• France introduces fixed fine for drug use

    The introduction of the fine would not remove other “possible responses” to drug use - such as the accused being asked to appear in court
    The Connexion (France)
    Sunday, November 25, 2018

    france cannabisThe French Assemblée Nationale has voted to introduce a fixed €200 fine for the use of narcotics - and cannabis in particular - in an effort to step up the fight against illegal drugs. The bill was adopted on Friday November 23, by 28 votes in favour, and 14 against. It will introduce a €200 fixed punishment fine for the illicit use of drugs, with cannabis especially targeted. Since 1970 in France, illegal drug use - of any kind - has been associated with up to a year in prison and a fine of up to €3,750; but this was rarely enforced for the use of drugs such as cannabis. The vote comes against a backdrop of widespread cannabis use in France: official figures estimated that in 2017 there around 5 million users nationally, of which 700,000 were said to use it daily.

  • Time to ease up on marijuana?

    Indian doctors are hoping to take advantage of the more favourable way the West is looking at medical cannabis
    The Hindu (India)
    Sunday, November 25, 2018

    With several States in the United States, and Canada this year, permitting the use of the marijuana for medical as well as recreational use, there is a loosening of the taboo associated with the plant. Indian doctors and researchers are hoping to take advantage of this. India is likely to kick off its own studies on medical marijuana. Led by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM) and the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai, researchers will test whether strains of marijuana grown at the CSIR-IIIM campus in Jammu could be effective in the treatment of breast cancer and sickle-cell anaemia as well as be “bio-equivalent” (similar in make-up and effect) to marijuana-derived drugs already approved by the U.S. FDA.

  • Cannabis : l’Assemblée adopte la création d’une amende forfaitaire

    Le cadre répressif instauré depuis 1970 prévoit, quelle que soit la drogue, que le contrevenant risque jusqu’à un an de prison et 3 750 euros d’amende
    Le Monde (France)
    Samedi, 24 novembre 2018

    L’Assemblée nationale a voté la création d’une amende forfaitaire de 200 euros pour sanctionner l’usage illicite de stupéfiants, jusqu’alors réprimé uniquement par une peine de prison et une forte amende, peu souvent prononcées. L’article, adopté par les députés par 28 voix contre 14, entend ainsi répondre à l’augmentation constante du nombre de consommateurs de cannabis : 5 millions en 2017, dont 700 000 usagers quotidiens, selon les chiffres officiels. La ministre de la justice, Nicole Belloubet, a insisté sur « la palette de réponses possibles », le ministère public conservant la possibilité de poursuivre l’infraction devant le tribunal correctionnel. (Lire aussi: Il n’y a jamais eu autant de consommateurs réguliers de cannabis en France)

  • Harm reduction is the right way to treat drug abuse

    Europe should re-embrace an approach it pioneered
    The Economist (UK)
    Saturday, November 24, 2018

    Portugal’s policies are based on “harm reduction” approaches pioneered in countries such as Switzerland in the 1980s. The idea is to emphasise treatment and prevention more than punishment, says Brendan Hughes of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Most European countries now have some form of harm-reduction policy, though the east is more conservative. Some countries take things further. Many have safe injection rooms, supervised by medical professionals who check the drugs for safety. In Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, addicts who repeatedly fail methadone programmes may even receive free, government-prescribed heroin. “Heroin-assisted treatment” has been shown to reduce crime and deaths.

  • Human clinical trials of cannabis as medicine

    India plans to check out cannabis-based compounds to treat cancer, epilepsy and blood disorders
    The Telegraph (India)
    Saturday, November 24, 2018

    Government scientists are preparing for India’s first human clinical trials to test cannabis-based compounds on select diseases in line with what they say is a global resurgence in the medical applications of marijuana derivatives. The researchers have sought regulatory approval for a trial to evaluate these compounds on cancer patients at the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. They are also planning trials in other hospitals for a difficult-to-treat form of epilepsy and a blood disorder called sickle cell anaemia. The Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) in Jammu, a unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research that has cultivated cannabis for research on a one-acre plot, will formulate the derivative compounds for the trials. (See also: Made-in-India drugs to be based on weed soon)

  • Marijuana bill due before Antigua-Barbuda parliament before Christmas

    Bill seeks to legalise the use of the herb for medicinal, religious and sacramental purposes
    WIC News (Caribbean)
    Saturday, November 24, 2018

    A bill that will allow residents to possess and use small quantities of marijuana will go before parliament on 12 December for the first time. According to the country’s latest cabinet notes, the Marijuana Bill will be read a first time and distributed when parliament convenes in 19 days. The bill focuses on decriminalising up to 5g of marijuana, eliminating fines associated with the currently illegal drug. The government is hoping that by passing the Marijuana Bill, it will lessen what it termed the “expensive” costs associated with pursuing convictions and prosecuting people who were caught with small amounts of the drug. (See also: Antigua and Barbuda set to pass inclusive cannabis regulation law)

  • Thailand moves one step closer to legal marijuana

    GPO ready to develop medication, rejects seized cannabis
    The Nation (Thailand)
    Saturday, November 24, 2018

    Thailand is moving closer to getting medical marijuana legalised, as the bill on the issue has already made headway in the legislative process. The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) approved the bill with 145 votes allowing marijuana to be used for medical and research purposes. Nobody attending the NLA session objected to the bill, and only one legislator abstained. The NLA’s Somchai Swangkarn said a vetting committee on the bill has also been established. “We believe the NLA will take 60 days to deliberate this draft,” he said. Over the period, he also expects relevant authorities to sort out cannabis-related patent issues after several civic organisations expressed concerns that all patent applications submitted to the Intellectual Property Department came from foreigners.

  • Dutch municipalities dissatisfied with regulated cannabis experiment

    The experiment states that all coffeeshops in a municipality must participate
    NL Times (Netherlands)
    Friday, November 23, 2018

    Many Dutch municipalities are dissatisfied with the current preliminary design of the government's experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation. Where municipalities queued to participate in the experiment when it was announced, the government will now have difficulty in finding 10 municipalities to participate, according to the association of Dutch municipalities VNG. The VNG's main objection is that the experiment will not automatically be extended if it proves successful. That means that coffeeshop owners may have to return to illegal growers after the experiment. "That is immoral", mayor Paul Depla of Breda said. The final point of criticism for the VNG is the so-called 'resident criterion' - coffeeshops can only sell to Dutch residents.

  • How 'fixing rooms' are saving the lives of drug addicts

    Across Europe, facilities that offer medical supervision for addicts are dramatically reducing drug-related deaths
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, November 21, 2018

    All over Europe, every day, many thousands of people will inject heroin in drug consumption rooms. But none of these will be in the UK, where drug addicts are mainly confined to back streets, crack houses and hostel bedrooms. While European overdose rates are falling, the UK now has the worst drug death rate across the continent: one in three of the approximate 8,000 people who die as a result of drugs in Europe will do so in Britain. There has never been a recorded death in any of the 78 drug consumption rooms in Europe. Why? Because nurses quickly administer antidotes and immediately resuscitate the person before calling an ambulance. Elsewhere, the death rate from opiate overdoses is about 6%.

  • Marijuana is getting cheaper. For Colorado and some states, that’s a problem

    States may have failed to anticipate this problem because of misleading predictions about the effects of legalization
    The Denver Post (US)
    Wednesday, November 21, 2018

    Wholesale marijuana prices in Colorado have fallen by a third in just the past 12 months, continuing a price crash that began soon after the drug was legalized. Although this implies that some marijuana entrepreneurs are going to go bankrupt, the bigger financial hit will be felt by states that tax marijuana based on its price. Marijuana prices are collapsing because a legal business is dramatically cheaper to operate than an illegal one. Ironically, in a bid for more tax revenue per marijuana sale, Colorado increased its marijuana tax rate from 10 percent to 15 percent last year, only to see the anticipated added tax revenue wiped out by falling prices in a year’s time.

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