• Philadelphia aims to become first US city to legalize safe injection sites

    The idea comes as a paradigm shift in the nation’s effort to stem the tide of opioid-related deaths
    Fox News (US)
    Tuesday, February 6, 2018

    Philadelphia officials are pushing an effort to make the city the first in the U.S. to allow drug users to shoot up at a medically supervised facility. The city overdose-related deaths peaked last year to about 1,200. City health officials want to cut down on the overdoses and deaths through this unique – and controversial – approach. “We haven’t seen a public health emergency like this in the last century,” said Thomas Farley, Health Commissioner for Philadelphia. “It’s time for us to rethink our assumptions, and consider options we hadn’t seen before." Unlike similar efforts by other cities, the injection sites would not need City Council approval because they would be privately run. (See also: SF safe injection sites expected to be first in nation, open around July 1)

  • Trump Treasury Secretary wants marijuana money in banks

    In 2014, under Obama, the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued guidance that has allowed banks to open marijuana accounts without running afoul of federal regulators
    Forbes (US)
    Tuesday, February 6, 2018

    The Trump administration's top fiscal official appeared to voice support for letting marijuana businesses store their profits in banks. "I assure you that we don't want bags of cash," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified during an appearance before the House Financial Services Committee. "We want to make sure that we can collect our necessary taxes and other things." Mnuchin, in a series of responses to questions from lawmakers who raised concerns about the public safety implications of preventing cannabis businesses from accessing banks and forcing them to operate on an all-cash basis, said the Treasury Department is considering how to deal with the issue. (See also: Open the banking system to the marijuana industry)

  • Want teens to smoke less pot? Legalize it

    Evolutionary psychology predicted it, data now confirms it
    Psychology Today
    Monday, February 5, 2018

    Those favoring strict drug laws believe that, as marijuana becomes more available and less stigmatized, teen drug use will go up. It's a straightforward and logical belief. The reality is that, to date, not one jurisdiction, either in the U.S. or elsewhere, has seen a marked increase in teen drug use following the relaxation of marijuana restrictions. Not one. Both Colorado and Washington, the pioneer states of marijuana legalization, have actually seen drops in teen marijuana use following legalization. The drop in Colorado was particularly dramatic. Despite the wave of legalization, nationwide, teen drug use is at a 20-year low.

  • German police association calls for complete legalization of cannabis

    Rather than focus largely on repression, there are better opportunities in drug policy such as learning to deal with responsible drug use
    The Local (Germany)
    Monday, February 5, 2018

    The Association of German Criminal Officers (BDK) is in favour of ending the ban on cannabis and has called for the decriminalization of all use. "The prohibition of cannabis has historically been seen as arbitrary and has not yet been implemented in an intelligent and effective manner," the head of BDK, André Schulz, told Bild. The BDK advocates a "complete decriminalization of cannabis use," adding that the current legal system is stigmatizing people and promoting criminal careers. "My prediction is cannabis will not be banned for long in Germany.‎" (See also: "Nicht zuschauen, wie Jugendliche ihre Zukunft verkiffen" | Nach 60 Jahren Drogenpolitik bleibt es bei einer Lebenslüge | Frei high)

  • Big Sur’s legendary weed growers being left behind in legal era

    So far, permits are only being issued to the “ganja-preneurs”
    The Cannabist (US)
    Monday, February 5, 2018

    california big surFor decades, hidden in creases of the wild and rugged Santa Lucia Mountains, farmers have eked out a living growing some of the nation’s most esteemed cannabis, hanging onto the hope that someday they wouldn’t fear arrest. Marijuana in California is now legal. Yet the fate of farmers in Big Sur — the birthplace of legendary “Big Sur Holy Weed” in the Golden State’s storied cannabis culture — remains more precarious than ever. As springtime approaches, county officials are issuing licenses to high-tech greenhouse growers, mostly owned by well-funded outsiders, on the edge of urban Salinas — but are rebuffing small traditional farmers on parcels in the more remote reaches of Monterey County such as Big Sur.

  • In Mexico, is legalized pot just a pipe dream?

    Surveys say most Mexicans are wary of legalizing marijuana — but their opposition appears to be softening
    NPR (US)
    Monday, February 5, 2018

    marihuana rolling jointAt a conference in late January, Mexico's top tourism official told reporters legalizing marijuana would help combat an epidemic of violence that has enveloped parts of the country. "It is absurd that we have not taken that step," Tourism Secretary Enrique de la Madrid said. He said cannabis legalization should start in Baja California Sur, a state with hot spots like Los Cabos, and Quintana Roo, where Cancún is located. Both regions saw spikes in violence last year. The comments ricocheted across the Mexican media. Not only were they unexpected, but they also came six months before a presidential election in which a major debate is how to proceed with a U.S.-backed drug war that has contributed to Mexico's highest homicide rate on record.

  • One month after Sessions marijuana memo, where do U.S. attorneys stand on legal weed

    “We are united in the view that the federal government shouldn’t subvert the will of our citizens expressed at the state level.”
    The Cannabist (US)
    Monday, February 5, 2018

    It’s been a month since U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo, Obama-era Department of Justice guidance on enforcement of federal law in states that legalized marijuana in some form. Sessions’ marijuana policy shift didn’t just inject uncertainty into the legal cannabis industry — it empowered the Justice Department’s U.S. attorneys to enforce — or ignore — federal marijuana laws. So where do the U.S. attorneys stationed in the nine states (and Washington, D.C.) that have legalized recreational marijuana stand? Here’s what we know about the top federal prosecutors in those districts one month into the post-Cole Memo paradigm.

  • The secret housing program giving safe drugs to addicted residents

    Vancouver’s Portland Hotel Society has been quietly running an opioid substitution program for more than a year
    Vice (Canada)
    Monday, February 5, 2018

    canada stop fentrificationCanada’s opioid crisis has hit British Columbia harder than anywhere else. Last year, 1,422 people across the province died after taking drugs accounting for more than a third of all overdose deaths in Canada in 2017. The epidemic has B.C. health officials desperate for new ideas to bring the numbers back under control. And so, last December, the BC Centre for Disease Control said it plans to distribute hydromorphone (brand name Dilaudid) as a clean alternative to street drugs contaminated with fentanyl. Controversial though it might be, the idea is not entirely new. In Vancouver, the nonprofit Portland Hotel Society (PHS) quietly launched the hydromorphone program in September 2016.

  • Drugs policy in Germany is a mess

    Despite legalisation, medicinal cannabis is often unavailable to German patients
    The Economist (UK)
    Thursday, February 1, 2018

    Nationwide legalisation of medicinal cannabis in Germany came into force in March 2017. But almost a year on, patients struggle to obtain the weed they need. One problem is the conservatism of the medical industry. Many doctors are reluctant to prescribe cannabis rather than traditional opiates, like morphine. Even when they do, at around €24 ($30) per gram, more than double the street price, the over-the-counter cost is more than many people can afford privately. Health insurers decline a third of requests for reimbursement. Not all pharmacists stock cannabis, either because they disapprove or because they are unfamiliar with it.

  • How legalising cannabis can help India ease some of its economic burden

    Indian cities are among the highest consumers of marijuana in the world; legalising it will give the government a major new revenue stream
    The Print (India)
    Thursday, February 1, 2018

    india ganja legalizationTwo Indian cities – New Delhi and Mumbai – have emerged among the top 10 in the world with the highest consumption of cannabis/marijuana. According to the latest research by an Israel-based firm, Seedo, which supplies devices that allow for growing weed at home, New Delhi is third and Mumbai sixth in terms of consumption, while Karachi, Pakistan, ranks second in the world. The fact that both New Delhi and Mumbai are in the top 10 in consumption means there are great revenue benefits for the government if it legalises marijuana.

Page 183 of 471