• French Socialists kill pro-cannabis call pre-election

    Reuters
    Thursday, June 7, 2012

    defense-fumerThree days before round one of a French parliamentary election, President François Hollande's Socialists have crossed swords over pot-smoking with their most likely coalition partner for the next five years, the Greens party. The discord surfaced this week when Housing Minister Cecile Duflot, head of the Greens party, said she backed the legalization of cannabis. Socialist Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, trying to put the matter to rest, said in a television interview that Hollande had opposed legalization of the soft drug during the presidential election campaign.

  • After 33 years, I can no longer ignore the evidence on drugs

    It's time the community and its leaders had the courage to look at this issue with fresh eyes
    The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
    Thursday, June 7, 2012

    "As a 33-year police practitioner who was commissioner of the Australian Federal Police during the 'tough on drugs' period, I fully understand the concerns of those who argue there is no reason to reconsider drug policy and I shared many of them until recent years," the former commissioner of the Australian Federal Police and director of the Australia 21 think tank, Mick Palmer, writes. "The reality is that, contrary to frequent assertions, drug law enforcement has had little impact on the Australian drug market. This is true in most countries in the world."

  • Christiania's resurgent cannabis trade marred by violence and intimidation

    Attempts to break gang ties to cannabis trade through its legalisation are hampered due to international obligations to cannabis control, an expert argues
    The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
    Wednesday, June 6, 2012

    ha-denmarkAlmost a decade after extensive police raids in 2004 that were intended to clear out the drug dealers in Christiania, police estimate that the trade in cannabis is as strong as it was before. Residents explain that while the trade might have returned, the atmosphere is quite different from the days before the 2004 invasion by police, with greater levels of violence and intimidation. “The hash trade today is just as open as it was in 2004 and up on the same level. We believe that a billion kroner is sold every year,” says Lau Thygesen, of the Copenhagen Police’s department for organised crime. The news comes as a blow to Copenhagen’s City Council whose request to experiment with the decriminalisation of cannabis was turned down by the Justice Ministry in May.

  • New York to decriminalize marijuana?

    Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal could give a whole new meaning to the phrase 'New York state of mind'
    Time Magazine (US)
    Wednesday, June 6, 2012

    joint-boxNew York governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the state and he’s got the support of New York City’s police commissioner and mayor, plus a broad swath of local politicians who just a few years ago may have scoffed at the notion of lessening penalties for drug possession. Citing an “inconsistency” in state drug laws regarding small amounts of marijuana, Cuomo announced a bill to make the penalties for private and public possession the same, which he says will help people caught with less than 25 grams avoid “unnecessary” misdemeanor charges.

  • Bikers harvest a billion in Christiania

    The hash trade on Pusher Street in Christiania is at the same level as prior to police operations in 2004
    Politiken (Denmark)
    Tuesday, June 5, 2012

    Despite a police operation in 2004, which levelled Pusher Street in Christiania, and despite continued patrolling operations in the years after that, the hash trade in Christiania is back in full force, according to the Copenhagen police. “The hash trade is now just as open as it was in 2004, and at the same level. Our guess is that sales are up at about a billion kroner each year,” Dep. Ch. Supt. Lau Thygesen of the Copenhagen Police Dept. for Organised Crime tells Berlingske.

  • Decriminalize marijuana? Four ways America's views of pot are changing

    The Christian Science Monitor (US)
    Tuesday, June 5, 2012

    pot-growingPolls show national opinion toward marijuana use steadily changing toward greater acceptance, and laws are changing and ballot initiatives are coming before voters. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for instance, wants to decriminalize possession of small quantities of pot. Here is a look at how America's views on marijuana are changing in four key areas. For more than 20 years, national polls have shown increasing acceptance of marijuana use, proponents of legalization note.

  • Dope smokers face fines but no court procedure

    An estimated 500,000 people regularly or occasionaly smoke dope in Switzerland
    Swissinfo (Switzerland)
    Tuesday, June 5, 2012

    The Swiss Parliament has agreed in principle to impose a fine on consumers of small amounts of cannabis instead of opening a mandatory criminal proceeding. The move stops short of a full legalisation of the substance. Accepting liberalisation of the law by 31 votes to four, the Senate followed an earlier vote by the House of Representatives in parliament's spring session. The proposal, which dates back eight years, aims to decriminalise the consumption of up to ten grams of cannabis for consumers above the age of 18. However, both chambers still have to agree on the level of the financial penalty.

  • Bloomberg Backs Plan to Limit Arrests for Marijuana

    The New York Times (US)
    Monday, June 4, 2012

    New York Police Department, the mayor and the city’s top prosecutors on Monday endorsed a proposal to decriminalize the open possession of small amounts of marijuana, giving an unexpected lift to an effort by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to cut down on the number of people arrested as a result of police stops. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose Police Department made about 50,000 arrests last year for low-level marijuana possession, said the governor’s proposal “strikes the right balance” in part because it would still allow the police to arrest people who smoke marijuana in public.

  • Marijuana initiative could make or break Obama in Colorado

    Reuters
    Saturday, June 2, 2012

    yeson64With Obama facing a stiff challenge from Republican Mitt Romney in the November 6 election, it's ironic that his chances of winning the key state of Colorado could hinge on marijuana legalization, supported by a growing number of Americans. At issue is whether Obama will get a boost from young voters expected to be among the most enthusiastic backers of a Colorado ballot initiative that would legalize possession of up to an ounce of pot for recreational use - and give the state the most liberal marijuana law in the nation.

  • Western banks 'reaping billions from Colombian cocaine trade'

    Prohibition is a transfer of the cost of the drug problem from the consuming to the producing countries
    Ed Vulliamy
    The Observer (UK)
    Saturday, June 2, 2012

    While cocaine production ravages countries in Central America, consumers in the US and Europe are helping developed economies grow rich from the profits, a study claims. The vast profits made from drug production and trafficking are overwhelmingly reaped in rich "consuming" countries – principally across Europe and in the US – rather than war-torn "producing" nations such as Colombia and Mexico. And its authors claim that financial regulators in the west are reluctant to go after western banks in pursuit of the massive amount of drug money being laundered through their systems.

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