• Greece hopes its economy can get high from medical weed

    Legislation on medicinal cannabis expected by end of 2017
    Bloomberg (US)
    Tuesday, November 14, 2017

    Investors in medical cannabis projects are focusing on Greece, where a warm, sunny climate and potentially favorable future legislation could help the government deliver on a promise to pull the country out of a seven-year economic crisis. Growers have expressed interest in pumping more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.74 billion) into projects to build greenhouse parks for the cultivation and manufacture of cannabis, Evangelos Apostolou, minister of rural development and food, said in an interview. That would give Greece a share of a global market the government says could be worth 200 billion euros in the next 10 years.

  • Two thirds of Germans are against cannabis legalization, survey shows

    Whereas the CDU and CSU are fundamentally opposed to the drug’s legalization, parties such as the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Green party support it
    The Local (Germany)
    Monday, November 13, 2017

    63 percent of German citizens are opposed to the legalization of marijuana, a new survey released by research institute Forsa has found. 34 percent of Germans believe that adults should be able to purchase cannabis for their own use in specialist shops, the survey findings moreover reveal. While 72 percent of people over the age of 60 support continued prohibition, 43 percent of those under 30 were pro-legalization. A 2015 Forsa survey conducted for German news magazine Stern, 61 percent of Germans said they thought the sale and consumption of hashish (a drug made from cannabis) should continue to be banned.

  • Berlin: Görlitzer Park cannabis possession once again legal

    The previous senate's zero-tolerance policy was counterproductive and unnecessarily burdening the judiciary
    Deutsche Welle (Germany)
    Thursday, November 9, 2017

    Berlin has quietly ended a ban on cannabis possession in the notorious Görlitzer Park, admitting it was ineffective in addressing flagrant criminality. Drug pushers are a constant fixture, despite a zero-tolerance policy. The park in Kreuzberg has long been a major hotspot for consumer level drug dealing and had been subject to a no-tolerance policy since April 2015. But that policy was quietly repealed by the state coalition government last month, the Berliner Morgenpost reported. Possession of up to 15 grams of cannabis will once again go unpunished, it reported, bringing the park into line with the rest of the city.

  • Asia’s violent anti-drug crackdowns are hurting people, not the drug trade

    Ruth Dreifuss, Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Olusegun Obasanjo say that governments in Asia should look away from coercive means, like the death penalty and long prison sentences, and towards voluntary rehabilitation
    South China Morning Post (China)
    Thursday, November 9, 2017

    With regional and international heads of state gathering in Manila for the 31st Asean Summit, it seems appropriate to examine whether there are more effective drug policies for dealing with the harms caused by the presence of drugs in society. The Philippines offers a striking example of the costs of violent repression – in lives, increased violence, public expenditure, the impact on public health and the undermining of the rule of law. Yet despite these costs, there is no sign of any long-term disruption in trade, no long-lasting solution. Tragically, we have serious reasons to fear contagion of this violent approach to other countries in the region. Indeed, Cambodia initiated a crackdown in January that has resulted in the arbitrary arrests of more than 8,000 people.

  • Don't 'bank' on ganja! - Lawmaker says J'cans might be clinging to false hopes

    Banks have expressed concerns in relation to their correspondent banking relationships
    The Gleaner (Jamaica)
    Thursday, November 9, 2017

    The viability of Jamaica's legal ganja and hemp industry has been called into question, with lawmaker Marisa Dalrymple Philibert suggesting that Jamaicans might be clinging to false hope as there are financial barriers that could exclude small farmers from participating. Members of Parliament's Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) indicated that there was need for clarity as to how investors in the cannabis sector would source funding from the banks or deposit proceeds from the sector into financial institutions when there were concerns relating to correspondent banking. Small farmers seeking to participate in the cannabis sector should be given the assurance that they could do business with the banks without facing major roadblocks. (See also: Ganja block)

  • Luxembourg legalises medical marijuana, but it's 'not solution to everything'

    Luxembourg's Health Ministry announced that a government bill legalising cannabis for medical use will soon come into force in a two-year pilot scheme
    Luxembourg Times (Luxembourg)
    Thursday, November 9, 2017

    medical useThe Luxembourg Health Ministry led by Lydia Mutsch announced that a government bill legalising cannabis for medical use will soon come into force. The first steps will be to implement a two-year pilot scheme, which will be held in cooperation with other ministries, the statement made on Tuesday declared, but it came with a caution that it will not be used as a solution or remedy for all illnesses. During the scheme, the number of potentially beneficiary patients, as well as prescription indications, will be evaluated.

  • NPA bids to have dagga ruling repealed

    Rastafarians sang and lit up joints outside the court
    Pretoria News (South Africa)
    Wednesday, November 8, 2017

    Rastafarian lawyer Garreth Prince with Dagga Party founder Jeremy Acton in the CourtTough questions are being asked about the dynamics of legalising cannabis as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) seeks to repeal the ruling that permits use of the herb. Should people be allowed to smoke cannabis in the privacy of their homes? If yes, how will they be protected from being targeted by police officers when they procure the cannabis? These are some questions Constitutional Court justices had to contend with yesterday about the use of cannabis for cultural, religious, medical and recreational purposes.

  • Toronto's first permanent supervised injection site opens downtown

    First of three permanent safe-injection sites
    CBC News (Canada)
    Wednesday, November 8, 2017

    Toronto's first sanctioned, permanent supervised injection site officially opened its doors. The site, located inside The Works at 277 Victoria St., will provide "a safe and hygienic environment for people to inject pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of qualified staff," according to a city news release. In response to an increase in overdoses this year, Toronto Public Health first opened an interim service at its offices on Aug. 21 while work was completed on the permanent space. Since the interim service opened, the site logged more than 800 visits and staff intervened in 10 overdoses, according to the release.

  • California proposes armored cars to transport pot tax money

    Colorado tried in 2015 to set up a credit union to serve the marijuana industry but was blocked by the Federal Reserv
    The Associated Press (US)
    Tuesday, November 7, 2017

    California should use armored cars to transport hundreds of millions of dollars in cash tax payments expected next year with the state's legal marijuana market, the state treasurer said. The state on Jan. 1 will enter a new era with cannabis when recreational sales become legal and join the long-standing medical industry in what will become the largest U.S. legal pot economy. But the new market estimated to grow to $7 billion annually has a troubling flaw: Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, so most banks won't do business with pot growers, manufacturers or retailers. That means marijuana companies typically operate only in cash, including their tax payments that will be 15 percent of sales to the state of California.

  • Dutch councils queue up for regulated marijuana project

    The government is expected to announce where the trials will take place next year
    Dutch News (Netherlands)
    Tuesday, November 7, 2017

    So far 25 of the Netherlands’ 380 local authorities have come forward to say they wish to take part in trials to regulate marijuana production. The new government plans to set up experiments to grow marijuana in eight to 10 places in the coming years. While officials turn a blind eye to the sale of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, how the drug ends up in licenced coffee shops remains a grey area. Dozens of local authorities have for years argued for licenced production to remove drugs gangs from the entire chain. The local authorities association VNG also recommended regulated production in 2015. (See also: Rotterdam may experiment with "municipal weed" in new cannabis policy)

Page 198 of 471