Der drogenpolitische Sprecher der SPD, Burkhard Blienert, plädiert dafür, dass die schrittweise Legalisierung der Cannabis-Abgabe in das Wahlprogramm der SPD aufgenommen wird. Dieses soll im Juni vorgestellt werden. „Wenn es nach mir geht, sollten wir nach der Wahl die regulierte Abgabe von Cannabis in Deutschland schrittweise vorantreiben. Hierfür ist es höchste Zeit“, fordert Blienert. Blienerts Vorschlag sieht vor, die Abgabe der Droge von „unten nach oben“ zu legalisieren. Bedeutet: „Bevor wir den Cannabiskonsum deutschlandweit entkriminalisieren, sollten wir mit Modellprojekten in allen Teilen der Bundesrepublik Erfahrungen sammeln.“

  • Trump misses the mark with opioid crisis plan, health advocates say

    Commission to tackle painkiller addiction is being called redundant, as Trump plays catch up with an issue that’s been a priority concern for years
    The Guardian (UK)
    Thursday, March 30, 2017

    The White House plan to address the opioid crisis runs counter to the administration’s health and justice policies, said politicians and advocates. The Trump administration announced it was launching a commission to study the crisis, which sees 91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Congress has presented an unusually united front in its commitment to responding to the crisis, adopting federal policies that mirror legislation in states across the political spectrum. And Trump’s centerpiece plan to convene a commission that develops recommendations on the drug crisis is viewed by many as redundant.

  • Public support for marijuana legalization surged in 2016

    The survey indicates two significant fault lines when it comes to marijuana policy: age and political party
    The Washington Post (US)
    Wednesday, March 29, 2017

    General Social Survey 2016Public support for marijuana legalization in the US surged in 2016, according to data just released from the General Social Survey. Last year 57 percent of Americans told the survey's pollsters that they "think the use of marijuana should be legal," up from 52 percent in 2014. The numbers from the the General Social Survey – a large nationwide survey conducted every two years and widely considered to represent the gold standard for public opinion research – comport with other national surveys last year, which found support ranging from the upper 50s to low 60s.

  • Marijuana industry faces challenge in gaining Canadians’ trust, survey finds

    While legalization over all enjoys popular support, the devil will be in the details and there is abundant room for missteps as the marketplace is created and governed
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    Wednesday, March 29, 2017

    Marijuana stocks may have leapt higher on the news of Ottawa’s plans to legalize the drug by next year, but the industry is facing an uphill battle in building trust with Canadian consumers, according to a new survey. When Environics Communications asked whether they trust companies in each sector to “do what is right for Canada, Canadians and our society,” survey respondents ranked marijuana dead last among roughly 20 sectors – giving it a lower trust rating than such sectors as pipelines, social media platforms, and pharmaceutical companies. Just 13 per cent of roughly 1,500 people gave marijuana companies a rating of five or higher on a seven-point trust scale.

  • Ganja data war - MOH backs drug watchdog in weed clash, lobbyist standing ground

    Chief medical officer, Dr Winston De La Haye, has in the past presented "controversial and ... dubious reports inimical to the use of ganja"
    The Gleaner (Jamaica)
    Tuesday, March 28, 2017

    jamaica selling ganjaA standoff between the Ministry of Health minister and a lobbyist of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has forced the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) to defend its research methodology which provided data suggesting increase ganja use among adolescents since possession of two ounces or less is no longer a criminal offence. Health Minister Christopher Tufton responded sharply to criticisms from CLA Director Delano Seiveright that the ministry and some of its officials were the biggest humbug to efforts of the CLA to advance ganja decriminalisation efforts in Jamaica. The NCDA provided data for The Sunday Gleaner story titled 'Ganja babies'. (See also: Professor Wendel Abel slaps down interpretation of NCDA ganja report)

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