El Senado debe aprobar la nueva Ley para la Regulación del Cannabis con los cambios que le hizo la Cámara de Diputados, a fin de evitar entrar en una nueva discusión que pudiera prolongarse hasta el siguiente periodo y entrampara la legislación, que es un primer paso para liberar el consumo con fines recreativos, advirtió Jesusa Rodríguez, senadora de Morena. Como otros de sus compañeros de bancada, la legisladora está en desacuerdo con las modificaciones aprobadas en San Lázaro, entre ellas una serie de multas y sanciones a quien esté en posesión de un gramo más de la cantidad permitido de mariguana (28) y hasta 200 gramos, así como las trabas al autocultivo de la planta; no obstante, consideró que los cambios se deberán aceptar para que la ley se pueda promulgar y entrar en vigor.

El Senado tiene lista ya la nueva iniciativa para regular el consumo adulto de mariguana en México, en la que revive al Instituto Mexicano para la Regulación y Control del Cannabis; castiga con hasta ocho años de cárcel a quien porte más de 200 gramos de mariguana y hasta con 15 años de prisión a proveedores y operadores de “cocinas” de drogas, amén de reinstalar los derechos de los no consumidores. Las personas que consuman mariguana deberán tramitar un permiso del instituto para portar desde 28 gramos hasta 200 gramos, así como para sembrar hasta seis plantas en su casa. Pero deberán respetar a las personas que no consumen esa droga, quienes tendrán derecho a presentar denuncias administrativas para proteger su derecho a la salud.

La presidenta del Senado mexicano, Olga Sánchez Cordero, aseguró que la Cámara Alta construye un modelo para la regulación de la cannabis, que además de eliminar el enfoque prohibicionista, que incrementó la violencia en el país, permitirá garantizar la seguridad y el control en el consumo de la planta. Durante su participación en el foro “La regulación del cannabis y las oportunidades para el desarrollo de una industria de cáñamo en México”, Sánchez Cordero dijo que desde el punto de vista económico es importante tomar en cuenta las diversas experiencias internacionales, para impulsar la economía social y las cadenas de valor de la planta, con productos como CBD, THC y el cáñamo.

La Mesa Directiva del Senado solicitó anoche a la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) una nueva prórroga para concretar la aprobación de la Ley Federal para la Regulación del Cannabis y las reformas y adiciones a la Ley General de Salud y del Código Penal Federal, ante los evidentes “yerros” e inconstitucionalidad que provocó la Cámara de Diputados con los cambios que le hizo. La Mesa Directiva del Senado, encabezada por el morenista Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar, explica a la Suprema Corte que no existen las condiciones que permitan construir un acuerdo en torno de la nueva legislación, después de las modificaciones hechas a la minuta por parte de la colegisladora.

Two Democrats told Politico that they oppose removing federal penalties on marijuana. Schumer can't afford to lose a single vote on his side of the aisle in his legalization push, and that's before an even tougher battle to win over Republicans who have little interest in working with Democrats. If Schumer can't find a path to Senate passage this year, with a midterm election that's historically not been kind to the president's party, it could mean a long delay before pot is legal in the U.S. — even as 18 states have embraced full legalization. (See also: Schumer worries Senate marijuana banking vote could undermine broader legalization push)

Democratic senator Tina Smith (D-MN) filed a new bill to federally legalize marijuana, creating yet another potential avenue through which Congress could enact the policy change. Titled the “Substance Regulation and Safety Act”, it would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and direct several federal agencies to develop regulations for the plant. The bill would deschedule cannabis, require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop rules that treat marijuana the same as tobacco, create a national research institute to evaluate the risks and benefits of cannabis, require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to impose quality control standards and mandate that the Department of Transportation study methods for detecting THC-impaired driving.

Most Senegalese farmers sell peanuts and vegetables, but in one hamlet lost in a mangrove swamp in the country's south, only one crop is commercially viable -- cannabis. Kouba, a village deep in the mangroves of Casmance and inaccessible by road, teems with caiman crocodiles and rare birds. Locals say no police officer has set foot there since the 1980s, and a recent crackdown on cannabis cultivation has passed them by. "Ever since I was born, people have been cultivating cannabis," says Philippe Diaba. "If you don't grow cannabis here, you can't get by." Kouba villagers say the drug fetches between 15,000 and 30,000 CFA francs ($25-$50, 23-45 euros) a kilo -- compared with just 500 CFA francs for a kilo of onions. (West Africa needs to look at partially decriminalising drugs, says thinktank)

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Audley Shaw, has welcomed news of the passage of the SAFE Banking Act in the United States, which could lay the foundation for addressing correspondent banking issues that remain a major challenge for legal cannabis producers. Director of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), Delano Seiveright, was quick to add that it “is still early days”. “It really is a huge development, as the issue of lack of access to banking for legal cannabis businesses represents a juggernaut for many in the legal industry globally, and particularly in Jamaica where our legal cannabis industry is literally being stifled."

According to former Narcotics Commissioner Romesh Bhattacharjee cannabis is cultivated in nearly 60 per cent, or 400, of India’s 670 districts. “Since we criminalised cannabis in India [in 1985],” he says, “we haven’t curbed production or consumption. The law is redundant and has become a tool to harass small-time or poor buyers and sellers. Bhang is already legal in some states. There are millions of weed and hash users in major cities. You might as well legalise cannabis, and follow it with drug awareness outreach if you are worried about addiction.” As to how to legalise cannabis, he has a simple answer: “Just remove it from the Narcotics Act. It is already ‘legal’ on the streets given its availability, only ‘illegal’ on paper.”

For two years, New Jersey lawmakers had failed to mobilize enough support to pass a bill to fully legalize marijuana. Instead, they agreed in December to put the question directly to voters: “Do you approve amending the Constitution to legalize a controlled form of marijuana called ‘cannabis’?” A dominant conversation in the nation now centers on race and policing, giving a core argument among supporters of legalization new potency in a state where Black residents are more than three times as likely as white residents to be charged with marijuana possession. A poll in April found that 64 percent of New Jersey voters supported legalizing the possession of marijuana for personal use; 61 percent of respondents said they intended to vote “yes” on November’s ballot question.

Should draft legislation clear the final hurdles in the next few weeks, Morocco could become the second Arab country to legalize cannabis. Lebanon was the first in 2020. Cannabis legalization has been suggested before in Morocco. It is hard to know whether the draft law will pass, Khalid Mouna, an associate anthropology professor at Moulay Ismail University in Meknes. Mouna said that had mostly been a tactic to gain the support of voters in deprived cannabis-growing areas. This time could be different, said Tom Blickman, a researcher on international drugs policy for the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute. "I think it's serious because the initiative comes from the government, and behind the government is the palace," he said, referring to the Moroccan royal family. "Previous proposals came from the opposition."

El cultivo, la venta y el consumo de cannabis solo son legales en unos pocos lugares del mundo, como Canadá, Uruguay y algunos estados de Estados Unidos. Ahora, México –que también es un actor importante en el mercado negro del cannabis a nivel mundial– va a añadirse a la lista. La semana pasada, la Cámara de Diputados votó a favor del proyecto de ley correspondiente; se considera probable que el Senado también lo apruebe. El Senado ya había aprobado el proyecto de ley en noviembre, pero ahora tenía que volver a pasar por las Cámaras debido a algunos cambios. Mientras que los diputados conservadores expresaron su preocupación por el aumento del consumo y la adicción, los partidarios de la despenalización hablaron de un paso hacia la paz. 

El coordinador de la bancada de Morena en la Cámara de Diputados, Mario Delgado, informó que la propuesta para crear una empresa estatal que compre, venda y distribuya la marihuana es una iniciativa a título personal y no tiene el respaldo de su fracción ni la del presidente de la República, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. En conferencia de prensa, Delgado Carrillo rechazó que con su iniciativa, que también permite el autocultivo de hasta seis plantas, México se convierta en un “narco-Estado”, como lo acusaron en redes sociales.  El coordinador de Morena en el Senado, Ricardo Monreal, señaló que su bancada y él no prevén respaldar la propuesta de crear una empresa para el control de la cannabis en México.

Prohibido compartir porros, mecheros y cualquier otro útil de consumo. El tiempo de estancia, limitado. Los ceniceros de un solo uso y cada fumador que se traiga de casa los utensilios necesarios para liarse su canuto. Así podría ser la vuelta a la actividad de los más de 1.700 clubes cannábicos que hay en España. La mayoría llevan dos meses cerrados y, desde la declaración del estado de alarma, se encuentran en un doble limbo legal: a la inseguridad jurídica en la que ya operaban se le ha sumado el hecho de que su actividad no está reconocida en ninguno de los decretos del Gobierno. Los representantes de estos locales intentan reabrir sus puertas con un código de buenas prácticas y denuncian que sus 10.000 trabajadores están en un limbo legal.

El dictamen sobre la regulación de la marihuana fue avalado este viernes en comisiones del Senado de la República, será votado y firmado el miércoles para ser enviado al Pleno. En comisiones unidas del Senado se abrió la discusión de la Ley Federal para la Regulación del Cannabis, a fin de que la próxima semana el pleno reciba un dictamen que cumpla el mandato de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) de garantizar el derecho al libre desarrollo de la personalidad, lo que se expresa en regular el uso adulto del enervante. Portar más de 28 gramos de marihuana sin permiso podría ameritar multa y caer en algún centro de detención, pero no ir a la cárcel. (Véase también: MUCD exhorta al Senado de la República a mejorar dictamen de regulación de cannabis)

Singapore executed a man accused of coordinating a cannabis delivery, despite pleas for clemency from his family and protests from activists. The United Nations Human Rights Office had asked Singapore to "urgently reconsider" his scheduled execution over one kilogram of cannabis. Activist Kirsten Han from the Transformative Justice Collective confirmed that the execution had been carried out, and that his family had been given the death certificate. Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was convicted in 2017 of "abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic" 1,017.9 grams of cannabis, twice the minimum volume that merits the death sentence. He was sentenced to death in 2018 and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision. (See also: Singapore hangs 2nd citizen for cannabis trafficking this year amid protests over death penalty)

Massachusetts marijuana products consistently fetch around double the price of equivalents in the most mature recreational markets, according to a review of dispensary menus around the country and new data by several analytics firms. And in most cases, cannabis here is even pricier than in other states that legalized the drug more recently; only the nascent and heavily taxed Illinois market approaches the Bay State’s exorbitant prices. An eighth of an ounce of decent-quality marijuana flower retails for $50 to $60 on the Massachusetts recreational market before adding an effective 20 percent combined state and local tax. Compare that with $20 to $30 for an eighth of an ounce of exceptional cannabis in Oregon, the state with the cheapest legal weed.

Mark Spear might be a thorn in the side of the Canadian weed industry. Or he may be a heel. He certainly stands out when it comes to gently pissing off the ones writing the rules on the Green Mile of corporate weed on Bay Street. Across the country, there are thousands more like Mark Spear – old-school cannabis folks who know how to grow weed better than anyone, and who want to see cannabis grown in the ground under the Canadian sun. They’re the former outlaws of the cannabis industry who were supposed to benefit the most from legalization. The Harper-era privatization of medical cannabis has led to a deeply corporatized recreational weed market. And for folks like Spear, it’s all a bit disappointing.

Municipalities in the Netherlands have signed up to a mooted four-year trial in legally growing cannabis for the first time. The new coalition agreement said that the policy would be tested in six to 10 areas, and more have now joined up. It is intended to see whether controlled weed growing leads to a decline in criminality around cannabis cultivation, and whether the crop could be monitored to have fewer harmful substances. A commission report in June advised that it would be beneficial to sign up more areas. The Netherlands currently has 573 coffeeshops in 103 districts but although they can sell the substance, it is illegal for them to buy or grow it. (See also: Controlled Cannabis Supply Chain Experiment Act - Explanatory memorandum)