• Mobile ‘fix room’ begins operating in Glasgow

    There are nearly 500 injecting users in Glasgow city centre
    BBC News (UK)
    Wednesday, September 2, 2020

    uk mobile dcr glasgowA drug consumption van where addicts can inject heroin has been launched in Glasgow - despite warnings it could be breaking the law. Peter Krykant, a recovering heroin addict and former drugs worker, has modified a minibus into a facility where he says addicts can safely take drugs under supervision. He hopes it will help prevent overdoses and blood-borne viruses among users. The UK government said it had no plans to introduce drug consumption rooms. It added that anyone running such a facility would be committing offences including possession of a controlled drug and being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug. (See also: 'I'll risk jail to save lives'; UK's first illegal drugs consumption room launches in Glasgow)

  • New Zealand split on legalising cannabis in 'reeferendum'

    Latest poll shows the No campaign ahead slightly among registered voters
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, September 2, 2020

    nz vote yesSupport for the Yes and No campaigns in New Zealand’s referendum on legalising and taxing cannabis is split at 49.5% each, six weeks out from voting day. The No campaign, which aims to keep the status quo, has a slight edge in the poll by news outlet Stuff when only registered voters are counted, leading 50.8% to 48.4%. Voting and being on the electoral roll is optional in New Zealand. The “reeferendum” is being held alongside a similar referendum on euthanasia at the national election on 17 October. The new poll, of 1,300 voters, shows the closeness of the debate. Previous polls linked to major TV networks have shown the No vote ahead, while most online polls show the opposite.

  • Price of legal and illegal cannabis in Canada is much closer than you think

    Part of the conversation around the price of cannabis on the licit and illicit market factors into the public’s perception of the success or failure of legalization
    Stratcann (Canada)
    Monday, August 31, 2020

    canada price listMuch has been made about the price difference between the legal and illegal cannabis markets in Canada, but the information surrounding the topic of prices on the illicit and licit markets is misleading. Statistics Canada’s most recent figures from earlier this year show legal cannabis being about twice the supposed cost of illegal or black market cannabis, with legal cannabis on average selling at about $10.30 per gram compared to about $5.73 per gram for illicit cannabis. But while the numbers for legal cannabis provided by Statistics Canada are based on verifiable numbers in legal, regulated stores both online and brick-and-mortar, the pricing for cannabis purchased from the illegal sector is based on anonymous polling data collected by the federal government.

  • Amid spike in opioid overdoses, momentum for reform wavers

    Overdose deaths are surging during the pandemic, but proposals to prevent fatalities through supervised drug use are facing new obstacles
    Bloomberg CityLab (US)
    Monday, August 31, 2020

    us philly overdose prevention siteU.S. states and cities are seeing increases in opioid-related overdose deaths A paper issued by the American Medical Association this summer found that 41 states had reported spikes in overdose deaths during the pandemic. As of mid-July, for example, more than 1,100 residents in the Chicago area had died from opioid-related overdoses in 2020, about double the number during the same period in 2019, according to ProPublica. By August, opioid overdoses in South Carolina had increased 50% over the same period last year. In some cities, current estimates are that these deaths could far exceed those from Covid-19. But despite these increasing death tolls, much of the recent political momentum behind calls for safe injection sites in the U.S. has faded as public health priorities shift.

  • Up in smoke: Ministry to revoke marijuana’s designation as ‘medicinal plant’

    The 2009 Narcotics Law includes the plant as a type-1 narcotic, alongside opium and cocaine
    The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
    Saturday, August 29, 2020

    indonesia lgnThe Agriculture Ministry will revise a 2020 ministerial decree that lists marijuana as a “medicinal plant”. Signed on Feb. 3, the decree includes marijuana (Cannabis sativa) as one of 66 medicinal plants whose production is under the supervision of the ministry’s horticulture directorate general. The decree went viral after the Nusantara Marijuana Network (LGN) posted a photo of the document on its Instagram account, @lgn_id. The ministry responded that it would revise the decree because of Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo’s commitment to “eradicate drug abuse”. Marijuana had been listed as a medicinal plant since 2006 because the ministry wanted to help marijuana farmers shift to growing other crops. 

  • BC’s grey market is thriving

    Starting a legal business in a highly regulated market can be very daunting
    Stratcann (Canada)
    Friday, August 28, 2020

    cannabis topsThings haven’t been this good in the illicit cannabis industry in British Columbia in many years. Factors such as increased wholesale prices on the black market, a low level of enforcement, and too many challenges for legal players from all levels of government are helping to encourage people to not transition into the legal market. As BC works to create a thriving legal cannabis industry alongside what is arguably one of the most robust illicit cannabis industries on the planet, the appeal of staying in the black market is strong. Even as many former black market growers and retailers do successfully make the transition to the legal industry, many others continue operating as they have for years. (See also: StatsCan: Legal pot spending beat black market for first time in Q2)

  • 'So much sadness': more British Columbians dying from overdoses than Covid

    900 British Columbians died of an overdose this year, more than four times the number killed by coronavirus
    The Guardian (UK)
    Friday, August 28, 2020

    canada od covidA growing number of drug policy experts, users and advocates argue that dramatically expanding access to pharmaceutical-grade heroin is the only meaningful way to save lives. At a press conference this week announcing the latest deaths, those calls grew louder. Flanked by the province’s top doctor and its chief coroner, longtime harm reduction advocate Guy Felicella pleaded for the government to create a legal, regulated safe supply of heroin, and possibly even powdered fentanyl in controlled doses. “With the [fentanyl] concentration levels here in BC, we have this contaminated drug market that can kill you in one hit. That’s why we need a regulated drug market,” Felicella said. (See also: Expand safe supply options for people who use drugs, Ontario advocates say)

  • Cannabis research database shows how U.S. funding focuses on harms of the drug

    The data confirm “word on the street” that government grants go to research that focuses on harms
    Live Science (US)
    Thursday, August 27, 2020

    cannabis pharmaA new analysis of cannabis research funding in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom has found that $1.56 billion was directed to the topic between 2000 and 2018—with about half of the money spent on understanding the potential harms of the recreational drug. Just over $1 billion came from the biggest funder, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which doled out far more money to research cannabis misuse and its negative effects than on using cannabis as a therapeutic drug. However, overall cannabis research funding in the United States is rising steadily, from less than $30.2 million in 2000 to more than $143 million in 2018, and money to explore cannabis medical treatments is growing—although not as fast as funding for research on harms.

  • Expand safe supply options for people who use drugs, Ontario advocates say

    'We can't get the attention and the response we need now,' Guelph's Adrienne Crowder says
    CBC News (Canada)
    Thursday, August 27, 2020

    canada safe heroin dcrAll levels of government responded quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic, and harm reduction advocates are wondering why the same hasn't happened for the opioid crisis. "It has been so frustrating and I have often had very intense anger because there are people literally dying in our community and we can't get the attention and the response we need now," said Adrienne Crowder, manager of the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy. "One of the things the pandemic is showing is [the different levels of government] can act together when they need to and they can do so pretty quickly when they need to," Crowder added. "I've been beside myself because of the inability to capture the attention of the decision makers."

  • Case for decriminalising cannabis use in India

    New research study by Vidhi shows that not only does drug prohibition have its roots in racist American policies but that it only victimises the marginalised with no real impact on reduction in drug usage
    Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy (India)
    Thursday, August 20, 2020

    india bhang shopCriminalising cannabis use in India has been a much-debated topic. Vidhi’s new research study shows that it has had little impact on reduction of drug use and has instead ended up pushing the poorest sections of society into a crumbling criminal justice system. Moreover, cannabis criminalisation has its roots in racist American policies, which are in direct contrast to the culturally accepted use of cannabis in India dating back to the Vedic age. Cannabis use in India has been recorded to have started as early as 5000-4000 BC. The use of cannabis in Ayurveda, in construction and as a fibre made it one of the most commonly used plants in India. Use of cannabis for its psychoactive properties was and continues to be widely prevalent.

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