• Toronto marijuana arrests reveal ‘startling’ racial divide

    Toronto police data obtained by the Star breaks down arrests by neighbourhood and shows disproportionate numbers for Black people when it comes to pot possession charges
    The Toronto Star (Canada)
    Thursday, July 6, 2017

    Black people with no history of criminal convictions have been three times more likely to be arrested by Toronto police for possession of small amounts of marijuana than white people with similar backgrounds. They’ve also been more likely to be detained for bail, the data shows. The disparity is largely due to targeting of Black people by Toronto police, according to criminologists and defence lawyers interviewed by the Star, who note that surveys show little difference in marijuana use between Black and white people. Anthony Morgan, a human rights lawyer and community activist, called the statistics “another example of the failed war on drugs.”

  • Blow for cannabis cafes as numbers continue to decline

    Closures were partly due to the city council imposing stricter criteria
    Dutch News (Netherlands)
    Tuesday, July 4, 2017

    The number of ‘coffeeshops’ in the Netherlands is continuing to fall but the closure rate has slowed, new official figures show. Last year there were 573 outlets licensed to sell cannabis, 18 fewer than two years earlier and 41 less than the number in 2012. The figures showed that Amsterdam accounts for 173 of all coffeeshops, or 30% of the total. Rotterdam had 40 outlets, The Hague 36 and Utrecht 10. Amsterdam had one coffeeshop for every 4,907 residents, a far higher concentration than any of the other 102 municipalities which license cannabis cafes. (See also: Big Dutch banks, brewers and housing corporations have cannabis cafe interests | Amsterdam’s ‘oldest’ cannabis cafe closes because of school rule)

  • Greece legalises medicinal cannabis

    The move is a particularly significant one for Greece, given the country's restrictive drug laws which have a long history dating back to 1890
    Neos Kosmos (Greece)
    Monday, July 3, 2017

    greece cannabis demoGreece's parliament has announced that cannabis is effectively legal for medicinal purposes. "From now on, the country is turning its page, as Greece is now included in countries where the delivery of medical cannabis to patients in need is legal," said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. While there has yet to be an announcement regarding licensing, as part of the change it is expected that the state will have the right to give licenses for cultivation of medicinal cannabis. Once the framework for cultivation has been completed, Prime Minister Tsipras said that the importation of cannabis-based medicines will be permitted.

  • Leafing Las Vegas: recreational marijuana goes on sale in Nevada

    Five states now allow sale of drug for recreational use
    The Guardian (UK)
    Saturday, July 1, 2017

    Nevada has become the fifth state in the US selling marijuana for recreational purposes, opening a market that is expected to outpace any other in the nation thanks to the millions of tourists who flock to Las Vegas. People began purchasing marijuana in the state shortly after midnight on Saturday. Voters approved legalization in November, making Nevada’s the fastest turnaround from the ballot box to retail sales in the US. Those 21 and older with a valid ID can buy up to 1oz of pot. Tourists are expected to make nearly two of every three recreational purchases in Nevada, but people can only use the drug in a private home. (See also: Las Vegas adds a new lure to its repertoire as Nevada legalizes pot | Nevada rushes to address shortage of newly legalized marijuana)

  • United Nations and World Health Organisation call for drugs to be decriminalised

    But member states still want narcotics to be illegal
    The Independent (UK)
    Saturday, July 1, 2017

    decrim unodc transformThe United Nations and World Health Organisation have issued a call for drugs to be decriminalised. Buried in a joint release on ending healthcare discrimination, the organisations called for the “reviewing and repealing punitive laws that have been proven to have negative health outcomes” by member states. Among a number of measures, this included “drug use or possession of drugs for personal use”. While the WHO has previously called for drugs to be decriminalised in the context of HIV reduction, the UN has limited its calls to health- and evidence-based solutions to drug abuse.

  • What’s the deal with cannabis in Hong Kong?

    Police seizures of cannabis have recently been rising
    South China Morning Post (China)
    Saturday, July 1, 2017

    The use or sale of cannabis is banned in Hong Kong under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, which came into effect in 1969. Any person who cultivates any plant of the genus cannabis faces a HK$100,000 fine and 15 years in prison. In 1994, two top High Court judges said cannabis should be decriminalised because the law was doing little to stem drug use. Police seizures of cannabis have recently been rising. Officers have been specifically targeting those manufacturing cannabis. On May 16, police made their biggest seizure of cannabis plants since at least 1990 during raids on two factory units that were turned into indoor marijuana farms.

  • It's time to end SA's war on drugs

    Drugs have destroyed many lives, but wrongheaded governmental policies have destroyed many more, argue experts
    Bhekisisa (South Africa)
    Thursday, June 29, 2017

    Bluetooth nyaope, dagga, dealers and associated rhetoric often dominate the headlines on the issue of drug use. The supply and consumption of drugs — legal or illegal — is blamed for all manner of social ills, including crime, unemployment, corruption and the “moral decay” of communities. Meanwhile, political campaigns promise the unreachable dream of a “drug-free” community. In this context, human rights violations against people who use drugs and militarised approaches to policing, such as police carrying automated weapons when they raid drug dens and cordoning off whole communities to “search for drugs”, are often considered justified.

  • Catalonia legalises marijuana consumption, cultivation and distribution

    Spain's federal government could look to challenge Catalonia's legalisation
    The Independent (UK)
    Thursday, June 29, 2017

    The Parliament of Catalonia has approved the creation of a legal framework for regulating the cultivation, distribution, and consumption of cannabis in a regulated framework for cannabis social clubs (CSCs), making the autonomous Spanish region the latest to loosen restrictions on use of the drug. The cultivation, consumption and distribution of cannabis will be permitted for members of designated clubs. The new law - which originated as a citizens' legislative initiative that gained the requisite 50,000 signatures to be debated in parliament – aims to reduce potential risks of the trade and consumption of cannabis by introducing regulations on its production and distribution. (See also: Catalonia legalises cannabis cultivation and distribution)

  • ‘Swiss marijuana champion’ finds new markets with ‘cannabis light’

    CBD cannabis stores are cropping up across Switzerland
    Swissinfo (Switzerland)
    Wednesday, June 28, 2017

    Werner BöschThere’s decaffeinated coffee, alcohol-free beer, and now marijuana that doesn’t make you high. The product known as “cannabis light” or “CBD cannabis” is sold in many Swiss shops, generates millions of Swiss francs in sales and has stirred up a legislative debate. In Switzerland, there is now a ban on growing, selling or consuming cannabis with a THC content of over 1%. Above this limit, cannabis is considered to be a narcotic. Possession of the drug up to a maximum of 10 grammes is punished with a fine of CHF100. However, it has been legally possible to sell cannabis with a THC content of less than 1% since 2011, the year the new federal law on narcotics entered into force. A producer reveals the hidden side of the market.

  • Big Dutch banks, brewers and housing corporations have cannabis cafe interests

    The coffee shop turnover is estimated to total some €1bn a year
    Dutch News (Netherlands)
    Wednesday, June 28, 2017

    The four biggest Dutch banks – Rabobank, ING, ABN Amro and Volksbank (formerly SNS) – have lent cannabis cafe owners some €1.1bn using 170 coffee shops as security. The figures come from a research project carried out by the Financieele Dagblad and investigative website Investico which looked at connections between Dutch firms, entrepreneurs and the public sector, and the cannabis industry. The research shows that brewers such as Heineken and AB InBev have lent money to people active in the sector while 46 of the country’s 570 coffee shops are located in property run by a housing cooperation. Earlier research suggests around 25% of coffee shops have links to organised crime. (See also: Rotterdam mayor wants to sell cannabis cafe licences to highest bidder)

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