• Illicit drugs should be regulated and distributed by pharmacies, leading doctor suggests

    Putting substances like MDMA and marijuana in pharmacies would take the power out of the hands of “backyard amateur operators”
    News Com (Australia)
    Wednesday, January 30, 2019

    A leading drug reform advocate and esteemed doctor is calling for a shake up to the illicit drug market, suggesting substances like MDMA, marijuana and ecstasy should be regulated and sold at chemists. Speaking on Today, Dr Alex Wodak, head of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, called for the idea to be considered as a way of reducing deaths. “You can’t prevent deaths completely. But if you reduce them a lot that’s well worthwhile,” Dr Wodak said. “I’m not saying (it’s) safe, I’m saying it’s safer. Nothing is safe — it is only you can reduce the risk, you can’t eliminate the risk. And we should try to reduce the risk.” (See also: Former top cop backs Dr Alex Wodak's call to regulate MDMA)

  • History, not harm, dictates why some drugs are legal and others aren’t

    Legal status isn’t based on risk or harm
    The Conversation (UK)
    Wednesday, January 30, 2019

    Drug-related offences take up a lot of the resources within Australia’s criminal justice system. In 2016–17 law enforcement made 113,533 illicit drug seizures and 154,650 drug-related arrests. Harm-reduction advocates are calling for the legalisation of some drugs, and the removal of criminal penalties on others. And there’s public support for both. But how did some drugs become illegal in the first place? And what drives our current drug laws? Australia, like the rest of the world, has had a patchy approach to criminalising substances, driven mostly by a desire to maintain international relations – particularly with the United States – rather than by concern for the public’s health or welfare.

  • A run on medicinal cannabis causes concern amongst doctors

    Far more people are requesting their doctors to prescribe cannabis than expected
    The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
    Tuesday, January 29, 2019

    A year ago, and in the teeth of opposition from some doctors, the Danish health authorities decided to approve a four-year pilot project under which GPs were able to give patients medicinal cannabis as pain relief for certain ailments. It was estimated that around 500 people would request the drug, but figures reveal that almost three times as many – 1,400 patients – have done so over the first year. The Danish College of General Practitioners has been sceptical from the start, and the new figures do nothing to dispel its reservations. Not all doctors have the requisite knowledge to prescribe cannabis and that most GPs have too few patients on the drug to assess the effects of the treatment. (See also: Danish medicinal cannabis prescriptions exceed expected numbers)

  • Cannabis comes to Davos, sharing spotlight with global elites

    Despite cannabis taking centre stage at Davos, obstacles remain
    Luxembourg Times / Bloomberg (Luxembourg)
    Monday, January 28, 2019

    If more proof was needed that cannabis is becoming accepted by the world’s financial and political elite, what better place to find it than at the Swiss ski resort of Davos? While the usual cadre of billionaires, politicians and bankers debated the hot topics of the day (China, Brexit, trade), there was Bruce Linton of Canopy Growth Inc. extolling the virtues of legal pot with a Congolese Queen. And over at the Canada Cannabis House Pavilion - a rented bar in Davos - Anthony Scaramucci (best known for his 11-day stint as White House communications director) interviewed former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barak, chairman of medical marijuana company InterCure , was speaking a week before Israel's cabinet is expected to approve medical cannabis exports.

  • Le cannabis légal permet de panacher sa conso

    Depuis 2011, l'émergence d'un marché du cannabidiol CBD a éclipsé le tétrahydrocannabinol (THC). Addiction Suisse a fait le point sur ce «cannabis légal»
    Tribune de Genève (Suisse)
    Lundi, 28 janvier 2019

    De nouvelles variétés de cannabis contenant très peu de THC et beaucoup de CBD ont été développées en Amérique du Nord. Elles ont été adoptées par des producteurs suisses et mises sur le marché, communique ce 28 janvier 2019 «Addiction Suisse». Addiction Suisse a été mandaté par l'Office fédéral de la santé publique (OFSP) pour étudier ce phénomène. Plus de 1500 personnes vivant en Suisse et ayant déjà consommé du cannabis CBD ont été interrogées. Cinq profils type d'usagers ont pu être identifiés. Le plus fréquent comprend des usagers de cannabis illégal (THC) plutôt jeunes qui modèrent ou panachent cette consommation avec du CBD.

  • Israeli cabinet approves law to allow medical cannabis exports

    Israeli companies are among the world’s biggest producers of medical cannabis
    Reuters (UK)
    Sunday, January 27, 2019

    Israel’s cabinet approved a law to allow exports of medical cannabis in a move expected to boost state revenues and the agriculture sector, and which frustrates critics who fear it could lead to more recreational use of the drug. The bill, backed last month by parliament, allows companies approved by the health regulator and police to export medical cannabis to countries that permit its use. Israeli media said exports could start in as little as nine months. “I am glad this is finally happening. It opens a very big market in Israel. The technology is here in Israel and until now we simply had to give the technology to other countries,” said Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. (See also: Stocks soar as Israel allows cannabis exports)

  • Tightly regulated framework likely for 2020 vote on cannabis

    Any controls have to consider whether they would create a legal vacuum that the black market could fill
    New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
    Saturday, January 26, 2019

    The 2020 referendum to legalise cannabis looks likely to propose a tightly regulated framework, including strict rules on supply and possession, an age limit of at least 18, and a non-profit model where money from sales may be funnelled into health services. And while it is widely accepted that legalising personal use would not eliminate harm or kill off a black market, a political consensus appears to be emerging that the status quo is broken, but a profit-driven legal market would be just as bad. Justice Minister Andrew Little said the Government was still working on the referendum question, but he personally opposed to a framework similar to alcohol if the public voted for legalisation in 2020.

  • A safe fix for Bristol’s drug users and the city

    Saving lives and clearing needles off the streets: Bristol has the power to become the first UK city to set up a safe consumption room
    The Bristol Cable (UK)
    Friday, January 25, 2019

    Drugs Consumption Room in FrankfurtUnlike in Bristol, in 66 cities around the world, drug users don’t have to take their drugs in public or down an alleyway. Instead they do it in a clean, safe environment. Safe consumption rooms (SCRs) are legal medical facilities where drug users safely take their illegal substances – particularly heroin and crack – with staff on hand if they overdose. They have been found to reduce deaths, make drug use safer, and clean up the streets of public injecting and used needles. The council has done a feasibility study into whether Bristol could also become the first UK city to set up a SCR, but has delayed its review. The city’s main treatment provider, Bristol Drugs Project (BDP), has indicated to me that a SCR would reduce harm and they would support a pilot.

  • Government register contradicts stated policy, cannabis smokers lobby says

    Obliging cannabis smokers to register themselves with the State will accomplish the opposite of harm reduction, pro-regulation group ReLeaf says
    Malta Today (Malta)
    Friday, January 25, 2019

    rolling jointsObliging Maltese cannabis smokers to register for them to have access to cannabis will achieve the opposite of the government’s stated aim of adopting a harm reduction approach, according to the pressure group ReLeaf. Earlier this month, reforms parliamentary secretary Julia Farrugia said that government was actively considering having a user registration system as part of the proposed reform of laws regarding recreational cannabis use. While it agrees that some form of interaction between the user and wherever they are purchasing it from is required to promote responsible use, ReLeaf believes a centralised register would stigmatise users and drive those likely to need help to the black market.

  • How Canopy Growth became the jolly green giant of cannabis

    With recreational use now legal across Canada, an $11 billion marijuana company called Canopy Growth–the country’s top player–is suddenly getting personal with millions of new customers
    Fast Company
    Thursday, January 24, 2019

    bruce linton3The common wisdom among investors and analysts in the cannabis industry has been that bigger is better. They predict that cannabis will follow the path of alcohol after Prohibition ended in the U.S., quickly consolidating to a few major companies. Or even become like the oligopoly of tobacco. Since obtaining one of Canada’s earliest licenses for commercial cultivation of medical marijuana about five years ago, Canopy Growth had built a global weed empire. The company employed more than 2,000 people and had more than 4 million square feet of marijuana under cultivation, an 80,000-square-foot warehouse stocked to the rafters with inventory, and $78 million (U.S.) in fiscal 2018 revenue.

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