A leading think tank today called for cannabis to be sold over the counter in pharmacies — and said legalisation for adult recreational use is a matter of “when, not if”.  The Adam Smith Institute, a non-profit organisation that promotes free-market socially liberal ideas and has strong links to the Conservative Party, said the best way for the next Tory government to tackle serious youth violence and knife crime is to legalise cannabis. Its report, “The Green Light — how legalising and regulating cannabis will reduce crime, protect children and improve safety”, calls for a Colorado-type free-market model augmented by elements of the Canadian public health approach, namely educating the public as to the harms of cannabis via product label warnings and public information campaigns.

Caribbean states face challenges of youth involvement in crime, violence, gangs and other anti-social activities. It is not uncommonly heard the “drug problem” is to be blamed for this. This briefing wants to show this relation is far more complex and often misunderstood.

Download the full report (PDF)

A Labour government would initiate discussions on the use of cannabis for recreational use in Malta, eventually leading to its regularisation and taking it out of the hands of drug traffickers, according to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. The Labour Party is not alone in calling for a national discussion on the regularisation of cannabis. Both the Nationalist Party and the Partit Demokratiku are calling for a debate, seemingly making the three parties in favour of legalising recreational cannabis. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil called for a discussion based on scientific research, which would in turn provide an informed decision on its possible implementation.

Malta ha legalizado el cultivo y consumo de cannabis con fines recreativos. La norma, pionera en la Unión Europea, se ha podido tramitar gracias a la mayoría del Partido Laborista y sus 36 votos frente a los 27 de la oposición. La ley, que ha sido aprobada en su tercera lectura, deberá ser ratificada por el presidente de la república, George Vella, aunque su firma no es más que un formalismo. Sólo tendrán acceso al cannabis, de manera legal, los mayores de 18 años. Además, la legislación estipula un límite de posesión de cannabis y sus derivados, como el hachís, que ha estimado en 7 gramos —aunque la pena por tener entre 7 y 28 oscilará entre los 50 y 100 euros— y se podrán cultivar hasta cuatro plantas, conservando en el domicilio hasta 50 gramos de la hoja de dicha planta. 

El senador Miguel Ángel Mancera aseguró que hay condiciones para que en el próximo periodo ordinario de sesiones la Cámara Alta concluya el proceso de regularización de la marihuana. En entrevista, el coordinador del PRD en el Senado de la República reconoció que la resolución de la Primera Sala de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN), que declaró inconstitucional penalizar la posesión de más de 5 gramos de marihuana, sienta un precedente muy importante. Además, aseguró que este fallo del Máximo Tribunal del país le vuelve a marcar al Senado la necesidad de concluir la tarea legislativa que tiene pendiente en este tema.

Hay una "infinidad" de testimonios de hoteleros que se lo hacen saber a las autoridades del Ministerio de Turismo (Mintur): una de las pregunta repetida por los turistas es si pueden comprar marihuana de forma legal. Sin embargo, para los jerarcas no es una prioridad "desarrollar" una línea de turismo cannábico y el tema no está en la agenda, aseguró el ministro Germán Cardoso. El tema volvió a discutirse esta semana luego de que el secretario de la Junta Nacional de Drogas (JND), Daniel Radío, dijera que sería un "incentivo adicional para el turismo" que los visitantes extranjeros puedan acceder a la marihuana a través del mercado legal. "Hay turistas que vienen a Uruguay a comprar marihuana y, como no pueden hacerlo, acaban en el mercando negro", dijo el jerarca a El País

Doce parlamentarios de distintas fuerzas políticas anunciaron que trabajarán conjuntamente para formular una política de drogas desde el enfoque de la salud pública y la regulación del consumo. Este grupo está de acuerdo en que el paradigma con el que se ha enfrentado esta problemática debe cambiar y su primer proyecto será reglamentar el uso de la marihuana recreativa en Colombia. El objetivo es ambicioso: cambiar una política de drogas que ha reinado en Colombia y el mundo por más de 30 años; desarrollar el punto de drogas del Acuerdo de Paz, que implica garantías de sustitución de cultivos ilícitos; asegurar las inversiones de los Planes de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial (PDET), y combatir la política prohibicionista, basada en la penalización del consumo.

Cuando ya había fecha para la inauguración del Museo del Cannabis, las expectativas recayeron sobre qué novedades traería en cuanto a la regulación vigente. "Todos están esperando tus anuncios, ¿eh?," le dijeron a Daniel Radío, secretario general de la Secretaría Nacional de Drogas y presidente del Instituto de Regulación y Control del Cannabis (Ircca). No hubo ningún anuncio. La posibilidad de que se habilitara la venta de cannabis también a turistas ya había sido descartada. Los consumidores que están dentro del sistema - a través de la compra en farmacias, por asociación a clubes cannábicos o por autocultivo - coinciden en que hay algunos aspectos de la regulación que deberían modificarse.

La Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) determinó otorgar al Congreso nueva prórroga para la aprobación de la legislación relativa a la regulación de la marihuana con fines lúdicos. Antes de que se aprobara la disposición, los legisladores tenían hasta el 30 de abril de 2020 para adecuar la legislación. El 31 de octubre de 2018, la Suprema Corte de Justicia emitió la declaratoria de inconstitucionalidad 1/2018, para el caso de la marihuana, en la que ordenó eliminar de la Ley General de Salud los artículos que prohíben el uso lúdico, al considerarlo violatorios del derecho al libre desarrollo de la personalidad. La Corte concedió el 29 de octubre del 2019 una primera prórroga al Congreso para dar cumplimiento a la sentencia, tras la petición que le formularon los legisladores.

Cases of substance-use disorders are exactly what the federal government is hoping to avoid in its push to legalize recreational marijuana, and they may be the biggest test of whether legalization is ultimately successful. They could also prove to be immensely challenging. That it’s even possible to become dependent on cannabis could come as a surprise to many, especially young people. A survey conducted by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), published last year, found that a majority of youth were unaware that cannabis can be addictive and lead to withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana use among young people has declined over the past few years, but Canada still has one of the highest rates in the developed world.

The Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana has green-lighted recreational and medicinal marijuana, insisting that Bahamians should own 51 percent of the industry in a legalized framework. The preliminary report, which was leaked to the media, features recommendations from various subcommittees on the medical, economic, religious and recreational use of cannabis in The Bahamas. Several parts of the report have not yet been completed and remain under review by the commission. “The Bahamas must have ownership of the cannabis industry so that Bahamians can have their share of the pie,” the report states. (See also: Nearly 7,000 people arrested for cannabis since 2014 | Set cannabis tax below 10 percent, says commission)

It's been a five years since Colorado's voters approved Constitutional Amendment 64, legalizing recreational marijuana in the state. Sales commenced four years ago this January. Although the amendment passed by a comfortable 10-point margin, the debate in Colorado has continued since prohibition ended, most recently flaring up with an editorial published in the Colorado Springs Gazette. The Gazette's editorial board referred to what has happened in Colorado as "an embarrassing cautionary tale," presenting a laundry list of the purported ill-effects of the change in the law. However, evidence from Colorado shows that marijuana legalization does not lead to increased teen usage, does not lead to increased homelessness, and does not lead to societal breakdown.

Banning a plant with hundreds of industrial and medical uses was never going to work out well, but 2022 saw marijuana prohibition reach peak absurdity, not to mention peak confusion for consumers and new businesses trying to make sense of it all. At first glance, cannabis reform appears to be humming along smoothly. Maryland, Missouri and Rhode Island approved legalization initiatives in 2022 as states such as New Mexico and New York raced to establish regulations for legal recreational sales. New laws in mostly blue states expunged cannabis arrests from criminal records for thousands of people. President Joe Biden made moves to pardon federal marijuana prisoners and reconsider the federal “scheduling” of marijuana...

Legal marijuana in Colorado may not bring in enough money to cover the societal costs of legalization, a study from a Colorado State University think tank concludes. The analysis also argues that revenue from marijuana taxes won't do much to help Colorado's budget and that money generated for new school construction won't reach the $40 million annual target that supporters of marijuana legalization set when campaigning for Amendment 64, the measure that legalized use, limited possession and commercial sale of marijuana for adults in Colorado.

Proponents of marijuana prohibition have long alleged that experimentation with pot acts as a “gateway” to the use and eventual abuse of other illicit substances. But the results of a just released national poll finds that most Americans no longer believe this claim to be true. According to survey data compiled by YouGov.com, fewer than one in three US citizens agree with the statement, “the use of marijuana leads to the use of hard drugs.” Among those respondents under the age of 65, fewer than one in four agree.

Two years after the sale of marijuana was legalized in Canada, and researchers have yet to see the feared increase in use, says Michael Boudreau, a criminology professor at St. Thomas University. About six per cent of Canadians report they consume cannabis on a daily basis, a number that's remained unchanged from before legalization. "So there, we're not seeing a skyrocket use of cannabis," said Boudreau. In fact, use of cannabis in the age bracket of 15 to 17 has been cut in half, down to 10 per cent from the 20 per cent it was before legalization. But cannabis consumption for those between the ages of 18 and 24 is 33 per cent, which Boudreau said is relatively unchanged. (See: ‘The kids are alright’: reflections on two years of legal cannabis in Canada)

Rates of adolescent marijuana use and abuse have declined across the US, according to a study that casts doubts on one of the central arguments against legalizing weed. Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis surveyed 216,852 teenagers from all 50 states and found that the number of adolescents with marijuana-related disorders dropped by 24% from 2002 to 2013. Overall teen pot use also decreased by 10%, despite the fact that more than a dozen states legalized medical marijuana and decriminalized the drug during that time. (See also: No, legal weed is not ‘dumbing down’ the nation’s teens)

This year was a big one for marijuana in the U.S. From a first-ever congressional vote on federally legalizing cannabis to another large state ending its own prohibition law, 2019 saw the marijuana movement make advances on several fronts. In November, the House Judiciary Committee made history by becoming the first congressional panel to approve a bill to end federal marijuana prohibition. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, if enacted into law, would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and fund programs to begin repairing the harms of the war on drugs, which has been waged disproportionately against communities of color.

Au début de l’été, le conseil de Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma a voté en faveur de la commande d’une étude sur les opportunités de cultiver du cannabis dans la région. Le rapport serait confié à l’Institut scientifique de l’Université Mohammed V à Rabat, pour un coût avoisinant le million de dirhams (plus de 90 000 euros), mais le ministère de l’Intérieur doit encore donner son feu vert. Abdellatif Adebibe, président d’une association de la région et fervent partisan de la légalisation de la production, met en garde. Une légalisation de la culture ne signifierait pas une amélioration rapide des conditions de vie des paysans. Il plaide pour une culture « restreinte à la région productrice historique, le Rif, où elle s’accorde avec un mode de vie ».

A la vielle de la promulgation de la loi sur les usages légaux, la Coordination des zones d'origine du cannabis, qui se compose d'agriculteurs et de descendants de cultivateurs de cannabis dans les régions historiques des provinces d'Al Hoceima et de Chefchaouen est mobilisée. Elle a, en effet, rencontré tous les partis politiques représentés à la Chambre des représentants pour leur présenter son mémorandum. La coordination défend aussi l’usage récréatif du cannabis. «Cela se fera à l'image des pays ayant légalisé le cannabis», explique ce membre qui ajoute qu’il s’agit d’un «marché noir que l’Etat doit exploiter, sinon il tombera entres les mains de barons, de gangs et de cartels». (Lire aussi: Abdelouafi Laftit sur la légalisation du cannabis : “Nous n'avons plus de temps à perdre”)