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German SPD representatives confident a solution to international legal hurdles will be found
One of the key discussion points of the session was the recently highlighted potential breaches of European law
Business Cann
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Earlier this month news broke of recent analysis conducted by the Bundestag’s scientific service suggested the creation of a legal recreational cannabis market could contravene a number of European treaties which Germany had signed. While many commentators were quick to point out that this was nothing new, the news reinvigorated debate and scrutiny surrounding the progress of Germany’s ambitious cannabis project following a period of relative radio silence from the Government. Days later, two members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) made the unusual step of hosting an Instagram Live session to provide insight on how discussions were developing within their party, one of the three that form the German coalition government. -
Recreational marijuana use in Australia could be legalised by federal parliament, Greens say
Party says commonwealth regulation of cultivation, licensing and sale of cannabis would override state and territory laws
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, September 26, 2022
Federal parliament could override state laws to legalise recreational marijuana use in Australia, according to new constitutional advice obtained by the Greens. As the minor party ramps up its campaign to legalise cannabis ahead of a planned private member’s bill to be introduced next year, the Greens’ justice spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said the advice from constitutional lawyer Patrick Keyzer paved the way for new federal laws. The Greens say that empowering the commonwealth to regulate the cultivation, licensing and sale of cannabis – including the measures needed to create a legal national cannabis market – would override state and territory laws criminalising marijuana. (See also: ‘Staring people in the face’: The 22-year-old case to legalise cannabis) -
Government needs to speed up cannabis law reform, say protesters
“We’ve been given the constitutional right to grow and consume it, but we haven’t been given the right to trade with it”
GroundUp (South Africa)
Monday, September 19, 2022
Various groups protested on the lawns of the Union Buildings over the slow pace and haphazard approach to cannabis law reform and regulation in South Africa.Under the umbrella of the Cannabis Mass Action Committee a memorandum of demands was handed to a representative of the office of The President. Cannabis legalisation and regulation, necessary to unlock the industry and change lives, is “disjointed, unfocused, and taking too long”, it says. In 2018 the Constitutional Court declared that certain sections of the Drugs Act and Medicines Act were unconstitutional and gave Parliament 24 months to fix the defects. Some progress has been made in the drafting of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, but no actual legislation has been passed in four years since the ruling.
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Could Germany’s impending cannabis legalization prop up Canada’s flagging producers?
Legislation could ban Germany from importing Canadian-grown cannabis, fundraising remains a challenge for Canadian producers and legalization could still be years away
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Sunday, September 18, 2022
First-mover advantage: It’s a phrase long used by Canadian cannabis companies that have spent billions of dollars to accelerate their international sprawl since legalization in 2018. But as Germany moves to open its adult-use market, it remains unclear to what degree Canada’s early start will help its companies succeed abroad. While medical cannabis has been legal since 2017, Germany would be the first country in the European Union to legalize the drug for recreational use. As Europe’s largest economy with nearly double Canada’s population, Germany’s recreational market is expected to quickly outpace domestic demand. With the prospect of a new cash source in grasp, Canadian companies are jostling to position themselves to capitalize on the new opportunity. -
Golding promises special treatment for small farmers, Rastas, Maroons in ganja industry
The next PNP government will make the ganja industry fully inclusive
Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Small farmers, the Maroons and Rastafarians are to be given special treatment in the ganja industry whenever the People’s National Party (PNP) next forms the Government in Jamaica. That commitment was given by PNP President Mark Golding at the party’s 84th Annual Conference at the National Arena. He said it was time for Jamaica to move beyond decriminalisation of the weed. “The potential of this industry is vast but the Government does not seem to understand or believe in it. Time come to proactively empower and include small farmers in the ganja industry. They’re the ones who built and protected our knowledge system around ganja over a century of prohibition enforced by international interests,” Golding remarked. -
Pirates are preparing to legalize marijuana. Progress cannot be stopped even in the Czech Republic
Pirates cooperate with Vobořil, with the state
Aktuálně (Czech Republic)
Friday, September 16, 2022
The Pirates are fulfilling one of their pre-election promises. Pirates MPs prepared a bill on the legalization of cannabis in cooperation with the national anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil, an expert the government should trust. The amendment to the drug law wants to make it possible to legally grow up to five plants and keep with you up to 1,250 grams of dry matter. The legalization of licensed sales is also expected. Vobořil already said in June that he is discussing this fundamental change with Petr Fiala (ODS): “We agreed with the Prime Minister that there is a need to respond to the fact that in Germany they are planning to introduce a regulated cannabis market by the end of the year. There are around a hundred companies in the Czech Republic that would like to enter the hemp market. These companies could then export hemp.” -
What's the deal with those ‘Dispenseroo’ weed adverts across London?
An illegal weed business in the UK which stuck hundreds of unauthorised adverts on London’s Tube trains tells VICE World News it is now selling £50,000 worth of cannabis products a week
Vice (UK)
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Cannabis dealers who stuck hundreds of unauthorised adverts on London's Tube trains say they are now swamped with orders and have more guerrilla marketing tactics up their sleeve. Dispenseroo, a cannabis selling start-up which mimics the branding of online food delivery giant Deliveroo, said over the last three weeks it had put up 2,500 adverts on London Underground trains. The posters, which were clipped or glued into advert panels by 10 workers employed via job site Gumtree, said: “Do you love 🍃? Use code ‘tube’ for £5 off,” alongside the Dispenseroo hashtag. Transport for London confirmed the posters were unauthorised and said it was removing any found on the network. -
Pirates: Legal marijuana could generate up to CZK 1.8 billion in taxes
If the Czech Republic manages to start a regulated market together with the German one, it will mean huge opportunities for our economy in the area of exports
Radio Prague (Czech Republic)
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Legalizing marijuana would bring the Czech state between CZK 650 million and CZK 1.8 billion in tax revenue, according to an analysis commissioned by the Pirate Party, which was presented on Wednesday. The study proposes various options for regulating the marijuana market, including mandatory registration of users. The register would make it possible to regulate the amount per month that can be purchased, or to check that the age of shoppers is over 18. It also aims to regulate the black market and restrict minors’ access to cannabis. The Pirate Party plans to present the study to its government coalition partners next week. (See also: The legalization of cannabis would bring in up to 1.8 billion, the Pirates claim) -
Vobořil is looking for support for the regulated legal sale of cannabis
Vobořil, he wants to fine-tune whether the proposal will be submitted by the government or the deputies
Novinky (Czech Republic)
Monday, September 12, 2022
The new model of cannabis regulation in the Czech Republic envisages controlled sales in specialized branches, the liberalization of the use of cannabis and, in small quantities, also the cultivation of plants. According to Vobořil, it offers greater tools of control than dysfunctional prohibition. At the same time, he wants to bring an elaborate program protecting users from risks, as well as billions to the state budget. "I would first like to agree on the basis of the political spectrum in order to be authorized to prepare the proposal. I would like to create a working group so that the wording of the paragraphs is created and the reasoned report is created by the end of the year," he told Právu. -
Germany’s move to legalise cannabis slows over fears of clash with EU laws
New ‘degree of caution’ in coalition government over promises of breakthrough before end of this year
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, September 12, 2022
Legal hurdles are slowing down German plans to allow the controlled distribution of cannabis among adults, with fears that a badly crafted law to legalise the drug could be thrown out by the European court of justice. In the initial debate around legalising cannabis in Germany, the main obstacle identified was the UN 1961 single convention on narcotic drugs, whose obligations Canada and Uruguay ignored when they took steps to legalise the drug. Now, however, Berlin increasingly sees the convention as the smaller challenge as the binding nature of various European laws has come into focus. A Council of the European Union framework decision from 2004, for example, requires member states to ensure that the sale of drugs including cannabis are “punishable by effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal penalties”.
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