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Autistic man set out of home ‘after growing single cannabis plant’
His case adds to criticism of strict drugs law, dubbed the ‘sword of Damocles’, which allows majors to shut buildings and houses suspected of links with drugs and criminality
Dutch News (Netherlands)
Friday, June 18, 2021
The mayor of a town in North Brabant has been accused of acting too harshly after allegedly setting an autistic man out of his home when he was discovered with a cannabis plant. In October 2019, 34-year-old Robin said he had grown a single plant in a forest nearby his home in Bergeijk, according to RTL Nieuws. He was drying the branches and leaves at home when neighbours smelled it and called the police, who confiscated the plant and judged the amount to be high enough to sell. Apparently against the advice of the man’s guidance counsellor and some city council staff, the mayor of Bergeijk Arinda Callewaert decided to close his home under strict opium laws. Last month, the ombudsman for Rotterdam said these closures may effectively bypass people’s housing rights. -
Cannabis médical : aubaine ou mirage économique ?
Considéré comme l’un des premiers producteurs mondiaux, le Maroc pourrait voir dans le cannabis une manne importante à emmagasiner dans ses finances publiques, là où elles s’évaporaient jusque-là dans l’illégal
Tel Quel (Maroc)
Vendredi, 11 juin 2021
C’est la question qui brûle toutes les lèvres depuis l’annonce du projet de loi 13-21 : quelles seront, pour le Maroc, les retombées économiques de la légalisation de l’usage médical, thérapeutique et industriel du cannabis? A priori, la panacée. Du moins si l’on se fie à l’étude de faisabilité du ministère de l’Intérieur. De là à se demander s’il existe des possibilités d’ouverture pour le Maroc ? “Il pourrait y avoir un marché, mais il ne se crée pas facilement”, avance Tom Blickman. Ce dernier insiste sur le marché émergent du cannabis récréatif légal, “une solution pour réduire les trafics”. “Là ou d’autres pays ont légalisé le marché récréatif, comme le Canada, pourquoi ne pas produire pour ce marché?, suggère-t-il. -
Political parties in Portugal propose adult-use cannabis legalisation bills in Parliament
Momentum towards adult-use legalisation is gathering pace across Europe
Prohibition Partners (US)
Friday, June 11, 2021
Two political parties in Portugal, Left Bloc and Liberal Initiative, each presented proposals for adult-use cannabis legalisation. The outcome of the debate was an agreement that both Bills be sent to the Health Committee for a period of 60 days, during which public hearings can be made, amendments presented and negotiations carried out before the deciding vote occurs in Parliament. Both parties are essentially proposing that the cultivation, distribution, purchasing, possession and consumption of adult-use cannabis [plant or derivatives] should be legalised. “Self-cultivation” for personal-use would also be allowed if either Bill was passed, with a maximum of five or six plants permitted per home (Left Bloc proposes five plants, Liberal Initiative proposes six). -
Drug use steady despite lockdowns: EU agency
Some substances became more popular, like psychedelic drugs and benzodiazepines
Politico (US)
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
The severe restrictions on movement and activities during the coronavirus pandemic had little effect on Europeans' appetite for illegal drugs in 2020, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Cannabis use remained "stable" and at "high levels," said the EU agency in its yearly report. In 2020, it found, 15.4 percent of Europeans aged between 15-34 made use of the drug, mostly unchanged over 2019. The availability of harder drugs like cocaine also continued unchanged, notes the report, citing large seizures in 2020. In the case of heroin, it writes in a supplementary report, data from 10 hospitals shows "no overall change in the number of presentations associated with heroin between January and September 2020" when compared with the previous year. -
Why is growing pot so energy-intensive?
Federal regulations, budtender preferences, and a weird trick with carbon dioxide
Slate (US)
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Rolling Stone dubs weed a “climate villain,” as cannabis sold in any state where it’s legal must be grown in-state. Because not every state boasts the year-round warm climate that cannabis thrives in, the vast majority of cannabis is grown indoors in large facilities. And there are other reasons indoor growing is thriving, as Evan Mills pointed out in a recent Slate piece, from misconceptions about the potency of cannabis grown indoors to budtenders who “tend to toss outdoor-grown product onto the bottom shelf.” Mills argues that the only way to make cannabis truly “green” is to grow it outside. -
Morocco's House of Councilors passes cannabis legalization bill
Under Bill No. 13.21, personal, non-medicinal use of cannabis will still remain prohibited
Morocco World News (Morocco)
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
After several amendments, Morocco's House of Councilors has approved the hotly-debated bill on the limited legalization of cannabis for medical purposes. Morocco's Parliament put Bill No. 13.21, concerning the commercialization and legal uses of cannabis, up for vote during today’s governmental plenary session. It passed by a majority vote, with 41 advisers voting for and 11 voting against. The bill aims to improve Moroccan farmers' income as well as to give rise to "promising and sustainable" job opportunities in the country's rural regions. Interior Minister Abdel-Wafi Laftit, who introduced the draft bill at the session, underlined that the main goal of the bill is to improve cannabis farmers' quality of life and general wellbeing. -
Cannabis divides opinions in Morocco ahead of general elections
The legalization of cannabis is dividing the political landscape in Morocco, but proponents of the bill say it will benefit the economy
Morocco World News (Morocco)
Saturday, June 5, 2021
As Morocco's 2021 round of elections approaches, the cannabis question is once again on the table. The Moroccan government approved the bill to legalize medicinal cannabis for export on March 11 of this year. Proponents of the bill argue that the legalization of cannabis is intended for the promotion of its medical use and that the lucrative revenues will boost the Moroccan economy. The bill was introduced by Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit, who said it would positively impact the underdeveloped regions of northern Morocco and improve economic prospects for the Riffian population. Amid the run-up to the 2021 elections, the question of the legalization of cannabis legalization has grown more divisive among political parties and is being weaponized to glean votes. -
Congress only has one chance to legalize marijuana the right way
“We only have one shot to get this right. If we don’t, the consequences will be devastating and difficult to reverse, not just for racial justice but for public health”
Marijuana Moment (US)
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Congressional Democratic leaders filed a marijuana legalization bill last week aimed at remedying the injustices of the drug war. But my experience as a regulator overseeing the implementation of Massachusetts’s effort to end marijuana prohibition tells me that without stronger measures, their plans will fall short of that worthy goal. In every state that has attempted to equitably legalize cannabis, big corporations quickly took over the market while those who were arrested and imprisoned under prohibition got next to nothing. We need to reverse this outcome at the federal level. But as federal lawmakers grapple with the complexities of beginning to repair the harms of the unjust war on drugs, it is critical that they study the experiences of states that have already attempted this. -
Légalisation thérapeutique du cannabis : la Chambre des représentants dit “oui”
Des 117 amendements proposés par les députés, seulement deux ont été retenus par le gouvernement
Tel Quel (Maroc)
Mercredi, 26 mai 2021La Chambre des représentants a adopté le 26 mai au soir le projet de loi relatif à l’usage thérapeutique et industriel du cannabis par une majorité confortable, mais inhabituelle. Les groupes parlementaires ont tous présenté des arguments en faveur d’une légalisation de la plante. Tous sauf le PJD, paradoxalement à la tête de la majorité gouvernementale. Le projet de loi adopté devra être soumis à la Chambre des conseillers dans les tout prochains jours. Le Parlement promulguera le texte une fois qu’il sera adopté en Commission, puis en session plénière de la Chambre haute. (Lire aussi: Légalisation du cannabis : dernière ligne droite, des amendements vains et un PJD plus hostile que jamais) -
Morocco’s House of Representatives adopts bill on legal use of cannabis
The Justice and Development Party (PJD) was the only party of the government majority to refuse to vote on the bill
Morocco World News (Morocco)
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Morocco’s House of Representatives adopted today Bill 13.21 on the legal use of cannabis for medical purposes. The bill received a majority of votes (199) against 48 votes, who voted no. The Justice and Development Party (PJD) was the only party of the government majority who rejected the bill. Morocco’s government first adopted bill 13-21 on March 11. The decision to adopt the bill made Morocco the first African country to allow the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. The Ministry of Interior said in a statement the bill will benefit farmers by raising their incomes. The bill is expected to create “promising and stable job opportunities,” it argued.
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