• Drug sentences rise, while time served for other crimes falls

    A new study finds that drug offenders are serving more time in federal prison while all other sentences are on the decline
    BuzzFeed (US)
    Thursday, August 27, 2015

    pew-prison-graphA Pew study shows that sentences for Americans convicted of federal drug crimes rose 36% — an average of 20 months — in 30 years, while sentences for all other offenders in federal prison declined by 3%. Pew says "the increased imprisonment of drug offenders has helped drive the explosive overall growth of the federal prison system, which held nearly 800 percent more inmates in 2013 than it did in 1980." The jump in inmates has led to huge amounts of increased spending. From 1980 to 2013, federal prison spending increased 595%, from $970 million to more than $6.7 billion.

  • Mexico lost its war on drugs 75 years ago, author claims

    Mexico launched a diplomatic campaign to halt the global trend towards prohibition by addressing the League of Nations about the health benefits of legalisation
    The Independent (UK)
    Wednesday, August 26, 2015

    lazaro-cardenas2Mexico’s drug trade is synonymous with violence, corruption and cartel bosses battling for territory. But it could have been so different, it’s claimed in a new book, had the US not issued an ultimatum 75 years ago which ignited the war on drugs – leading to death and destruction on both sides of the border. Documents in the book reveal that Mexico legalised drugs in 1940, after doctors convinced the then president, Lazaro Cardenas, that prohibition was damaging public health. (See also: The Rise and Decline of Cannabis Prohibition)

  • Pioneer pot states have collected more than $200 million in marijuana taxes

    "It turns out government can be pretty good at this"
    The Huffington Post (US)
    Wednesday, August 26, 2015

    The first two states to legalize recreational marijuana have collectively raked in at least $200 million in marijuana tax revenue, according to the latest tax data -- and they're putting those dollars to good use. In Colorado, after about a year and a half of legal recreational marijuana sales, the state has collected more than $117 million in excise taxes from both the recreational and medical marijuana markets, according to the most recent data from the Colorado Department of Revenue. Washington state got a slower start.

  • Despite petition, government has no plans to legalise cannabis

    Legalisation would ‘send the wrong message’, it says, but large number of signatories means MPs must consider a parliamentary debate
    The Guardian (UK)
    Tuesday, August 25, 2015

    uk-petitionThe government has responded to a 200,000-strong petition calling for the legalisation of cannabis in the UK by saying it has no plans to change the law. In response to the petition, which was hosted on the government’s official e-petitions website, it said: “Substantial scientific evidence shows cannabis is a harmful drug that can damage human health. There are no plans to legalise cannabis as it would not address the harm to individuals and communities.” (See also: Cannabis petition forces MPs to consider debating legalisation)

  • Exploring the Cannabis Clubs of southern Spain, Europe's new weed destination

    Clubs could become far more influential if they worked together politically
    Vice (UK)
    Tuesday, August 25, 2015

    Over the last five years, Spain has come to rival the Netherlands as Europe's cannabis hub. The country's legal framework around weed, which allows its use and sale within private members clubs, has been fully taken advantage of in the north of the country, particularly in the Catalonia region, where clubs reportedly make an estimated $6 million in sales each month. They only allow entry to members and have risen in number from around 40 in 2010 to over 700 today, according to smokers' groups.

  • Legalizing cannabis in India: Is it time the Parliament starts talking about it?

    Why is the country still facing a tough time to start a debate on legalizing the drug?
    The News Minute (India)
    Monday, August 24, 2015

    bhang shop menu 20140120There have been a lot of arguments for decriminalizing marijuana consumption from multiple reports in the Times of India to online petitions and Facebook pages. However, very few arguments have cropped up against the cause. Why then, is the country still facing a tough time legalizing medicinal marijuana, to begin with, and then start a debate on using the drug for recreational purposes? Cannabis, is legal in certain places in India, like Odisha, where you can walk up to a government excise shop and buy your day's need. Here's a menu with the rates from 2012. (See also: Cannabis ban is elitist. It should go: Tathagata Satpathy)

  • Ganja growers warned: GET 'LEGIT' TO GET IN IT!

    The right balance has to be struck so as to ensure that the industry is opened for all legitimate competition to come in
    The Gleaner (Jamaica)
    Sunday, August 23, 2015

    Local ganja growers, particularly small farmers, in Jamaica are being urged to enter the formal market to benefit from the decriminalising of the product rather than seeking to operate in the underground economy. With the amendment of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which became law on April 15, 2015, paving the way for the legal introduction of medical marijuana, industrial hemp, and cannabis, the Government is warning that persons who have been profiting from the illicit ganja trade will soon be required to transition into the formal framework or face strong sanctions.

  • Landmark case in Brazil to test hard-line 'war on drugs'

    The Supreme Court is weighing whether to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs
    Christian Science Monitor (US)
    Friday, August 21, 2015

    brasil-descriminalizaBrazil’s Supreme Court began hearing a landmark drug case that could change how drug users are punished. Conviction as a "user" in Brazil leads to a criminal record and increased penalties for any future crime, while conviction as a trafficker leads to a minimum of five years. The focus on total prohibition resulted in arbitrary sentencing and overcrowded prisons. Poorer Brazilians have taken a hit from sentencing guidelines that encourage classification of defendants by socioeconomic status, such as the neighborhood where they were arrested to determine if they are a user or a trafficker.

  • Düsseldorf moots cannabis legalization

    Following Berlin's footsteps
    The Local (Germany)
    Friday, August 21, 2015

    germany-police-cannabis_copyCity councillors in Düsseldorf, capital of Germany's most populous state, are following Berlin in planning a pilot project in which cannabis could be sold legally to adults. The move is the result of a joint push by the three parties which form the city's governing coalition, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Greens and Free Democratic Party (FDP), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Now civil servants in Düsseldorf must apply to the Federal Institute for Medicines (BfArM) for a license.

  • Düsseldorf will Verkauf von Cannabis legalisieren

    Nach Berlin wagt nun auch die Landeshauptstadt Nordrhein-Westfalens den Vorstoß
    Die Welt (Germany)
    Donnerstag, 20. August 2015

    Im Rathaus Düsseldorf gibt es eine große Mehrheit für die Legalisierung von Cannabis: Nach einer hitzigen Debatte beschloss die Ampelkoalition aus SPD, FDP und Grünen im Ausschuss für Gesundheit und Soziales mit den Stimmen der Linken, die Verwaltung damit zu beauftragen, beim Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte eine Sondergenehmigung für eine "lizensierte Abgabe von Cannabisprodukten" zu bekommen. (Mehr dazu: Düsseldorf will Verkaufsstellen für Cannabis | Cannabis in Düsseldorf - Noch hohe Hürden bis zum Coffeeshop)

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