• How the war on drugs fueled the fentanyl crisis

    The campaign to cut off heroin supplies has encouraged the growth of labs producing the opioid. We need to instead embrace a public health approach
    The Guardian (UK)
    Tuesday, August 29, 2017

    A staggering 59,000 people died of drug overdose in 2016 according to a recent New York Times analysis. Annual overdose deaths in the US have already surpassed those inflicted by Aids at its peak. Sparked by big pharma’s criminal mismarketing of opioid painkillers, the overdose epidemic rages to new heights with the increasing street presence of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a fully synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than heroin. Without an immediate massive investment in harm reduction and treatment, this toll will only worsen, even if the specter of carfentanil, a synthetic opioid 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, is held at bay. (See also: Fentanyl drives rise in opioid-linked deaths in U.S.)

  • How Anti-Mafia laws could bring down legal pot

    RICO laws were written to combat organized crime kingpins – but now they're being used against state-legal marijuana businesses
    Rolling Stone (US)
    Monday, August 28, 2017

    Earlier this summer, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado decided that the "noxious odors" from a pot farm could be lowering nearby property values and creating a nuisance. The decision came out of a civil suit by the farm's neighbors under federal racketeering law, and could set a landmark precedent. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and this decision makes clear that private citizens can now circumvent state law and do what Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants but has yet to do: challenge the legitimacy of states and businesses participating in legalization.

  • Ottawa rejects expert calls to decriminalize illegal opioids

    The federal response to increasing opioid deaths includes a commitment to harm reduction, facilitating access to supervised consumption sites and making naloxone available without prescription
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    Monday, August 28, 2017

    Ottawa says it has no plans to consider decriminalizing hard drugs, such as heroin, despite calls from local politicians, health officials and experts who argue such radical action is needed to combat the overdose epidemic that first hit British Columbia and is now a national crisis. Vancouver's mayor became the latest person to advocate for this shift in drug policy after new statistics showed his city had already surpassed last year's overdose death toll of 231 people. But a spokesperson for federal Health Minister Jane Philpott says Canada is focused on legalizing cannabis not decriminalizing other, more deadly illicit drugs. (See also: Harm reduction workers call on Ontario to declare emergency over opioid crisis)

  • Green gold: how China quietly grew into a cannabis superpower

    Plantations are flourishing thanks to Chinese-developed hybrid species that have not just survived but thrived in the country’s disparate environments
    South China Morning Post (China)
    Sunday, August 27, 2017

    Hemp farm in ChinaThanks to government support and a long tradition, China has quietly become a superpower in hemp production and research. This growth has in part been made possible by government-funded scientists who study the plant’s military uses, including as medication and fabric for uniforms. As a result of that research, more than half of the world’s 600-plus patents related to the plant are now held in China, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation. This has prompted concerns in the Western pharmaceutical industry that the Chinese government or Chinese firms might take advantage of the patent barriers.

  • Pot was flying off the shelves in Uruguay. Then U.S. banks weighed in

    Afraid of losing access to the American banking system, Uruguayan banks warned pharmacies that their accounts would be shut down
    The New York Times (US)
    Friday, August 25, 2017

    The pharmacies selling pot were doing a brisk business. After Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana sales for recreational use last month, some of the pharmacies struggled to keep up with the demand. Then came the stern letters from American banks. The letters immediately sent officials in Uruguay scrambling to make sense of the Patriot Act and other American laws that could doom an essential part of their country’s new marijuana market. American banks, including Bank of America, said that they would stop doing business with banks in Uruguay that provide services for those state-controlled sales.

  • Is Canada ready for legal marijuana?

    The challenge for anyone wanting to go legal is getting a license to do so
    The New York Times (US)
    Thursday, August 24, 2017

    The Canadian government is expected to legalize recreational marijuana by July 2018, in large part to put an end to the extensive and enduring black market for the drug on which currently illicit growers like Michael have thrived. Canadian businesses are anticipating a windfall. A 2016 Deloitte report estimated the legal Canadian marijuana market will be worth $18 billion annually. Far from bemoaning the potential end to his livelihood, Michael says he cannot wait for marijuana to be legalized. “We all want to transition to legal,” Michael said. “I want to do this without looking over my shoulder all the time. I want regulation and quality control. I want to pay taxes.”

  • Schützt die Jugend – legalisiert Cannabis!

    Ein progressiver Zeitgeist und positive Erfahrungen im Ausland: Die Voraussetzungen für eine Entkriminalisierung des Haschkonsums sind gut. Profitieren würden nicht nur erwachsene Kiffer
    Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland)
    Thursday, August 24, 2017

    Dass eine grosse Mehrheit des Stimmvolks vor bald zehn Jahren nichts von einer Legalisierung wissen wollte, darf kein Grund sein für eine Arbeitsverweigerung unserer Politiker. Gerade in gesellschaftspolitischen Fragen kann die Stimmung relativ rasch umschlagen. Eine repräsentative Umfrage von Sucht Schweiz hat kürzlich ergeben, dass zwei Drittel der Bevölkerung einer Cannabis-Legalisierung zustimmen würden, wenn der Konsum für Minderjährige und Autofahrer verboten bliebe. Solche Zahlen sollten den Verfechtern einer fortschrittlichen Drogenpolitik den nötigen Mumm geben. An die Arbeit!

  • 'Please stop!' Brutal killing of a student in Philippines drug war sparks nationwide anger

    Three government bodies have opened investigations into the murky police killing of Kian Delos Santos and president admits police may have abused law
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, August 23, 207

    The killing of a 17-year-old student in the Philippines has sparked nationwide protest and multiple government investigations, moves which many hope could signal a reassessment of the country’s war on drugs that has left an estimated 5,500 people dead. Kian Delos Santos was dragged from his home in Caloocan, on the outskirts of Manila, and allegedly murdered by police under the guise of a raid on drug pushers. The killing has sparked mass protests and triggered several government agencies to launch investigations.

  • Uruguay finds no banks for the bongs

    The country's legalization of the cultivation, sale and consumption of marijuana runs afoul of the U.S. Treasury
    Bloomberg (US)
    Tuesday, August 22, 2017

    Understated and simpatico, former Uruguayan president Jose Mujica isn't easily rattled. Just don't mess with his reefer. That was the message from Montevideo last week when a state-owned lender, Banco Republica, followed several private banks in shutting down accounts of clients who deposited money from marijuana sales -- a direct blow to the Mujica era's marquee policy of making Uruguay the first country to legalize the smoking, growing and selling of marijuana nationwide. U.S. banks, including their correspondent banks abroad, are therefore banned from dealing in proceeds from the sales or finance of the marijuana business.

  • Decriminalise kratom, make it an energy drink: doctor

    There is evidence kratom has been used as a herb by Thais since ancient times
    The Nation (Thailand)
    Tuesday, August 22, 2017

    kratomA leading traditional medicine practitioner has renewed calls for kratom to be removed from the list of banned narcotics and said it could be used to make energy drinks. Dr Supaporn Pitiporn, head of the herb product development project at Chaopraya Abhaiphubejhr Hospital, said the benefits of kratom outweigh its drawbacks. Supaporn made the recommendation in an article she wrote that was posted online. Last week, Narcotics Control Board secretary general Sirinya Sittichai said the Narcotic Crops Survey and Monitoring Institute is studying how many kratom tree families should be allowed to grow.

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