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Marijuana law reached peak absurdity in 2022
As cannabis startups struggle, consumers get “legally” high on sketchy synthetics sold in prohibition states
Truthout (US)
Saturday, December 24, 2022
Banning a plant with hundreds of industrial and medical uses was never going to work out well, but 2022 saw marijuana prohibition reach peak absurdity, not to mention peak confusion for consumers and new businesses trying to make sense of it all. At first glance, cannabis reform appears to be humming along smoothly. Maryland, Missouri and Rhode Island approved legalization initiatives in 2022 as states such as New Mexico and New York raced to establish regulations for legal recreational sales. New laws in mostly blue states expunged cannabis arrests from criminal records for thousands of people. President Joe Biden made moves to pardon federal marijuana prisoners and reconsider the federal “scheduling” of marijuana ... -
EU is skeptical about legalizing cannabis
In the meantime, the mood between Brussels and Berlin on the issue of cannabis has sobered up
Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)
Thursday, December 22, 2022
Health Minister Lauterbach's prestige project is one of the few issues on which the traffic light parties in Germany agree. But they are meeting with resistance in Brussels. In order to implement his legalisation plans, however, Lauterbach needs the approval of the EU Commission, because they affect European law. "It is up to the member states to decide how they deal with the personal use of drugs, including cannabis," says the EU Commission. This sounds positive but in reverse it means: as soon as it comes to production and trade in the commercial sector, the restrictive EU law applies. In order to find a way out of this, Lauterbach actually wants to convince the EU Commission with an "interpretation declaration". (See also: German cannabis regulation on thin ice) -
Average age of French marijuana users has increased, study shows
Fewer young French people are smoking marijuana, though the overall number is stable, with 10.6% of the population consuming it in the past year
Le Monde (France)
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
The latest study on cannabis use among the adult population by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT) is painting a picture that sometimes goes against conventional wisdom. Among under-25s, all indicators have been on the decline since 2017, whether they concern experimentation – down 5.5 points compared to the 2017 study, from 53.5% to 48% – or habitual use, which is down 2.1 points between 2017 and 2021, from 8.4% to 6.3%. Conversely, more people are reporting cannabis use over the age of 35, and even more so over 45. Despite the recent decline in the appeal of cannabis among under-25s, France remains firmly established as one of the European countries where this drug is most widely used. -
Drug deaths are rising and overdose prevention centres save lives, so why is the UK unwilling to introduce them?
The UN’s International Narcotics Control Board has stated that OPCs are consistent with international drug control treaties
The Conversation (UK)
Monday, December 19, 2022
In late 2020, a converted van appeared in central Glasgow. Inside were clean needles, sterilising equipment, mirrors, “sharps bins” for the disposal of syringes, and supplies of the overdose reversal drug naloxone. There were also boxes containing protein bars, tea, blankets and a defibrillator, as well as two chairs and tables where injections could be prepared. The van had been converted, and was being driven, by Peter Krykant – an ex-outreach worker with his own history of homelessness and injecting drug use. Frustrated with the fact that no overdose prevention centre (OPC) had yet opened in the city despite calls from the local NHS, he took the law into his own hands and, after a successful crowdfunding campaign, opened one independently. -
A proposal to regulate cannabis is imminent in the Czech Republic. The People's Party is concerned
The discussion of the law is also ongoing with coalition parties
Právo (Czech Republic)
Monday, December 19, 2022
In mid-January, the Czech National Drug Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil plans to introduce a bill to free up the cannabis market. The exact form of regulation is currently being drawn up by working groups, after which Vobořil will seek public and political support. However, this is currently lacking among the People's Party, which considers the relaxation risky. "We have to deal with complex topics like Schengen," Vobořil said. With the People's Party, which has 23 seats in the lower house, despite the willingness to discuss a specific proposal, friction can be expected. "We do not agree with the general legalization of cannabis. However, we support its use for medicinal purposes." -
Legal uncertainty dampens Thailand's thriving weed business
Opponents of Thailand's marijuana bill are calling for the plant to be re-criminalized amid concerns over growing recreational use
Deutsche Welle (Germany)
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Thailand legalized the growing of marijuana and its consumption in food and drinks on June 9 and removed cannabis from its list of banned narcotics. The Southeast Asian country hoped the move would boost its agriculture and tourism industry and allow the plant to be used for medical purposes. But lawmakers have failed to come to an agreement on how to regulate and control the new thriving industry. "We are against legalizing weed in an uncontrolled manner that has been happening since the health minister delisted cannabis as a narcotic without regulation that can really be enforced," the leader of the opposition Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat said, during the bill's second reading. Uncertainty is expected to continue ... -
'We must move on from the repressive drug policies of the past', says Minister of Justice
Cannabis regulation rather than legalisation
RTL Today (Luxembourg)
Saturday, December 17, 2022
Minister of Justice Sam Tanson of Luxembourg defended the government's decision to regulate recreational cannabis consumption, pointing out that this was already included in the governing coalition's programme before the last national elections in 2018. The initial plan of the coalition between the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), and the Green Party (déi Gréng) was to legalise cannabis. However, Tanson explained that because the government does not want to allow cannabis consumption in public spaces, they now prefer to talk about "regulation" rather than "legalisation." Tanson stressed that the long-term goal of the government remains the creation of state-approved selling points for cannabis. -
Colombia’s Congress agrees to final marijuana legalization bill, which key senator expects to be enacted by June
Lawmakers have met several times in recent weeks to debate the reform proposal, which would amend the country’s Constitution to end cannabis prohibition
Marijuana Moment (US)
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Colombia’s Chamber of Representatives and Senate have voted to reconcile their respective versions of marijuana legalization bills that recently advanced, with both bodies accepting minor changes to create a unified final product that’s now set to advance to key votes in the new year. Because the legalization proposal would amend the country’s Constitution, the legislation must pass both chambers again in 2023—and a key Senate sponsor of the bill says that she expect it to be formally enacted by June. The reconciliation process took place about a week after the Senate overwhelmingly approved its version of the reform legislation. The bill had previously received initial approval in Colombia’s Chamber of Representatives. -
Cannabis industry has huge economic value for South Africa, but government dragging its feet
The existing and proposed cannabis legislation in South Africa is reactionary and piecemeal, and often has unintended consequences with questionable constitutionality
Daily Maverick (South Africa)
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
The Draft South African Cannabis Masterplan states that there are up to 900,000 traditional dagga growers in South Africa and that they and ‘dagga’ need to be included in the cannabis value chain, but makes no recommendation as to how this is to be achieved. The current trajectory of industrial and medical cannabis is exclusionary of traditional growers and our indigenous cannabis. The country’s cannabis legislation must enable existing growers to enter and participate in the value chain serving as a pro-poor mechanism to regenerate the rural economy, maximise our competitive advantage of farmers and climate-resilient and drought-tolerant genetics, formalise the massive existing illicit market and negate the necessity for further court challenges on the constitutionality of the legal framework. -
Decriminalising cannabis could save Australian taxpayers $850m a year, report finds
New public health research says Australia’s prohibition approach to marijuana is not keeping pace with global best practice cannabis policy
The Guardian (UK)
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Australia is not keeping pace with global best practice cannabis policy, a report from the public health research organisation the Penington Institute has found, with decriminalisation predicted to save taxpayers around $850m each year. With more than 90% cannabis-related charges since 2010 being for personal use or possession offences, the Cannabis in Australia 2022 report, published on Thursday, found that criminalising people who use cannabis costs Australian taxpayers $1.7bn a year in law enforcement costs. According to the report, 702,866 people have been arrested for cannabis-related offending in Australia since 2010, with nine out of 10 of these arrests for personal use or possession.
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