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South Africa’s budding cannabis industry is waiting for regulations to catch up
Industry experts have determined that South Africa could unlock a R107 billion industry by regulating and taxing
Business Tech (South Africa)
Sunfay, October 20, 2019
South Africa’s budding cannabis industry has made huge strides over the last year since the Constitutional Court upheld South Africans’ right to privacy in September 2018, ruling that individuals should be free to consume cannabis in their private capacity. The court found that South Africa’s drug laws around cannabis were inconsistent with the Constitution, and gave lawmakers two years to change regulations to be in-line with this ruling. Parliament has until September 2020 to make these changes. Following the ruling, the government de-scheduled some types of cannabis health products, with conditions, making them easier to get hold of. This sparked a rise in a number of cannabis products showing up at specialist stores across the country – all legal. -
Éric Piolle sur le cannabis : « Un décalage complet entre notre politique et la réalité »
Le Conseil d'analyse économique encourage le gouvernement d'Édouard Philippe à créer un « monopole public de production et de distribution du cannabis »
Le Point (France)
Samedi, 19 octobre 2019
La légalisation du cannabis est-elle une solution ? Le maire de Grenoble Éric Piolle évoque la question sur le plateau d'On n'est pas couché ce samedi 19 octobre. Invité de la soirée, l'édile EELV sort un livre, Grandir ensemble, dans lequel il défend une légalisation contrôlée du cannabis. Pour illustrer son propos, Éric Piolle donne l'exemple des États-Unis, rappelant que certains États « ont tenté des choses, ils ont pris des dealers qui étaient quelque part prioritaires pour monter des magasins ». Un système « hallucinant » qui, pour lui, « montre le décalage complet qu'il y a entre notre politique et la réalité ». -
Demand for illegal cannabis still high, 1 year after legalization
More Canadians are buying cannabis from illegal sources than legal ones, according to Statistics Canada
CBC News (Canada)
Thursday, October 17, 2019
One year after the federal government legalized recreational marijuana, 60 per cent of Canadians are still buying the drug on the black market or from sources that are not entirely legal, according to Statistics Canada data. The Liberal government's main argument for legalization was a push to take the drug out of the hands of children and the profits out of those of criminals. And although the percentage of illegal sales has steadily been going down since Oct. 17 of last year, the black market today remains a $4-billion-a-year industry, according to numbers from Statistics Canada. Those illegal sales can take many shapes. (See also: Transform: Cannabis legalisation in Canada – One year on) -
How Canada's cannabis legalization is shaping laws elsewhere
New Zealand is holding a referendum, and Luxembourg is adopting "the Canadian model"
Associated Press (US)
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Ever since Canada became the first major country to legalize marijuana for adults a year ago, other nations have been paying attention. The small South American nation of Uruguay was the first to legalize marijuana for adults. New Zealand, Luxembourg and Mexico are among those that have looked to Canada for guidance or lessons, while Russia has chastised it for its “barefaced″ flouting of international anti-drug treaties. Mexico’s legalization is not likely to mirror Canada’s, where a few massive corporations have dominated production and more artisanal growers have largely been shut out. Russia laments the “barefaced″ and “blatant violation by Canada of its international obligations″ under anti-drug treaties. -
Local governments are trying to make the cannabis industry less racist
While recreational marijuana use is about the same across races in the U.S., black people are almost four times more likely to be arrested than white people
Newsweek (US)
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Local governments looking to legalize marijuana across the nation are starting to think about racial equity—at a time when a multi-billion dollar cannabis industry is excluding the communities most devastated by the War on Drugs. As of 2017, more than 80 percent of U.S. marijuana business owners and founders were white, while only 10 percent were Hispanic, Latino or black, according to a survey by the Marijuana Business Daily. From Chicago, Illinois, to Saint Paul, Minnesota, officials are trying to support better minority entry into cannabis businesses. In some cases, that means giving black and brown people grants to set up shop. In others, it means undoing criminal records leftover from the drug's prohibition. -
'This weed is so much better': Cannabis legalization in B.C. at one year
Thursday marks a year since non-medicinal cannabis was legalized nationwide on Oct. 17, 2018
Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Mike Babins and Maria Petrucci cleared grey-market cannabis from the shelves of their dispensary last year on the eve of federal legalization, uncertain what the new market would bring. A year later, sales of recreational pot have been brisk and longtime customers have remained loyal following the Evergreen Cannabis Store’s months-long transition from a “grey market” municipal licence to a provincial licence under the new system. “I’m so happy to see how many of those people come back and say, ‘Wow, this weed is so much better.’” Black-market cannabis still accounts for about two-thirds of the cannabis bought in Canada, so B.C.’s 85 licensed private retailers and seven government stores may be competing more with illicit operators than with each other. -
ACT legalising cannabis will not stop it being a federal offence, warns Porter
Attorney general says new territory law does not override federal law which prohibits cannabis possession
The Guardian (UK)
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
The Australian Capital Territory law to legalise cannabis possession appears to “do nothing to end the continuing operation” of commonwealth offences, Christian Porter has warned. The attorney general’s comments suggest Canberra cannabis users will be left in legal limbo when the laws take effect from February, contradicting the ACT government’s claim that its law provides a defence to the federal offence. The Morrison government has stepped up its rhetoric against the laws. Health minister, Greg Hunt, accused the ACT government of being “blind and indifferent to the health consequences” of cannabis after asking it what medical evidence was considered before legalising it. -
A year in the weeds: Why the cannabis industry didn't take off the way everyone planned
There is no shortage of answers to the question of what went wrong, but one thing seems certain: there is plenty of blame to go around
Financial Post (Canada)
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Dozens of legal cannabis producers, backed by billions in investor capital, were expected to put the black market on its heels, launching Canada to the forefront of an expanding global industry with the promise of mass-produced, high-quality, heavily regulated marijuana. But scandals, sluggish earnings and executive shakeups have replaced the soaring expectations of a year ago. Government data show that the legal market has only supplanted 14 per cent of the black market since legalization on Oct. 17, 2018, and some are concerned that further inroads may be difficult to come by. One of the biggest problems was that the industry’s early focus on scale — something that was largely a symptom of the push to raise capital ahead of legalization — distracted it from other important considerations. -
Dagga prohibition needs to end
We need a rational approach, grounded in evidence, to growing, selling and consuming cannabis products
Ground Up (South Africa)
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Despite the far-sighted rulings by Judge Dennis Davis and two colleagues in the Cape High Court, and then the unanimous Constitutional Court, that allowed private use of cannabis, the state of dagga legislation in South Africa remains similar to that of alcohol during US prohibition.These are some of the common consequences: small-scale growers are constantly in skirmishes with the law, poor people end up in prison for selling, dangerous gangs form to enforce some order on the trade outside the law, and high-placed officials in justice administration become enmeshed in corruption, damaging the entire state. Prohibition, which for decades has criminalised people trying to make a meagre living, should end. -
Philippines police chief and Duterte drug war enforcer resigns in meth scandal
Oscar Albayalde denies allegations he profits from drug deals arranged by corrupt officers in 2013
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, October 14, 2019
The chief of police in the Philippines has stepped down after facing historical accusations in the Senate that he protected officers who had resold confiscated drugs and received some of the profits. It was a rapid fall from grace for Oscar Albayalde, the head of the Philippine National Police (PNP), who rose to fame as the enforcer of Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs in Manila before Duterte was appointed president. Albayalde has denied the allegations. Thousands of people have been killed as part of Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs. Amnesty International called it a “large-scale murdering enterprise”.
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