• Startups seek to cash in on cannabis, but some fear Israel will take a hit

    A proposed law to permit medical marijuana exports to the world is expected to generate a windfall for producers. Could it just be a pipe dream?
    The Times of Israel (Israel)
    Sunday, September 24, 2017

    With green in their eyes, Israeli entrepreneurs have spotted cannabis soon to be growing opportunity, and at least 700 have applied to the Israeli Health Ministry to grow or sell cannabis-related products ahead of the expected approval of a law that would allow the export of medical cannabis. Allowing exports could boost the economy. But law enforcement officials fear more marijuana on the legal market can also seep onto the street where it can end up helping the mob and hurting minors. (See also: Israeli Agriculture Ministry accepts medical marijuana as farming sector)

  • Why marijuana prohibition failed, and how legalization can succeed

    Globe editorial
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    Sunday, September 24, 2017

    Why is Canada legalizing marijuana, and why does the move – if done right – make sense? It's all about harm reduction. Smoking marijuana has real health risks, particularly for young people. But the long-standing ban on the sale of pot isn't addressing them. The drug is widely available and widely used; according to the OECD, Canada has the developed world's highest rate of youth pot use. Prohibition's only real accomplishment is as an unintended industrial strategy, fostering a multibillion-dollar black market. The federal government is ending the criminal ban on pot, but almost everything that happens after that is up to the provinces.

  • Philippines tells UN rights body: No extrajudicial killings

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed dismay over the Philippines’ rejection of recommendations of a UN human rights body on ways to address the country’s drug problems
    The Philippine Star (Philippines)
    Saturday, September 23, 2017

    The Philippine government has denied the existence of extrajudicial killings in the country before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), rejecting several recommendations of member-states to address rights issues. During the session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland, the Philippines said it could only accept 103 of the 257 recommendations made during its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Philippine human rights situation in May. In its statement before the UNHRC, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of the Philippines slammed the government for the creeping culture of impunity in the country. (See also: Deadly drop boxes fuel Philippine’s ‘war on drugs’)

  • How to win a war on drugs

    Portugal treats addiction as a disease, not a crime
    The New York Times (US)
    Friday, September 22, 2017

    Decades ago, the United States and Portugal both struggled with illicit drugs and took decisive action — in diametrically opposite directions. The U.S. cracked down vigorously, spending billions of dollars incarcerating drug users. In contrast, Portugal undertook a monumental experiment: It decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001, even heroin and cocaine, and unleashed a major public health campaign to tackle addiction. Ever since in Portugal, drug addiction has been treated more as a medical challenge than as a criminal justice issue. After more than 15 years, it’s clear which approach worked better. The United States drug policy failed spectacularly.

  • Testing of illicit drugs to be done at Australian event for first time

    ACT agrees to allow pill testing at music festival and harm-minimisation groups hope the rest of the country will follow suit
    The Guardian (UK)
    Friday, September 22, 2017

    The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government has agreed to allow pill testing at a coming music festival, in an effort to reduce deaths and harm to young people taking illicit drugs. It’s the first time the long called for process has been allowed to operate at an Australian event, and harm minimisation advocates have labelled it a win. Safety Testing and Advisory Service at Festivals and Events (STA-Safe) would conduct the drug-testing service at the the Spilt Milk festival on 25 November, the ACT health minister, Meegan Fitzharris, said. The majority of Australians support legal drug-testing. Those attending the festival will be able to take their drugs to the testing site – run by trained professionals and not monitored by police – to find out more about the ingredients.

  • A Zurich, posséder jusqu’à 10 grammes de cannabis n’est plus illégal

    La police cantonale change de pratique et renonce aux amendes d’ordre pour possession de petites quantités de chanvre
    Le Temps (Suisse)
    Jeudi, 21 septembre 2017

    A Zurich, la possession de cannabis en petite quantité à partir de l’âge de 18 ans est désormais légale. Jusqu’ici, un adulte contrôlé avec sur lui jusqu’à 10 grammes de stupéfiants était passible d’une amende d’ordre de 100 francs. Mais une récente décision du Tribunal fédéral conduit les autorités zurichoises à «adapter ses pratiques», indique la police cantonale dans un communiqué.  La possession de cannabis pour sa propre consommation n’est pas punissable en dessous de 10 grammes, précise le TF en substance, se basant sur l’article 19b de la loi sur les stupéfiants (LStup). (Keine Verfahren mehr wegen Besitzes einer kleinen Menge Cannabis)

  • Di Rupo lance une expérience scientifique et médicale sur le cannabis

    Deux cents participants montois seront recrutés
    SudInfo (Belgique)
    Jeudi, 21 septembre 2017

    En marge de la proposition de loi déposée à la chambre par le parti socialiste visant un modèle belge de réglementation du cannabis, le président Elio Di Rupo, bourgmestre de Mons, a soumis un texte à l'approbation du comité d'éthique en vue de créer un Cannabis Social Club (CSC) par "la seule voie légale possible", rapporte le quotidien La Dernière Heure. La création d'un CSC sur le territoire montois s'inscrit "dans le cadre d'une expérience médicale et scientifique avec un très fort contrôle gouvernemental et une réglementation stricte". L'expérience sera testée avec 200 participants encadrée par des acteurs de prévention, de la santé, des universités, du ministère de la santé, de l'agence fédérale des médicaments et des produits de Santé (AFMPS). (Lire aussi: Mons: le Cannabis Social Club illégal selon le Parquet)

  • Near majority of Canadians back legal pot but it doesn’t look like a vote-getter in 2019: poll

    'We certainly see it’s not a vote-getter among Conservatives or NDP, or even Green Party [supporters],' says Campaign Research CEO Eli Yufest
    The Hill Times (Canada)
    Thursday, September 21, 2017

    Canadians are divided on legalizing recreational marijuana, with nearly half supporting the sale and distribution of the illicit substance, however most say it won’t influence whether they vote Liberal in 2019, according to a new poll. The Campaign Research survey, conducted Sept. 8 to 11, found that 49 per cent of respondents approved legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in 2018, as proposed by the Liberal government, with another 39 per cent disapproving. The numbers are largely in line with the results of a Campaign Research poll in April when 50 per cent approved and 38 per cent disapproved.

  • Jeff Sessions’s evidence-free crime strategy

    The emerging Department of Justice crime-control strategy is a criminologist’s nightmare
    The Hill (US)
    Wednesday, September 20, 2017

    Over the last thirty years researchers, law enforcement leaders and communities have pushed for smarter, better violence prevention — spurred in large part by the incredible violence and community destruction of the crack era, and the utter failure of existing approaches to do anything about it. It’s paid dividends. We now know a lot about what works and what doesn’t. Innovative strategies have law enforcement, community leaders and service providers sit down face-to-face with gang members and drug dealers, emphasize that the community hates the violence, offer to help anybody who wants it and explain the legal risks that come with violence. The result can be dramatic reductions in both violence and enforcement.

  • Legalization of cannabis proposed

    The focus point of the bill is the decriminalization of production, sales, and consumption of cannabis alongside the minimum cannabis use age of 20 years
    Iceland Review (Iceland)
    Wednesday, September 20, 2017

    Pawel Bartoszek, a member of Parliament for Viðreisn (The Reform Party) has proposed a bill for the legalization of cannabis in Iceland. The proposed bill will put in place a framework of rules about the production, sales, and handling of cannabis products alongside a general decriminalization of cannabis use. Pawel released a statement earlier today on his website Pawel.is where it came to light that the Parliament member will open the handling of the case. The bill is based on the handbook How to Regulate Cannabis: A Practical Guide that is released on behalf of Transform. (See also: Drug decriminalization debated)

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