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Handicapping Legalization in 2012
East Bay Express (US)
Wednesday, January 4, 2012Registered voters heading to the polls this fall for elections in Colorado, Washington, and perhaps California will have a chance to enact historic cannabis legalization in 2012. A Colorado group said it will file 155,000 signatures with the state on January 6 — enough to qualify the group's recreational cannabis legalization and tax initiative for the November ballot. A group in the state of Washington said on December 29 that it filed at least 355,000 signatures. And California?
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Netherlands moves away from liberal line on smoking cannabis
The Irish Times
Tuesday, January 3, 2012Is the Netherlands finally growing up, or is it committing tourism suicide? A ban on foreigners using its famous "coffee shops" – where soft drugs can be bought and consumed legally – came into effect in its three southern provinces yesterday, and will apply in the rest of the country, including Amsterdam, from January 1st, 2013. Unusually, opposition to the ban on foreigners has led to an alliance between the coffee shop owners and tourism interests – both of whom claim it will be counterproductive. (See also: Introduction of 'Weed Pass' in the Netherlands)
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States say it's time to rethink medical marijuana
Four states have asked federal officials to reclassify marijuana
CNN (US)
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Medical marijuana advocates are hoping state governments can succeed where their efforts have failed by asking federal authorities to reclassify pot as a drug with medical use. Recently, Colorado became the fourth state to ask the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana as a narcotic in the same league as heavyweight painkillers including oxycodone. The governors of Washington and Rhode Island filed a formal petition with the agency in November, and Vermont signed onto that request shortly afterward. -
Marijuana legalization initiative signatures in
The Seattle Times (US)
Thursday, December 29, 2011Backers of an effort to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana use in Washington state submitted more than 340,000 signatures Thursday to try to qualify their initiative, a move protested by some legalization supporters who say the proposal would hurt medical-marijuana patients. About a dozen protesters carried signs that read "Legalize, not penalize," and shouted as members of New Approach turned in signatures for Initiative 502 to the Legislature.
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Colorado seeks new pot classification
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 28, 2011Colorado has become the third state to ask the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana in a way that allows doctors to prescribe it as a medical treatment. The state asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana from Schedule 1, a category that includes heroin, to Schedule 2. The change would allow doctors to prescribe pot and pharmacies to fill marijuana prescriptions. The governors of Rhode Island and Washington have made similar requests.
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Meth Hype Could Undermine Good Medicine
Overstating the dangers of methamphetamine may impede treatment of drug abusers, asserts a review by Columbia University researchers
Gary StixScientific American (US)
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Four scientists from Columbia University published an analysis of previous studies on methamphetamine use that called into question some of the purported damaging effects of the drug on brain functioning. The review in Neuropsychopharmacology found that short-term effects of the drug actually improve attention, as well as visual and spatial perception, among other things. Moreover, chronic users—the ones who would be expected to suffer most—remain largely unimpaired. -
Bolivia’s Morales wants UN to lift ban on chewing coca leaves in 2012
RIA Novosti
Monday, December 26, 2011
Bolivian President Evo Morales believes that in 2012 the United Nations will finally agree that chewing of coca leaves is a legal ancient tradition of all people living in the Andes. Bolivia signed an agreement with the United Nations in 1961 that gave the country 25 years to eradicate the growing of coca. “I am convinced that next year we will win this international ‘fight’ for the recognition of chewing coca leaves as a tradition of peoples in Latin America, living in the Andes,” Morales said in an interview -
Increased enforcement not curtailing marijuana use, report finds
The Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Increased funding for anti-cannabis law enforcement does not meaningfully reduce the drug’s potency, price or availability and creates a lucrative opportunity for organized crime, according to a report by a group of marijuana policy reform advocates. The report, entitled How not to protect community health and safety: What the government’s own data say about the effects of cannabis production was released by Stop the Violence BC, and argues that marijuana should be regulated, taxed and sold in a restricted capacity. The report looks at 20 years of data collected by the Canadian and U.S. governments and highlights the failure of marijuana prohibition to restrict access to the drug. -
B.C. medical group recommends pot legalization
The Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Thursday, December 22, 2011Some B.C. medical health officials are now advocating for marijuana to be legalized, arguing that the government's costly enforcement activities are making little difference. The Health Officers' Council of B.C., which represents B.C.'s medical health officers and other physicians, researchers and consultants, is endorsing a report, How Not to Protect Community Health and Safety by Stop the Violence BC, that suggests a direct link between the province's $7-billion illegal cannabis industry and the increase in gang-related homicides in B.C. from 1997 to 2009.
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Introduction of 'Weed Pass' in the Netherlands
Statement by the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC)
Tuesday, December 20, 2011The government in the Netherlands has a legislative programme that includes making all of the country’s coffeeshops private clubs accessible only to customers issued with a club card. The membership cards – known as the 'wietpas' or 'weed card' – would be obtainable only by residents of the Netherlands aged 18 or older. Foreign tourists would no longer be allowed into Dutch coffee shops if the scheme becomes law. The aim of the government is to put an end to 'drugs tourism' in the Netherlands, especially in the southern provinces (Limburg, North Brabant and Zeeland).
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