• Marijuana may mean ticket, not arrest, in New York City

    Curbing arrests for small-scale marijuana possession has become a cause for criminal justice reform advocates
    The New York Times (US)
    Sunday, November 9, 2014

    The New York Police Department, which has been arresting tens of thousands of people a year for low-level marijuana possession, is to stop making such arrests and to issue tickets instead. People found with small amounts of marijuana would be issued court summonses and be allowed to continue on their way without being handcuffed and taken to station houses for fingerprinting. The change would remake the way the police in New York City handle the most common drug offenses to address the effects of the department’s excessive stop-and-frisk practices. (See also: Concerns in criminal justice system as New York City eases marijuana policy)

  • Nick Clegg and Juan Manuel Santos to lead global initiative on drugs reform

    Deputy prime minister and Colombian president to seek allies in advance of UN special session on drugs policy in 2016
    The Observer (UK)
    Sunday, November 9, 2014

    Nick Clegg wants the UK to take a lead role in forging an alliance between European and Latin American countries aiming to reform global drugs laws focused on prohibition. The deputy prime minister believes that the UN special session on drugs in 2016 offers a “unique opportunity” to push for alternatives to the current system. “We need to seize it,” Clegg said. “The war on drugs has failed and there are now a large number of states who agree on the need for change.”

  • The Marlboro of marijuana

    The legal cannabis industry is run by minnows. As liberalisation spreads, that may not last
    The Economist (UK)
    Saturday, November 8, 2014

    marlboro-marijuanaWould household names really consider selling cannabis? They already have. In 1969 a Philip Morris executive wrote to the Justice Department, requesting a sample of marijuana for testing. In 1970 British American Tobacco put together a blueprint for a “cannabis-loaded cigarette”. Cannabis is certainly controversial. But then so is lung cancer. It may well be that the executives best placed to make a mint from marijuana, once it is fully legal across America, are the Marlboro men themselves. (See also: The legalisation of marijuana isn't just about liberal values - it's about dollars)

  • Amsterdam city council calls for licenced marijuana production

    Senate poised to make helping marijuana growers a crime
    Dutch News (Netherlands)
    Friday, November 7, 2014

    Ministers should sanction experiments to legally grow marijuana under licence and the city should make preparations to do so, according to a majority of Amsterdam city councillors. All VVD councillors in the city back the move. The VVD's position in Amsterdam is notable because VVD justice minister Ivo Opstelten has said repeatedly he does not favour regulated production and refused to sanction experiments. Meanwhile, the upper house of parliament came a step nearer to approving legislation which will make people who have helped illegal marijuana growers guilty of a criminal act. (See also: Coffeeshops want say in Amsterdam marijuana production)

  • Is prohibition worth the cost?

    Everybody is like the ostrich hiding its head in the sand hoping that the problem will pass
    The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
    Friday, November 7, 2014

    In Denmark there is little movement on drug policy. We know that we are just months from the next general election, but no political party has a policy on the subject of how to move forward. The Conservatives, Liberals, Social Democrats are in limbo. Police engagement is a farce and they know it. Everybody can see the problem, nobody seems to have a solution, but it is inevitable that all politicians will soon have to address a problem that will not go away by itself. The nation learned how to handle alcohol and tobacco without prohibition, and maybe that’s cheaper and more productive than wasting even more resources on increased policing.

  • Support for legal pot down off its high

    Marijuana legalization spreads. But public support for it drops. Why?
    Los Angeles Times (US)
    Friday, November 7, 2014

    gallup1014Even as the national experiment legalizing recreational pot spread this week to Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., a new poll suggests the enthusiasm among voters has hit a plateau. A majority, 51%, favors legalizing marijuana, according to a Gallup Poll. That's about where support has been since 2011, but a drop from the 58% who told Gallup last year they supported legalization. Last year's poll came just after Colorado and Oregon had voted to allow marijuana to be sold in stores and were in the process of setting up the market.

  • US vote refuels ganja debate

    The Gleaner (Jamaica)
    Friday, November 7, 2014

    ganja-jamaica-flagThe local pro-ganja lobby in Jamaica is welcoming the vote for the legalisation of ganja in the American states of Oregon, Alaska, and Washington DC. "One of the biggest stumbling blocks has been the fear about how the United States would react to what we are doing and what we seeing happening is a clear indication that the United States people are moving in favour of legalising ganja on a wider and wider basis, whilst Jamaica continues to stall and not be bold enough to do what we need to do," Delano Seiveright, director of the Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Taskforce said. (See also: Jamaica urged to keep ganja debate going)

  • Fear of cannabis commerce didn't, won't and shouldn't stop legalization

    Forbes (US)
    Thursday, November 6, 2014

    Three marijuana legalization initiatives were on the ballot this week, and all three won. That’s a better outcome than I was expecting. I was surprised when voters in Colorado and Washington approved legalization two years ago, and I was surprised again when voters in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., followed suit. Partly that’s because, after 25 years of advocating drug legalization (along with various other unpopular positions), I am accustomed to losing. But it’s also because I had looked at the polling data.

  • Marijuana legalization sweeps the 2014 midterm elections

    Vox (US web)
    Wednesday, November 5, 2014

    marijuana-legal-us-2014On November 4, several states radically altered their approaches to a drug once known for Reefer Madness. In Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, DC, voters approved marijuana legalization measures. But in Florida, a medical marijuana amendment fell short of the 60 percent approval it needed to pass under state law. Here's a breakdown of each state's initiative, the latest results, and how the opposing campaigns pushed their messages to voters.

  • 6 facts about marijuana

    Support for marijuana legalization is rapidly outpacing opposition
    Pew Research Center (US)
    Wednesday, November 5, 2014

    pew-marijuana2014Attitudes about marijuana have undergone a rapid shift in public opinion, paralleled by few other trends in the U.S. Our recent data, along with historical figures from Gallup and the General Social Survey, reveal how views have shifted about the drug over time. Earlier this year, our survey found that many more Americans now favor shifting the focus of the nation’s overall drug policy. Here are six key facts about public opinion and marijuana.

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