• Israel moves to decriminalize marijuana use

    Law enforcement agencies should have means other than criminal prosecution to deal with marijuana users
    Haaretz (Israel)
    Thursday, January 26, 2017

    Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announces support for new policy for enforcing marijuana use, which favors fines and educational initiatives, with criminal prosecution only as a last resort. The minister said he is adopting the conclusions of a panel he tasked with reviewing the matter. The panel recommended giving a 1,000-shekel ($265) fine to anyone caught using marijuana for the first time, with the offence not going on his criminal record. The new policy would still require the cabinet's approval because it should be coordinated with other government ministries, Erdan said. (See also: Israel to decriminalise personal use of cannabis)

  • High time for change: Flemish academics make case for legal marijuana

    With cannabis use on the rise in Belgium, a trio of academics argue that a regulated legalisation of marijuana is more beneficial than criminalising its use
    Flanders Today (Belgium)
    Thursday, January 26, 2017

    The simple realisation that federal drug policies are failing is what motivated the three academics – Paul De Grauwe, Jan Tytgat and Tom Decorte, each of whom have studied drug use in their respective disciplines – to get together. They make a coolly rational plea for the regulated legalisation of marijuana in their new book Cannabis onder controle, hoe? (Cannabis Under Control, How?), in which they set out a scenario for regulated small-scale cannabis cultivation for personal use, cultivation and use in cannabis social clubs and provision of medicinal cannabis to patients. This would be part of drug policies that would remain centrally focused on medical assistance, prevention and raising awareness.

  • How one innocent man fell in Rodrigo Duterte's drug war in the Philippines

    The president's popularity still hovers above 60 per cent
    The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
    Wednesday, January 25, 2017

    philippines human rightsThe police confirmed this week that the number of Filipinos killed in the crackdown that began when Mr Duterte took office on June 30 has now surpassed 7000 – an average of more than 30 deaths a day. Mr Duterte, a foul-mouthed former provincial mayor, has shrugged off international condemnation of the killings and scuttled a Senate probe into the deaths as an army of internet trolls harass, intimidate and threaten critics who question the crackdown's logic or legality.

  • How Santos’ new peace deal aggravated Colombia’s drug war

    Colombia’s renegotiated peace deal shows that the “war on drugs” will be hard to dismantle
    Americas Quarterly (US)
    Wednesday, January 25, 2017

    The chapter devoted to “solving the drug problem” in the first version of President Santos’ peace agreement was far from perfect. But it was the first time that a peace accord had included a section that addressed all aspects of the illicit drug phenomenon. The initial version also provided for methods such as voluntary eradication of coca crops, a consultation process with peasant communities to jointly define with the government a substitution plan, and the decriminalization of drug use. The new agreement, by contrast, attempted to appease some early opponents by reintroducing the option of forced eradication of coca and limiting the consultation process with coca-growing communities.

  • Preston’s first cannabis club to challenge Home Office

    Britain now has around 60 cannabis clubs
    Lancashire Post (UK)
    Wednesday, January 25, 2017

    mike dobsonMike Dobson, a self-confessed cannabis user for 25 years, is seeking a judicial review following the Home Office’s refusal to issue a licence to allow Preston Cannabis Club members to possess up to half an ounce of cannabis a week without prosecution. Cannabis is a Grade B illegal drug and it’s against the law to carry even a small amount. Mike and his fellow club directors are seeking a judicial review after their application for a licence to supply cannabis to club members was rejected by the Home Office. If it fails he could be back in jail – a second charge against him for cultivating cannabis has been adjourned pending the review’s outcome. (See also: UK’s Cannabis Social Clubs come of age)

  • Georgia eases draconian law on cannabis use in landmark ruling

    Campaigners welcome relaxation of rules on possession but face stiff opposition on efforts to overhaul country’s drugs policy
    The Guardian (UK)
    Tuesday, January 24, 2017

    Until recently anyone caught with cannabis twice in 12 months in Georgia faced up to 14 years behind bars. Today you can carry enough for over 200 joints, after the constitutional court in effect decriminalised possession of the drug. The landmark ruling follows the case of 27-year-old Beka Tsikarishvili who was arrested in 2013 with 65 grams of cannabis, which he said was for his own use. Facing a long sentence, he argued imprisonment was unlawful because it infringed his human dignity. (See also: Georgia: Innovation, advocacy and drug decriminalization | Georgia court rules in favour of cannabis possession, but will it make a difference?)

  • Tourist boom for ayahuasca a mixed blessing for Amazon

    Short supply of plant has led to uptake in commercial planting, use of dangerous alternatives and fears of deforestation
    The Guardian (UK)
    Tuesday, January 24, 2017

    Surging consumption from foreigners has seen the cost of the DMT-rich brew skyrocket, a familiar situation for locals already struggling to afford quinoa prices because of western demand. Demand is such that even in the ayahuasca trail’s more traditional jungle heartland of Iquitos, shamans are having to reach out further and further into the wild to cater to tourists. Exacerbating the situation is overseas demand – with ayahuasca retreats springing up everywhere from Canada to Turkey, a largely unregulated export market has developed. (See also: Ayahuasca: From the Amazon to the Global Village)

  • Delays in Uruguay marijuana law leave door ajar for drug trafficking

    InSight Crime
    Monday, January 23, 2017

    Three years after Uruguay became the first South American country to create a legal market for marijuana, seven out of every ten cannabis consumers still acquire the product on the black market. The delays in the implementation of the legalization law have left the door open for drug trafficking, and it appears that the illegal marijuana trade will remain a lucrative business for at least the near future. Marijuana was initially to be sold legally in pharmacies and under the government's purview beginning in July 2016. But faced with reluctance from small business owners as well as other unforeseen events, President Tabaré Vázquez' administration was forced to push back the date to some point in 2017.

  • Gangs less involved in cannabis compared with other drugs: Statscan

    The data contradicts common RCMP wisdom that organized crime groups play a large role in Canada’s underground cannabis trade
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    Monday, January 23, 2017

    Canada’s organized crime groups and gangs are much less likely to produce and traffic marijuana than they are other illicit drugs such as cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, according to a new federal study that tracked drug violations from police forces in four cities across three provinces. The new report from Statistics Canada analyzed all drug-related violations over a two-year period in Victoria, Vancouver, Regina and Waterloo, Ont., and found that police linked organized crime to 39 per cent of all cannabis-trafficking charges and 6 per cent of cases involving the production of marijuana.

  • Why Germany just legalized medical marijuana

    The German parliament (Bundestag) passed a law that officially makes marijuana legal for medicinal purposes
    The Local (Germany)
    Thursday, January 19, 2017

    Patients in Germany suffering from serious illness, such as multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, serious appetite loss or nausea from chemotherapy, will now be able to receive prescriptions from their doctors for medical marijuana. "Seriously ill people must be treated in the best ways possible," said Health Minister Hermann Gröhe, who proposed the law. The new law will expand the amount of patients and eventually allow cannabis products to be grown under state supervision. Private producers could also apply, but the requirements for approval would be very strict.

Page 236 of 471