regulation

  • Düsseldorf took the next step in its plan to legalize the regulated sale of recreational cannabis to over 18 year-­olds, taking advice from experts in psychology, crime and economics during a consultation at City Hall. Representatives from the Cologne and Münster city councils interested in pur­suing similar schemes were also present at the meeting. The proposal for cannabis legalization in Düsseldorf was first put forward a year ago by the City Council's "traffic light" (red-yellow-green) coalition of Social Democrats, liberal Free Democrats and Greens. (Kiffen soll in Düsseldorf legal werden | Düsseldorf hopes to pull other cities onto weed legalization plan)

  • dusseldorfSocialdemócratas, liberales y Los Verdes han aprobado un plan para regular el comercio legal de cannabis siguiendo los pasos de un distrito de Berlín. El Instituto Federal de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios debe decidir si aprueba las licencias necesarias para llevar a cabo estos proyectos. En el estado federado de Bremen, los socialdemócratas y el Partido Verde pactaron que la posesión y el consumo de marihuana dejaran de estar penalizados. Un primer paso para la revolución verde en el Alemania, donde tres millones de ciudadanos aseguran fumar.

  • Im Rathaus Düsseldorf gibt es eine große Mehrheit für die Legalisierung von Cannabis: Nach einer hitzigen Debatte beschloss die Ampelkoalition aus SPD, FDP und Grünen im Ausschuss für Gesundheit und Soziales mit den Stimmen der Linken, die Verwaltung damit zu beauftragen, beim Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte eine Sondergenehmigung für eine "lizensierte Abgabe von Cannabisprodukten" zu bekommen. (Mehr dazu: Düsseldorf will Verkaufsstellen für Cannabis | Cannabis in Düsseldorf - Noch hohe Hürden bis zum Coffeeshop)

  • germany nicht highPolitisch ist es umstritten, doch die Ampel-Kooperation im Düsseldorfer Rat und Gesundheitsdezernent Andreas Meyer-Falcke halten eine lizensierte Abgabe von Cannabis an Erwachsene im Rahmen eines Pilotprojekts für wünschenswert. Die Verwaltung habe deshalb einen interkommunalen Austausch angestoßen. Positive Rückmeldungen gebe es aus den Niederlanden. Die Gemeinde Venlo habe Interesse an einem Gedankenaustausch und würde sich „gegebenenfalls an einem gemeinsamen Cannabis-Projekt beteiligen“. Zudem werde mit dem Leiter des Deutschen Instituts für Sucht- und Präventionsforschung der Katholischen Hochschule in Köln eine Untersuchung abgestimmt. (Mehr dazu: Demonstration in Düsseldorf: Breites Bündnis fordert Legalisierung von Cannabis)

  • coffeeshop3Germany is legalising cannabis use, with the Dutch policy as an example ‘of how not to do it’, German health minister Karl Lauterbach has told broadcaster NOS. Coffee shops, where the Dutch can buy cannabis in limited quantities for private use, are not part of the German plans which include allowing people to grow their own small amount of cannabis at home, or obtain it via non-commercial associations. Germany is also looking at the possibility of commercial cannabis plantations. The Dutch combination of legal sale and consumption and black market production ‘is a sum of disadvantages’, he said.

  • nl amsterdam weedThe Netherlands has long been a mecca for buzz-seeking tourists on account of its lax cannabis laws. What many of them don't know is that cannabis is not — and has never been — legal in the country. Instead, under a policy of tolerance known as gedoogbeleid, the Netherlands turns a blind eye to designated coffee shops selling weed — even though it's officially illegal for those shops to purchase cannabis from producers. But this muddled policy will soon change in parts of the country, at least for a while. The Dutch government is launching an experiment in 10 municipalities, starting this January and rolling out over the year, that will allow coffee shops to purchase cannabis from up to 10 state-approved growers, rather than through illicit sources.

  • cannabis productionA Dutch trial of state-regulated cannabis cultivation farms to supply coffee shopsrisks being derailed by an outbreak of nimbyism after locals protested about the location of one of the new facilities. The plans to take over greenhouses on the outskirts of Etten-Leur, a town in north Brabant, near the Belgian border, and replace blackberries with cannabis plants, triggered large local protests and a request by the local mayor for central government to block the scheme. Board members of the initiative, known as Project C, have now warned that the other projects will face a similar backlash once their locations become known, threatening the success of the experiment.

  • netherlands cannabis flagMarijuana growers who have been selected to take part in the government’s controlled cultivation trials said that they will not be ready to start early next year as the government intends, NRC reported. Nine of 10 firms have written to ministers about the problems and some have spoken to the paper directly about the issues. The experiment should have begun to 2021 but is now due to start in the second quarter of 2023. But the growers now say the end of next year is a more likely date. As yet, some of the growers have been unable to get a bank account because of bank concerns about money laundering and supporting criminal behaviour. High energy prices, delays on the supply side and problems with the track&trace system which will monitor where the marijuana products go and are sold are also causing difficulties.

  • Many Dutch municipalities are dissatisfied with the current preliminary design of the government's experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation. Where municipalities queued to participate in the experiment when it was announced, the government will now have difficulty in finding 10 municipalities to participate, according to the association of Dutch municipalities VNG. The VNG's main objection is that the experiment will not automatically be extended if it proves successful. That means that coffeeshop owners may have to return to illegal growers after the experiment. "That is immoral", mayor Paul Depla of Breda said. The final point of criticism for the VNG is the so-called 'resident criterion' - coffeeshops can only sell to Dutch residents.

  • When the Dutch government announced in October 2017 plans for an experiment with regulated cannabis production to supply the country’s famous coffee shops, the cannabis industry cautiously welcomed the idea. After more than two decades of increasing repression and criminalization, it seemed the government had finally turned the page and was taking its first step toward firm regulation. However, the initial enthusiasm has since faded as the rules and limitations of the experiment have become clear. The umbrella organization Cannabis Connect favours "phased implementation" — any coffee shop can join the experiment, and participating shops can maintain their current assortment while gradually adding new regulated cannabis to the menu.

  • The study aims to review and analyse the varied East African discourses on the effects of khat use on libido, fertility, transmission of HIV, prostitution and rape. Khat is associated, by consumers and its detractors alike, with changes in libido and sexual performance. Although there is no evidence to support their claims, detractors of khat use argue that khat causes sexual violence, causes women to enter sex work, and that chewing causes the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including the HIV virus.

    Download the publication (PDF)

  • cannabis leaf plantsLegalising cannabis can have major benefits for all citizens. If carried out correctly, everyone will benefit from less crime and stronger rule of law. Legalising the drug will especially help protect young people and may even lower their consumption of the drug. It is also a way of raising taxes for the state, instead of fuelling criminal organisations, which currently control the illegal market. These benefits are increasingly recognised by the public. Crucial to seeing these benefits come about, is the way legalising cannabis is done and how the drug is priced once it is made legal. These are the findings from researchI’ve carried out with colleagues in France. (Read also: Millions use cannabis, but figures for how many become dependent aren't reliable)

  • The Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis recently held a conference where it outlined the rules for social clubs and the sale of home-grown cannabis in Malta. The conference signalled the authority’s intention to move forward after a lull of almost a year. While news that cannabis social clubs – termed “Harm Reduction” clubs in an apparent nod to civil society – will be able to register for licences as from the end of this month, doubts have been raised as to whether the guidelines laid out by the authority will follow the spirit in which the law was written. In creating a safe environment for cannabis users, the clubs to be formed under the new regulations are meant to follow a non-profit model. However, reports from the conference say it did little to allay fears of business pouncing onto a new market.

  • netherlands coffeeshop rolling jointsEindhoven has followed The Hague and Amsterdam and decided not to take part in the government’s experiment with regulated marijuana cultivation, saying it cannot accept the terms and conditions for the experiment. ‘I realise that this goes against the offer I made the cabinet in 2017 to help to shape the experiment, but now the details are known, I have no choice but not to sign up,’ mayor John Jorritsma said in a statement. Jorritsma said the issue had been discussed with aldermen and local coffee shop owners, who are also unhappy at the position the trial puts them in. He also said he expects the net impact of the trial in terms of crime, public nuisance and health to be minimal.

  • El ayuntamiento de Barcelona ha ordenado el cierre de varias asociaciones de consumidores de cannabis después de su inspección por parte de técnicos municipales y agentes de la Guardia Urbana. Las inspecciones a los clubs se iniciaron en 2021, después de que el Tribunal Supremo tumbara la regulación de clubs aprobada en el ayuntamiento en 2016. Por ahora se desconoce el número de clubs afectados que han recibido una comunicación ordenando el cierre. El año pasado ya se realizó una campaña de inspecciones sobre los más de 200 clubs que tenía registrados la ciudad y, aunque se abrieron expedientes a unos 80 de ellos, finalmente sólo se ordenó el cierre de un club en el que se encontraron otras sustancias distintas al cannabis.

  • Eduardo Blasina es un agrónomo que se hizo empresario en 2010, cuando el gobierno de Uruguay dio señales claras de que la regulación de la marihuana iba en serio. Era el primer país del mundo en abrir la producción y el consumo de las flores de cannabis y había que corresponder la audacia. En 2017 fue uno de los cultivadores que dio vida a una de las dos empresas autorizadas a producir este enervante con fines recreativos y venderlo en unas cuantas farmacias distribuidas en el territorio. El entusiasmo se enfrió por un problema de costos. El precio en los puntos de venta es fijado por el gobierno a través del Instituto de Regulación del Cannabis: un dólar por gramo, cuando lo óptimo sería de cinco a seis dólares por unidad de medida. “No hay margen”, dice Blasina.

  • germany flag cannabisLa legalización del cannabis podría reportar a Alemania unos ingresos fiscales anuales y un ahorro de costos de unos 4.700 millones de euros (5.340 millones de dólares), además de crear 27.000 nuevos puestos de trabajo, según una encuesta realizada, mientras políticos discuten las normas para el incipiente sector. El estudio realizado por el Instituto de Economía de la Competencia (DICE, por sus siglas en alemán) y encargado por la Asociación Alemana del Cáñamo, concluyó que la legalización podría generar unos ingresos fiscales adicionales de unos 3.400 millones de euros al año. Al mismo tiempo, podría suponer un ahorro de costos en el sistema policial y judicial de 1.300 millones de euros al año, al tiempo que crearía decenas de miles de puestos de trabajo en la economía del cannabis.

  • Karl LauterbachEl ministro federal de Salud de Alemania, Karl Lauterbach (socialdemócrata), pasa a la ofensiva de la legalización del cannabis, aunque con un optimismo moderado. La autoridad presentó los puntos clave del proyecto, por lo que la discusión de si el cannabis debe ser legalizado o no ya no es tema, sino solo el cómo y cuándo. El proyecto comenzará a ponerse en marcha, tras largas consultas con casi todos los ministerios federales. El siguiente paso será coordinarse a nivel europeo. En Alemania, pese a los avances, aún no está claro si la legalización podrá llevarse a cabo en el corto plazo, debido a que se debe esperar a lo que diga la Comisión Europea, para luego presentar un proyecto de ley. (Véase también: Alemania abre la vía a la legalización del cannabis)

  • france cannabis2El informe favorable a la legalización del cannabis elaborado por un consejo de economistas que asesora al primer ministro hizo resurgir el debate sobre esta sustancia en Francia, país que presenta uno de los mayores índices de consumo. Tras la difusión del documento, diputados de cuatro grupos políticos, entre ellos cinco miembros de la mayoría "macronista" en la Asamblea Nacional, presentarán una proposición de ley para una "legislación controlada" del cannabis. El estudio del Consejo de Análisis Económico (CAE) constata que "pese a tener una de las políticas más represivas de Europa, los franceses, especialmente los menores, figuran entre los mayores consumidores de cannabis de la Unión Europea", por lo que "el sistema de prohibición promovido desde hace 50 años es un fracaso".

  • spain csc registroEl debate sobre la regulación integral del cannabis vuelve al Congreso con la admisión a trámite de una proposición de ley de ERC que demanda el acceso seguro al cannabis, tanto en el uso terapéutico como recreativo y que, de momento, contará con el voto a favor de Unidas Podemos y Más País. La iniciativa del grupo parlamentario republicano es exactamente la misma que registró en 2021 y que finalmente no llegó a debatirse al tramitarse una similar de Más País apoyada también por Unidas Podemos, y que fue rechazada por los votos del PSOE, PP y Vox. (Véase también: El Parlament de Catalunya reconoce la labor de los clubs de cannabis)