• Eindhoven says no to regulated marijuana experiment

    The Dutch local authorities association VNG said it will be difficult to find 10 councils which want to take part
    Dutch News (Netherlands)
    Thursday, May 23, 2019

    netherlands coffeeshop rolling jointsEindhoven has followed The Hague and Amsterdam and decided not to take part in the government’s experiment with regulated marijuana cultivation, saying it cannot accept the terms and conditions for the experiment. ‘I realise that this goes against the offer I made the cabinet in 2017 to help to shape the experiment, but now the details are known, I have no choice but not to sign up,’ mayor John Jorritsma said in a statement. Jorritsma said the issue had been discussed with aldermen and local coffee shop owners, who are also unhappy at the position the trial puts them in. He also said he expects the net impact of the trial in terms of crime, public nuisance and health to be minimal.

  • California bill to create ‘safe injection sites’ in San Francisco clears Assembly

    The legislation comes just four months after former Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar measure
    Los Angeles Times (US)
    Thursday, May 23, 2019

    A bill that would allow San Francisco city officials to open facilities where people can inject drugs without legal consequences cleared the state Assembly. Assembly Bill 362 by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) would create a six-year pilot program in San Francisco giving drug users a place to inject themselves with intravenous drugs under clinical supervision. Eggman said that with overdose deaths on the rise nationally, California must try new strategies to address the epidemic. So-called safe injection sites, which are operated in Canada, Switzerland and eight other countries, offer treatment and connect users with social services such as housing.

  • Tens of thousands apply for pot amnesty

    Weed walkathon gains momentum
    The Bangkok Post (Thailand)
    Thursday, May 23, 2019

    A total of 31,177 people applied for the medical marijuana amnesty online during the 90-day registration period, which means the number of medical marijuana users in Thailand may exceed 50,000, says the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre. However, Prof Thiravat Hemachudah, the head of the centre -- which assisted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the online amnesty registration process -- said patients will still have to contact the FDA to complete the process. Prof Thiravat said the Red Cross and the FDA never expected to receive so many queries and applications for an amnesty when the initiative was launched. (See also: Pot prescriptions possible by end of June)

  • Without safe injection sites, more opioid users will die

    The abrupt refusal to renew funding for safe injection sites will unquestionably lead to more Canadians dying
    The Conversation (UK)
    Thursday, May 23, 2019

    Ontario is undoubtedly in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis. From January to September 2018, an incredible 1,031 Ontarians died of an overdose. The number of deaths in the province is second only to the 1,155 deaths in British Columbia, dubbed the “ground zero” of the overdose epidemic in North America. Yet with no signs of the crisis slowing down, the Ontario government announced in April that they would abruptly halt funding for several safe injection sites — an unprecedented and dangerous step backwards in curtailing the public health emergency.

  • 'Price-conscious' pot consumers find backyard planting way cheaper

    Will police enforce limit of 4 plants per household? That depends
    CBC News (Canada)
    Wednesday, May 22, 2019

    The federal Cannabis Act specifies that each household can cultivate up to four plants — either indoors or out. Manitoba and Quebec have opted to prohibit homegrown cannabis, but there's already evidence Canadians in other provinces are set to take advantage of the herb's newly legal status. "For the price-conscious consumer, if you're paying around $10 a gram for the varieties at the store, you might be only paying 50 cents per gram or less for a variety you grow yourself at home," says Alex Rea of Toronto-based Homegrown Hydroponics. It's difficult to know yet just how many Canadians are taking advantage of the new opportunity to grow recreational cannabis at home. But demand is already outstripping supply, since a number of provincial authorities are reporting seed shortages.

  • Expert says new laws stifling legal ganja industry

    Unless the number of licensed producers are increased significantly, Jamaica cannot compete in the legal marijuana industry on a global scale
    Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
    Wednesday, May 22, 2019

    Ganja growers and producers say regulations to the updated Dangerous Drugs Act (2015) are too stringent and pose a major impediment to those who represent the backbone of the industry, and, by extension, its development. Vice-president of the Ganja Growers and Producers Association of Jamaica (GGPAJ) Maurice Ellis, who is also an executive member of the Jamaica Licensed Cannabis Association (JLCA), argues that the GGPAJ has been pushing for changes to some of the barriers to entering the industry. The small farmers are at a vast disadvantage as a result of the extensive nature of the rules laid down in law. “When it comes on to the small farmer he's not being left behind; he's actually being left out." (See also: Cannabis Authority taking steps to meet growing demand, says Green)

  • How to legalize every drug

    Cocaine energy drinks, licensed psychedelics guides, and fair trade heroin could all be part of a safer legal regime
    Vice (US)
    Wednesday, May 22, 2019

    regulationAs Canada continues to work out the kinks of legalizing cannabis—and jurisdictions around the world follow suit—harm reduction advocates and drug policy researchers have their sights set on the regulation of all drugs, a reform they say is necessary to save lives and look at the issue from a public health perspective. Legalizing drugs would be different from decriminalizing drugs—the latter would make it legal to possess and use small amounts of banned substances but not to produce or sell them. Legalization would mean securing a safe supply of drugs and, with varying degrees of strictness, making those drugs accessible to the public.

  • Purdue Pharma accused of 'corrupting' WHO to boost global opioid sales

    ‘Unscrupulous’ manufacturer replicated false marketing claims to change WHO guidelines, report by members of Congress alleges
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, May 22, 2019

    Purdue Pharma, the drug manufacturer that kickstarted the US opioid epidemic, corruptly influenced the World Health Organization in order to boost painkiller sales across the globe, according to a report by members of Congress. An investigation by Katherine Clark and Hal Rogers, who represent districts in Massachusetts and Kentucky hard hit by the US opioid epidemic, accuses Purdue of replicating its false marketing claims about the safety and effectiveness of opioids to change WHO prescribing guidelines in an attempt to expand foreign markets for its drugs. “The web of influence we uncovered paints a picture of a public health organization that has been corrupted by the opioid industry,” said Clark.

  • Proposals to liberalise cannabis laws expected before Cabinet

    Plans will stop short of ‘full-blown’ decriminalisation of possession
    The Irish Times (Ireland)
    Tuesday, May 21, 2019

    The plans envisage a move to providing drug counselling, addiction treatment and other health interventions for many users found in possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use. However, they will stop short of “full-blown” decriminalisation of the personal possession of drugs and some criminal sanctions are expected to remain on the statute book, according to sources. There remain serious differences within Government on the proposals, which have yet to be finalised. Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has privately expressed concerns about any proposal to decriminalise the personal possession of drugs, it is understood.

  • Study finds CBD effective in treating heroin addiction

    Nearly 400,000 Americans have died of opioid-related causes since 2000
    CNN (US)
    Tuesday, May 21, 2019

    opioidsCannabidiol, the non-psychoactive ingredient in hemp and marijuana, could treat opioid addiction, a new study says. Given to patients with heroin addiction, cannabidiol, also known as CBD, reduced their cravings for the illicit drug as well as their levels of anxiety. "The intense craving is what drives the drug use," said Yasmin Hurd, the lead researcher on the study and director of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai. "If we can have the medications that can dampen that [craving], that can greatly reduce the chance of relapse and overdose risk." The available medications for opioid addiction, such as buprenorphine and methadone, act in a similar way, curbing cravings.

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