• Duterte threatens to kill rights activists if drug problem worsens

    He lambasted the United States and the European Union yet again for raising their concern over his threats to kill suspected drug personalities
    The Inquirer (Philippines)
    Tuesday, November 29, 2016

    President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has threatened to kill human rights activists critical of his take-no-prisoner tactic against illegal drugs, which has claimed the lives of some 5,000 people allegedly involved in the narcotics trade. In a speech in Malacañang on Monday night, Duterte said those accusing him of ordering the summary executions of drug personalities should be blamed if the country’s drug problem worsened.

  • Donald Trump adds another marijuana opponent to his Cabinet

    Price is one of the most consistently anti-marijuana members of Congress
    The Washington Post (US)
    Tuesday, November 29, 2016

    President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) as his pick for Health and Human Services secretary, a position that could offer the anti-marijuana legislator more control over medical access to the drug. Although federal regulation of illicit drugs rests primarily with the Justice Department, the HHS secretary holds some powers that could restrict how available marijuana is in states that have legalized it for recreational or medicinal use. For instance, the agency could penalize doctors or sue sellers who work with medical marijuana in those states, since the substance remains illegal under federal law.

  • A brief history of war and drugs: From Vikings to Nazis

    From World War II to Vietnam and Syria, drugs are often as much a part of conflict as bombs and bullets
    Al Jazeera
    Friday, November 25, 2016

    Adolf Hitler was a junkie and the Nazis' narcotics intake gives new meaning to the term 'war on drugs'. But they weren't the only ones. Recent publications have re­vealed that narcotics are as much a part of conflict as bul­lets; often defining wars rather than sitting anecdo­tally on the sidelines of them. In his book Blitzed, German author Norman Ohler describes how the Third Reich was permeated with drugs, including cocaine, heroin and most notably crystal meth, which was used by everyone from soldiers to housewives and factory workers. (See also: A Pill for ISIS Super­soldiers? Not So Fast)

  • Zurich: Patients should have easier access to cannabis

    Authorization is so complicated and overly bureaucratic that many people look to obtain the drug illegally
    The Local (Switzerland)
    Thursday, November 24, 2016

    People who need cannabis for medical reasons should be issued with a special identity card to help them obtain the drug more easily, say authorities in the canton of Zurich. It’s already legal for people to consume cannabis-based products for medical purposes, but they currently require authorization from the Swiss federal health office in order to do so, reported news agencies. Earlier this year authorities in the Swiss capital Bern announced they were supporting the development of a pilot project which would see cannabis sold in pharmacies in the city.

  • Five things to know about weed in Germany

    A look at the basic facts
    The Local (Germany)
    Thursday, November 24, 2016

    germany-cannabis-leaf-flagThe debate about legalizing cannabis continues in Germany - court cases in recent years have granted permission to use the drug for medical purposes, and Germany's health minister hopes to officially expand these rights by 2017. But what else is there to know about the mystical herb in Germany? The amount that an individual can possess without being prosecuted varies across the 16 states. A poll by infratest dimap in 2014 on behalf of the German Hemp Association (DHV) showed that only 30 percent of people believed cannabis should be made completely legal.

  • It's time to decriminalize drugs, commission report says

    Global Commission on Drug Policy’s report calls for end to criminal and civil penalties for possession and use and more research into regulatory models
    The Guardian (UK)
    Monday, November 21, 2016

    In a report released by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, that includes the former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and former presidents of Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, recommended that countries should end civil and criminal penalties for drug use and possession in a report that follows the commission’s sharp criticism of the UN’s lackluster effort to combat drug abuse. Commission member Richard Branson, head of the Virgin group, called the UN’s latest meeting on drug policy “fatally flawed” in April. (See also: 2016 GCDP report press conference)

  • Cannabis authority to grant conditional permits by year end

    Granting of conditional approval means that the CLA would have conducted a satisfactory background check
    Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
    Monday, November 21, 2016

    CLA-logoThe Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) in Jamaica expects to grant conditional licences by the end of the year for the growing and processing of ganja for medicinal and therapeutic purposes and research and development. Chairman of the CLA Board, Hyacinth Lightbourne, told JIS News that the entity has received 89 applications. Of the number, 25 are for cultivating ganja, 18 for processing, 14 are for research and development, eight for transporting, and the remainder are for retailing.

  • Medical marijuana is legal in California. Except when it’s not

    Medical cannabis companies continue to be whipsawed by the lack of state regulations and the federal ban on marijuana
    The New York Times (US)
    Monday, November 21, 2016

    California’s multibillion-dollar marijuana industry, by far the nation’s largest, is crawling out from the underbrush after voters opted to legalize cannabis in this month’s election. In Sonoma County alone, an estimated 9,000 marijuana cultivation businesses are operating in a provisional gray market, with few specific regulations, and are now looking to follow the path of the wine industry, which emerged from its own prohibition eight decades ago and rose to the global prominence it enjoys today.

  • Donald Trump’s attorney general pick could destroy the recreational pot industry

    Although a majority of Americans say they support marijuana legalization when asked by a pollster, that doesn’t mean consider it a political priority
    The Washington Post (US)
    Monday, November 21, 2016

    Attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is a fervent foe of marijuana legalization. But if he were confirmed as President-elect Trump’s top law enforcement official, would he really have any power to put his anti-pot views into practice? To review the postelection state of play, a majority of states have legalized medical marijuana and eight (plus the District of Columbia) have legalized recreational marijuana. But the federal Controlled Substances Act still defines production and sale of marijuana as serious crimes. (See also: Jeff Sessions’s ridiculous anti-drug crusade)

  • Ruling party to support regulated cannabis cultivation after all

    Take cannabis production for coffeeshops out of the criminal circuit and monitor the quality of the product
    NL Times (Netherlands)
    Monday, November 21, 2016

    nl-cannabis-plantationIt seems that ruling party VVD will support regulating cannabis cultivation in the Netherlands. During a VVD conference a vast majority of party members forced the party leaders to change their positition on this issue by voting in a proposal for "smarter regulation" brought by party members. The commitment to "smarter regulation" of cultivation and sales will now appear in the party’s manifesto for the 2017 general election and clears the way for a shift in the policy of the next government, commentators said. (See also: VVD changes sides on marijuana cultivation | Largest Dutch political party wants to overhaul cannabis laws)

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