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Cigarette smoking 'could make you psychotic'
The Huffington Post (UK)
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Experts at the Institute of Psychiatry in London are publishing research suggesting that smoking cigarettes may be a contributory cause of schizophrenia (a psychotic disorder). These new findings raise a question - could the most obvious fact about cannabis - that it is usually consumed in combination with tobacco - have been neglected in researching the link between cannabis and psychosis? -
Heroin addicts launch Charter challenge to prescription ban
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Five people severely addicted to heroin are launching a constitutional challenge to the federal government’s ban on the prescription version of the drug. Health Canada’s special access program (SAP) had recently approved applications from B.C. doctors to give diacetylmorphine (heroin) treatment to about 20 patients who were completing their participation in a Vancouver-based clinical trial. But federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose immediately denounced her own department’s approvals. (See also: Legal challenge to heroin prescription ban will draw on Insite case) -
Some 200 people protest against police raid on grow shops
The Prague Monitor (Czech Republic)
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Some 200 people protested in Prague's center against a recent police raid on Czech grow shops which sell equipment for indoor gardening and often for growing marijuana plants. The protest was organised by the Legalizace.cz (Legalisation) in reaction to the raid on some 50 grow shops. The protesters expressed support to the prosecuted grow shop owners and cannabis legalisation. They were whistling loud and carried banners reading "Growing is no crime." -
Follow Colorado on ganja
EditorialThe Gleaner (Jamaica)
Friday, November 8, 2013
The sky hasn't fallen in either Colorado, Washington State or anywhere over the United States. And it won't in Jamaica. It is high time, therefore, that our Government end the procrastination and legalise marijuana, starting with the decriminalisation of the possession of small amounts by individuals for their personal use. Apart from the evidence that the world won't collapse from such a move, it might make good economic sense for Jamaica - as Colorado is showing. -
Measures to legalize marijuana are passed
Voters around the country passed ballot measures decriminalizing marijuana possession and approved regulatory taxes on the drug
The New York Times (US)
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
In Colorado, voters backed a heavy tax on recreational marijuana. The tax will pay for the cost of overseeing the state’s marijuana industry as well as school construction. Voters in three Michigan cities approved measures legalizing the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults on private property, following Detroit and Flint, which passed similar measures last year. (See also: Milestones in U.S. Marijuana Laws) -
Colorado voters approve new taxes on recreational marijuana
The Denver Post (US)
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
A measure to impose taxes on recreational marijuana passed making pot one of the most heavily taxed consumer products in Colorado. Proposition AA imposes a 15 percent excise tax on the wholesale price and an initial 10 percent sales tax on the retail price. The measure is expected to bring in $67 million a year. Of that, $27.5 million generated by the excise tax would go toward school construction, as specified in the constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana use. -
Kofi Annan: Stop 'war on drugs'
Countries need to try regulating some drugs legally to stop organized crime
Kofi Annan and Fernando Henrique CardosoCNN (US)
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from preventable drug-related disease and violence. Millions of users are arrested and thrown in jail. Globally, communities are blighted by drug-related crime. Citizens see huge amounts of their taxes spent on harsh policies that are not working. But despite this clear evidence of failure, there is a damaging reluctance worldwide to consider a fresh approach. The Global Commission on Drug Policy is determined to help break this century-old taboo. See IDPC Press Release. -
Let the gangs wither and the state turn a profit
Longer sentences and larger stop-and-search zones. Since when has either helped any?
The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
As a law enforcement professional, I was waiting impatiently for the government’s recommendations for fighting gang crime. I’ve been especially impatient to see what kind of initiative they would come up with to attack the root of the problem: the cannabis trade. My disappointment when they announced what it was as great as my impatience had been. The right approach would have been to rob criminals of their source of income. -
Morocco’s growing cannabis debate
The decreased European demand for imported cannabis has meant trouble for farmers in Morocco
Foreign Policy (US)
Monday, November 4, 2013
Cognizant of developments in the United States in Colorado and Washington state, Moroccan social media has been abuzz this summer with a seemingly unlikely possibility: the legalization of cannabis. Activists and politicians in Morocco are close to firming up a date later this month for the parliament to host a seminar on the economic implications of legalization. The powerful Party of Authenticity and Modernity will chair the daylong seminar. This has led some commentators to speculate that the move may even have the blessing of the monarchy. In recent years, despite improvements in production, both small farmers and big producers have seen their cannabis-related income plummet. -
Drugs legislation is hampering clinical research, warns David Nutt
Former government drugs adviser says progress towards new treatments for pain, Parkinson's and depression being blocked
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, November 4, 2013
The UK's drug laws are preventing scientists from carrying out vital research to unlock our understanding of the brain and find new treatments for conditions such as depression and Parkinson's disease, according to Professor David Nutt, a leading neuroscientist and former government drug adviser. "Things are actually getting worse," said Nutt, referring to the restrictions placed on research.
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