• Is the global cocaine trade in decline?

    One thing is constant -- the ability of organized crime networks to adapt to new realities and hunt down new opportunities
    InSight Crime
    Friday, June 24, 2016

    The latest United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2016 World Drug Report presents a long-term analysis of cocaine production, seizures and consumption that comes to a startling conclusion: the cocaine trade appears to be in decline. The report poses a question with major implications for Latin American organized crime: is the global cocaine market shrinking? Both supply and demand of cocaine are likely to always be in some state of flux as the trade responds to an array of influences that range from public policy to mafia wars.

  • Who's funding the US cannabis industry?

    It can cost more than $1m to start a cannabis business in the US, according to the Marijuana Business Association
    BBC News (UK)
    Thursday, June 23, 2016

    Funding is one of the biggest challenges for the cannabis industry, which still exists in a legal grey area. Cannabis has been legalised for medical or recreational purposes in 25 states, but remains illegal on the national level. For most companies raising money to start a business is one of the biggest hurdles. Despite the $5bn in legal sales in 2015 and the millions of investments, funding can't keep up with demand. Institutional investors such as pension funds are barred either by law or policy from investing in federally illegal industries. Big corporations have been waiting to see how local and state laws shake out. (See also: The motivation driving America’s new wave of cannabis entrepreneurs)

  • Fumer un joint légalement

    Genève, Berne, Zurich et Bâle ficellent leur projet de régulation du marché du cannabis
    Tribune de Génève (Suisse)
    Jeudi, 23 juin 2016

    swiss-cannabis-cowFumer un joint en toute légalité? La perspective est à portée de main de centaines de consommateurs d’herbe alors que Genève, Zurich, Bâle et Berne mettent les dernières touches à des projets pilotes de régulation du marché du cannabis. Objectif: déposer leur dossier auprès de l’Office fédéral de la santé publique (OFSP) cet automne. Les quatre villes se disent confiantes sur leurs chances d’obtenir une dérogation à la Loi sur les stupéfiants (LStup). Le contexte est favorable, il est vrai. Le ministre de la Santé, Alain Berset, a salué en avril l’expérimentation de nouveaux modèles.

  • The story of the UK’s Cannabis Social Clubs

    'We have cannabis clubs in the UK?'
    Volteface (UK)
    Thursday, June 23, 2016

    Just over half a decade ago a handful of cannabis clubs started to campaign openly for the regulation and legal sale of cannabis in the UK. Today, there are over 80 clubs and growing, in all corners of the country, most of which hold events and activities. Some clubs have their own premises. Most clubs have around 100 – 150 members, in addition to thousands of affiliated individuals. Each club is its own separate legal entity, registered as a certified non-profit organisation, with all spare proceeds being used to develop the club and their local community. The UKCSC (the United Kingdom Cannabis Social Clubs National Committee) is the quasi-regulatory body for these clubs.

  • The opium bulbs of Myanmar: drug crop or lifeline for poor farmers?

    Rural development to wean poppy farmers off their illicit crop contend with lack of roads, water and power in remote areas plagued by militias
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, June 22, 2016

    An estimated 133,000 households in Myanmar, mainly found in impoverished, remote regions, last year grew poppies across 55,500 hectares (about 137,000 acres) of land, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Myanmar is the second largest producer of opium after Afghanistan. The trade in opium and its derivative heroin is controlled by many rebel groups and pro-government militias who use it to fund a long-running civil war. The opiates, along with methamphetamine, end up in China and across south-east Asia. (See also: Poppylands: Understanding Myanmar's addiction to heroin)

  • Time to put ‘skunk’ out of business

    As THC levels have risen, the CBD that used to feature in commercial cannabis has gradually disappeared
    VolteFace
    Wednesday, June 22, 2016

    cannabinoidsIn the scientific literature, 'skunk' has come to mean something more specific: cannabis that contains a high percentage of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the intoxicating part) but little to no Cannabidiol (CBD, an antipsychotic), in contrast to other milder ‘strains’ which contain lower levels of THC and more a significant CBD component. Skunk is a deliberate creation of the illicit industry, fashioned by generations of selective breeding and advanced cultivation methods that have steadily pushed THC levels up over the last 20 years.

  • Christiania raid spurs new debate on legal cannabis

    Copenhagen officials have thrice requested a trial programme that would legalize cannabis in the city
    The Local (Denmark)
    Tuesday, June 21, 2016

    After a massive police raid on the open-air cannabis market Pusher Street, a number of prominent figures in law enforcement have called on Denmark to stop fighting a losing battle and legalize cannabis. Among them is senior prosecutor Anne Birgitte Stürup from the Copenhagen Public Prosecutor Office (Statsadvokaten). “I personally believe we should legalize the sale of cannabis because this is a fight we cannot win,” she told Jyllands-Posten. The former chief inspector of the Copenhagen Police, Per Larsen, said that Copenhagen city’s cannabis trial plans should be allowed to move forward. (See also: Hash market has grown out of Christiania's hands)

  • Caricom decriminalisation of marijuana report expected next month

    Gonsalves: consulations may last another year
    The Cayman Reporter
    Tuesday, June 21, 2016

    St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Hon Dr Ralph Gonsalves believes another year of consultations is possible before a regional decision is made on the decriminalisation of medical marijuana and small quantities of the drug. This even as the Regional Marijuana Commission is expected to deliver its report to Caricom next month on the controversial issue which has drawn widespread debate including here in Cayman. “The decriminalisation that we are going for is really for medical marijuana and very small quantities, possibly for religious and recreational use,” Gonsalves said.

  • California’s largest political party just endorsed legalizing marijuana

    Growers association head urged neutrality on pot
    Sacramento Bee (US)
    Monday, June 20, 2016

    Six years ago, the California Democratic Party joined most of its elected leaders in declining to endorse the marijuana legalization initiative on the fall ballot. This year’s measure to legalize recreational pot, the AUMA initiative, however, has stirred no similar concerns. At their executive board meeting in Long Beach, Democrats opted to embrace the pot proposal after hearing from one of its chief supporters, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading candidate to succeed Brown as governor in 2019. (A Public Policy Institute of California poll found that 60 percent of likely voters in the Golden State are in favor of legalizing recreational weed)

  • Holy herb or illegal drug?

    Benefits, drawbacks of ganja discussed at St Vincent consultation
    Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
    Monday, June 20, 2016

    The Regional Commission on Marijuana, chaired by Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, the dean of the Faculty of Law at the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies, staged the first of its national consultations on the use of the drug for medicinal purposes. Last year, Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders agreed on the composition of a commission to examine marijuana legalisation throughout the 15-member regional bloc. A statement posted on the Caricom Secretariat website noted that the main issue underpinning marijuana liberalisation surrounds its classification as a drug.

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