• Analysis: Rethinking global drug policy

    Report calls for drugs to be viewed as a health rather than a criminal challenge
    IRIN News (UN)
    Monday, September 15, 2014

    What would the world look like if governments - instead of crime syndicates - controlled drug markets and drug use was decriminalized? A new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, released by Commission members including former presidents and other heavyweights in New York, attempts to vizualize a post “war on drugs” landscape in an era where the 50-year-old policy is widely regarded as a failure and where experimentation is gathering momentum.

  • New York could legalize recreational marijuana in 2015

    Governor Cuomo said that Colorado-style legalization in New York is "a nonstarter for me"
    The Huffington Post (US)
    Monday, September 15, 2014

    The state of New York could legalize marijuana for recreational use as early as 2015. State Sen. Liz Krueger (D) will reintroduce the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act during the next legislative session, which begins in January. Krueger's bill would permit the opening of retail marijuana dispensaries, which would be regulated by the State Liquor Authority. The bill would establish an excise tax on all marijuana sales, and adults would legally be able to possess up to two ounces of marijuana and grow up to six marijuana plants at home for personal use.

  • In Jamaica, Rastas ready for pot decriminalization

    Freedom to use marijuana for religious worship is one of various amendments to Jamaica’s Dangerous Drugs Act
    The Washington Post (US)
    Saturday, September 13, 2014

    Jamaica is known internationally for its marijuana, where its use is culturally entrenched despite being legally banned for 100 years. Previous moves to decriminalize the drug failed to advance because officials feared they would violate international treaties and bring sanctions from Washington. With a number of U.S. states relaxing their marijuana laws Jamaica is rethinking its position. Jamaica’s Cabinet has approved a plan to decriminalize marijuana, including for religious purposes, and legislators are expected to authorize it before the end of the year.

  • Marijuana farmers in the Bekaa struggling to survive as profits decline

    People in the Bekaa explain that growing hashish allows them to have a decent life and to build themselves homes
    Al Akhbar (Egypt)
    Saturday, September 13, 2014

    Farmers in the Bekaa Valley are not ashamed of growing marijuana. It is neither a disgrace nor a mistake, “We grow it to survive” they say candidly. While some may view cannabis as an illness, farmers consider it as a cure for their problem, the same problem spreading all over the Bekaa: poverty and deprivation. The decline of marijuana profits may cause an economic problem in the Bekaa, since many families depend on planting and selling hashish to survive. The main reason behind the low demand is the closure of the Lebanese- Syrian borders along the eastern mountains, which had been used in the past to traffic hashish out of the country, with only a small quantity trafficked through the port and the airport.

  • OAS chief urges new approach to failed ‘war on drugs’

    The decades-old “war on drugs” is simply not working
    The Tico Times (Costa Rica)
    Saturday, September 13, 2014

    insulzaWith the Organization of American States due to hold a special general assembly in Guatemala on illicit drugs in less than a week, OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza insisted there now exists "regional consensus" regarding drug use and trafficking throughout the hemisphere. Insulza said the 35 OAS member nations no longer see the drug problem as a public safety matter but rather as a public health issue. Authorities also want alternatives to jailing drug addicts, he said.

  • 5 interesting things we learned from the man in charge of Uruguay’s weed

    Global Post
    Friday, September 12, 2014

    Julio Calzada is the top drug official in the little nation of Uruguay, which has gained notoriety over the last year for becoming the first country to legalize the cultivation, sale and consumption of marijuana. Calzada, whose party faces a tough re-election battle on Oct. 26, sat down with GlobalPost to discuss Uruguay’s unparalleled legalization experiment. In doing so, the national drug agency’s secretary-general unleashed a few bombshells. Here are the five most interesting things he said.

  • Uruguay marijuana law under fire

    The Broad Front's majority in doubt
    InSight Crime
    Friday, September 12, 2014

    When Uruguay's historic marijuana regulation law passed the Senate in December, it was a major victory for drug policy reform in Uruguay and around the world. However, opposition leader Luis Lacalle Pou's surge in the October 2014 general election polls is a threat to the law, as his National Party has consistently been critical of marijuana regulation. While the complete repeal of the law is improbable, some concessions to the opposition appear likely, and there is a chance the law could end up stripped of its most controversial elements, like the commercial sale in pharmacies and the cannabis clubs.

  • Teenagers who use cannabis every day 60% less likely to finish school

    Daily users under 17 are seven times more likely to attempt suicide compared with non-users, Australian-led study finds
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, September 10, 2014

    Teenagers who use cannabis daily before the age of 17 are more than 60% less likely to complete high school or university, research published in Lancet Psychiatry found. The researchers called for their findings to be considered in cannabis legalisation reform. Alex Wodak of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation said the evidence for the harms of frequent use in the study was "compelling" but added daily use before age 17 would be "pretty uncommon". Many studies show that prohibiting cannabis did not make it any less easy for young people to get hold of it. (See also: How much pot does it take to turn a teenager into a suicidal dropout? | Linking cannabis and suicide doesn't prove causation | Cannabis use in teens, suicide and school dropout: the jury is still out)

  • Former world leaders call for nations to decriminalize drug use and experiment with legalization

    The facts speak for themselves. It is time to change course
    The Washington Post (US)
    Monday, September 8, 2014

    taking-controlDrug use should be decriminalized and governments should experiment with drug legalization and regulation, a group of former world leaders argues in a new report. The recommendations from the Global Commission on Drug Policy reflect the views of the former leaders of some of the countries hardest hit by the illegal drug trade. They strongly argue that a costly global war on drugs has not only failed but threatens public health, fosters discrimination and fuels the very crime and violence it seeks to prevent. (See also: Coalition urges nations to decriminalize drugs and drug use)

  • Latin America’s Anti-drug Policies Feed on the Poor

    International Press Service (IPS)
    Friday, September 5, 2014

    VConferencePoor young men, slumdwellers and single mothers are hurt the most by anti-drug policies in Latin America, according to representatives of governments, social organisations and multilateral bodies meeting at the Fifth Latin American Conference on Drug Policies held in San José, Costa Rica. Activists, experts and decision-makers from throughout the region demanded reforms of these policies, to ease the pressure on vulnerable groups and shift the focus of law enforcement measures to those who benefit the most from the drug trade.

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