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Don't be greedy! Why cannabis companies should support home cultivation
The New York Medical Cannabis Industry association (NYMCIA) recomended to ban home cultivation for consumers
Forbes (US)
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
One of the great things about the cannabis industry is that it has dramatically sped up the process of ending cannabis prohibition and achieving advocacy goals that many of us have worked on for decades, long before there were profits to be made in producing and selling legal cannabis. The cannabis industry has attracted people with money and political influence that never previously supported reform, and its growth has led to businesses pushing for state-level legalization if for no other reason than it opens new markets for their business. But every now and then, advocacy goals and business interests collide, and it’s in these moments when a company’s moral compass is exposed. (See also: How the cannabis industry defeated legalization in New York) -
The campaign for a 'drug-free world' is costing lives
Global policy on drug control is unrealistic, and has taken a harsh toll on millions of the world’s poorest people
The Guardian (UK)
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Drug control efforts across the world are a threat to human dignity and the right to life. The first problem lies with the founding aspiration of the international drug system: to create a “drug-free society”, which countries have sought to achieve through prohibition, enforced by repression. The past four UN high commissioners for human rights have repeatedly asked countries to address the violation of fundamental rights in drug control. On 15 March in Vienna, a coalition of UN agencies, human rights experts and a few progressive governments, led by the United Nations Development Programme and the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy at the University of Essex, launched the international guidelines on human rights and drug policy. -
High-strength cannabis increases risk of mental health problems
Study says 30% of first-time psychotic disorders in south London linked to strong drugs
The Guardian (UK)
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Frequent cannabis use and high-strength varieties are likely to increase the chance of mental health problems, according to researchers in Lancet Psychiatry. Experts have previously flagged a link between cannabis use and psychosis. Now research suggests the potency of the cannabis is important, with patterns in cannabis use linked to how often new cases of psychotic disorders arise. The study estimated that 30% of first-time cases of psychotic disorders in south London, and half of those in Amsterdam, could be avoided if high-potency cannabis was not available. The study had limitations because it relied on self-reported use of cannabis and a small numbers of participants. Also, THC and CBD content of the cannabis was not directly measured. (See also: NORML responds to latest cannabis and psychosis claims) -
Tunisian activists call for regulating cannabis production, distribution
The initiative includes a proposal to establish a subsidiary to the state, similar to a tobacco or alcohol company, which would be in charge of producing and promoting cannabis
Al-Monitor (Middle East)
Sunday, March 17, 2019
The Coalition for Legalizing Cannabis, a civil coalition of young activists, announced Feb. 23 at a press conference in Tunis that it is working on a bill aimed at legalizing the production and consumption of cannabis in Tunisia. Work on the project is ongoing and consultations with parliamentarians is still underway in order to find a legal formula that is acceptable to all parties. The coalition said that it is consulting with parliamentarians to develop legal frameworks for the production and consumption of cannabis, under which the state would reverse the sole right to produce and distribute cannabis, as well as that it would be entrusted with monitoring and regulation. -
CLA tasked with fast tracking cannabis licensing process
One of the critical priorities would be incorporating traditional growers in the legal cannabis industry
Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Floyd Green has directed the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to fast track the cannabis licensing approval process. Green met with the heads of the authority to discuss the functioning of the authority, the implementation of the alternative development programme and the cannabis licensing application process. He expressed concerns about the length of time between application and decision, and asked the agency to explore ways to reduce the time, noting that a significant proportion of the delay in the decision making process was as a result of the due diligence requirements. (See also: Accompong targeted for hemp pilot | Call for CLA to waive licensing fees for Rasta farmers) -
The great green gold rush
The dividing lines of this nascent industry look uncomfortably familiar to a South African audience. Even dagga may need to be decolonised
Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
Saturday, March 16, 2019
In South Africa’s richest suburb, against the backdrop of dazzling tower blocks belonging to law firms and insurance companies, a brand-new industry is taking shape — one that its advocates say will transform South Africa’s economy. But not everyone is so sure that the profits from the expected legalisation of cannabis will be distributed fairly. In September 2018, in a landmark judgment, the Constitutional Court legalised the private use and cultivation of cannabis. Full legalisation of marijuana for both medicinal and recreational use is expected to follow. This might come sooner rather than later. In his budget speech last month, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni indicated that there will soon be a change in policy when it comes to “the green thing”. -
Illegal cannabis cultivation costs Dutch society €200 mil. per year
The number of illegal cannabis plantations closed down per year has been decreasing for several years
NL Times (Netherlands)
Friday, March 15, 2019
Illegal cannabis cultivation costs Dutch society around 200 million euros per year, through stolen electricity and missed taxes, according to the sector organization for gas and electricity network operators Netbeheer Nederland. Netbeheer Nederland estimates that there are around 30 thousand illegal cannabis plantations in the Netherlands. Together they steal nearly 1 billion kWh of electricity per year - more than all households in Rotterdam use annually. This costs network operators, and everyone connected to them, around 60 billion euros per year, according to the organization. On top of that, the government is also losing out on 135 million euros in tax revenue each year, Netbeheer Nederland said. -
Glyphosate alone won’t fix Colombia’s complex coca woes
Former President Juan Manuel Santos criticized the “high human cost” of forced eradication
InSight Crime
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Colombia’s Constitutional Court is debating lifting a judicial ban on the spraying of glyphosate during the aerial fumigation of illicit coca crops, a decision that is unlikely to fix the nation’s coca problems. The court announced that it would accept President Iván Duque’s request for a hearing to debate the lifting of a 2015 ban on the aerial spraying with the herbicide glyphosate. Colombia Attorney General Humberto Martínez and Defense Minister Guillermo Botero supported Duque’s request that the Court permit a return to the use of glyphosate during aerial fumigation, arguing that the current methods being used have been ineffective. (See also: Colombia cocaine production breaks new record levels: UNODC report | Aggressive coca eradication threatens voluntary substitution efforts in Colombia) -
Medicinal cannabis users left high and dry by Dutch tolerance policy
Guidelines from the Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG) recommended prescribing cannabis for pain relief in the palliative phase only
Dutch News (Netherlands)
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Despite the relaxed attitude to cannabis in the Netherlands, acquiring the alternative medicine is often a battle. Around half a million people in the Netherlands use cannabis medicinally – the vast majority without a prescription – yet Dutch law-makers and prevailing attitudes have been slow to catch up. Under the hazy tolerance law, marijuana – including CBD – is still officially illegal and patients who self-medicate do so at their own risk despite its widely-demonstrated positive effect on certain conditions. Patients who do get prescriptions must bear the cost of their medication. According to The Dutch Care Institute, there is insufficient evidence of the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis for it to be included in basic health insurance. -
In Moroccan cannabis fields, illumination of Jewish role in country’s hash trade
Religious sources from the time reference issues related to hashish, none mention any prohibition on the consumption, or even trade, in the substance
The Times of Israel (Israel)
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
“The Jews in general did not grow cannabis,” explains Dr. Doron Danino, an expert on Moroccan Jewry. “But they received a monopoly from the king for the sale of tobacco in Morocco, and that included sales of the cannabis plant and the hashish produced from it.” A close examination of religious texts written by local community rabbis during the 18th and 19th centuries reveals fascinating information about the involvement of Jews in Morocco’s hashish scene. Written in the 18th century and printed in Jerusalem in the 1930s, the book “Avnei Shayish” by the chief rabbi of Sefrou, Rabbi Shaul Abitbul, details the annual licensing fee Jewish hashish merchants were forced to pay the king each year — 24,000 Spanish rials.
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