• Dutch police dismantle nearly 16 marijuana plantations a day

    Tracking marijuana producers has become a cat and mouse game between criminals and the police
    Dutch News (Netherlands)
    Thursday, July 21, 2016

    The police dismantled 5,856 marijuana plantations last year, or nearly 16 a day, according to NRC newspaper. Police estimate this is only one fifth of the total. In 2014, police busted about 6,000 marijuana cultivation sites. John Jespers, who heads the police marijuana team, said it would be an illusion to think that the police would be able to discover all the plantations. Detecting the plantations has become more difficult because growers are increasingly using special tents to hide the heat and smell. (See also: Empty barns popular with drugs gangs, farmers regularly approached | Dutch police raided nearly 6,000 cannabis grows last year, still can’t keep up)

  • Cannabis bill skips committee stage, directly to House floor

    Center-right files 1,700 amendments in bid to bog it down
    ANSA (Italy)
    Thursday, July 21, 2016

    A bill to legalize cannabis will go to the Lower House, the justice and social affairs committees decided when presented with 1,700 amendments. Most were filed by the conservative Popular Area (AP) caucus made up of the small New Center Right (NCD) party and the small centrist UDC party. The NCD is a junior ally in Premier Matteo Renzi's left-right government coalition. The amendments will likely be refiled, which means the bill won't be voted on until September. (According to a survey by IPSOS, over 70% of Italians believe that the country should implement a model of marijuana regulation. See also: Italy will debate a proposal to legalize cannabis)

  • Government could make $150 million annually from taxing cannabis

    The report noted that "drug reform isn't a particularly radical idea these days"
    Stuff (New Zealand)
    Wednesday, July 20, 2016

    Decriminalising cannabis would generate money for the Government and ease pressure on New Zealand's courts according to an informal Treasury report. The documents obtained under the Official Information Act by Nelson lawyer Sue Grey came from an internal Treasury forum "to test policy thinking on a range of issues in the public domain," Finance Minister Bill English said. The documents reveal Government spends about $400 million annually enforcing prohibition whereas decriminalisation would generate about $150m in revenue from taxing cannabis. Moreover, it said reforming drug policies would "ease pressure on the justice sector, and lead to fewer criminal convictions for youth and Maori".

  • Khat and its changing politics in Kenya and Somalia after UK ban

    A global perspective might suggest that the anti-khat sentiment so evident among the Somali diaspora in Europe has won out
    The Conversation (UK)
    Tuesday, July 19, 2016

    khat treeIn 2014 the UK banned khat, the stimulant stems and leaves of the tree Catha edulis. This move brought to an end the weekly importation into London’s Heathrow of about 56 tonnes of the commodity. Most had been grown on farms in Kenya’s Nyambene Hills in Meru County. An estimated £12.7 million was remitted to Kenya from the UK for this trade in 2010 alone. The loss of this income has had adverse economic effects in those parts of the growing regions that had been reliant on the UK market. While prohibitions are being introduced in other countries too, in Kenya the British ban has actually served to make the substance more respectable and secure in status. But with its last major international market of Somalia threatened, the fate of this international pariah crop is far from certain.

  • Marijuana task force faces ‘fascinating journey’ in crafting legal framework

    Members of the committee state they are approaching the debate with an open mind
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    Monday, July 18, 2016

    The government called on former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan to lead a nine-member task force on marijuana legalization and regulation. She was hired because of her political know-how and the expertise she gained as a minister of health, justice and public safety in the 1990s and 2000s. The panel will provide its findings to the government and the public by November, with new legislation to come in the spring of 2017. The background of the nine members on the panel suggests they will recommend a regime that will be more restrictive than liberal.

  • Soaring prison population prompts Thailand to re-think 'lost' drug war

    Institute for Criminal Policy Research data showed Thailand has the eighth highest incarceration rate in the world
    Reuters (UK)
    Monday, July 18, 2016

    thailand-prisonMore than a decade after Thailand declared a "war on drugs", the country is admitting defeat. As the prison population soars, Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya is looking at changes to the country's draconian drug laws. "I want to de-classify methamphetamine but Thailand is not ready yet," said Paiboon, meaning downgrading the drug, popularly known as "meth", from a Category 1 substance, which would reduce jail time for possession or dealing. Thailand has approximately 40 percent of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' prison population, despite having only 10 percent of the bloc's total population.

  • The goal of legalized cannabis shouldn’t be corporate gold

    The focus should not be on the mode of distribution and who will reap the economic benefit
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    July 15, 2016

    As the government crawls towards legalization with the appointment of a task force, my tempered enthusiasm has started to wane, replaced by dismay. I see countless interested parties and stakeholders lining up to cash in on cannabis dollars. Canada has a tradition of overregulation and one can already sense that the government is poised to place a myriad of restrictions on production and distribution. The more complex the regulatory framework, the more likely the market will be overrun by multinational corporations, Crown agencies and the heroes of big business. If excluded from the new market, the underground will continue to flourish. If the fallback position is that anyone who does not comply with the rules of the market must be dealt with by the criminal justice system, then we have not achieved legalization.

  • The goal of legalized cannabis shouldn’t be corporate gold

    Fixation on economic issues and models of distribution has obscured the basic justification for promoting legalization as a sound policy choice for Canada
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    Friday, July 15, 2016

    canada-pot-flag5Canada has a tradition of overregulation and one can already sense that the government is poised to place a myriad of restrictions on production and distribution of marijuana. Invariably, the more complex the regulatory framework, the more likely the market will be overrun by multinational corporations, Crown agencies and the heroes of big business. This completely undercuts the 1960s idealism which spawned our taste for the uplifting effects of marijuana; however, idealism always plays second fiddle to the realism of money markets. (B.C. cities to ask Ottawa for cut of legal pot revenue)

  • Italy's plan to legalize weed could help fight the Islamic State and the mafia

    The mafia and "suspected terrorists" share smuggling routes in North Africa and collaborate to move product into Italy and Europe
    Vice (Italy)
    Thursday, July 14, 2016

    Italy is about to begin a national debate about legalizing marijuana. Should the country forge ahead in regulating and taxing pot, it could be a blow to the Islamic State and the mafia. Legislation will be introduced to remove criminal prohibitions on marijuana, let Italians grow up to five plants at home, and buy cannabis from a state-run monopoly. If the bill passes, the smuggling route from northern Africa could be disrupted, says Franco Roberti, the country's top prosecutor. "Decriminalization or even legalization would definitely be a weapon against traffickers, among whom there could be terrorists who make money off of it."

  • Needle vs needle: a vaccine for drug addiction?

    Research suggests that we could soon see vaccines for addiction
    The Guardian (UK)
    Thursday, July 14, 2016

    needle-researchApparently they are working on a vaccine for drug addiction (specifically, opiate addiction). There are already studies into vaccinating against cocaine use, so maybe we could end up with a suite of anti-drug vaccines. Now there’s something to make a neuroscientist sit up and pay attention. A new weapon in the war on drugs? How can you even do that? How do you vaccinate against a type of behaviour? How can we vaccinate against behaviours? And if it is effective, what are the ethical issues?

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