• French government ‘to close’ newly opened Paris cannabis coffee shops

    Darkness descends on ‘le weed light’
    The Independent (UK)
    Wednesday, June 20, 2018

    Along with the UK, France has among the strictest laws on Cannabis in western Europe, but despite this, huge queues have formed over the past few weeks at Paris’s new “Cofyshop” – the first place in the country to apparently sell legal cannabis. The premises, one of several to have popped up across the French capital in June, takes advantage of a new legal grey area following a clarification that national law allows for sales of low-THC, high-CBD strains of the drug. The shop’s products are said to contain just 0.2 per cent THC, meaning it has a negligible effect on the mind of the user. In addition the wares on offer are labelled “do not smoke”, as legally what they are selling people is simply hemp.

  • Record coca, record murders: the flipside of “peace” in southern Colombia

    Even as the FARC disarms, other groups battle for the lucrative drugs trade and kill anyone who stands in their way
    IRIN News (UN)
    Wednesday, June 20, 2018

    colombia coca fieldHundreds of Colombian farmers, activists, and community organisers have been killed over the past 18 months, despite the landmark peace deal that supposedly ended 52 years of war. For them, and for local leaders in the former conflict zones, the war – which left an estimated 220,000 dead and seven million displaced over five decades – didn’t end: it only became worse. Those who advocate for leaving behind the illegal coca economy that has long been the rural regions’ mainstay are growing increasingly desperate, as armed groups vie for the bountiful coca-producing areas and trafficking routes once controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which is disarming under the peace accord.

  • Senate passes pot bill, paving way for legal cannabis in 8 to 12 weeks

    Federal government's bill legalizing recreational cannabis passes 52-29
    CBC News (Canada)
    Tuesday, June 19, 2018

    canada trudeau cannabisSenators have voted to pass the federal government's bill legalizing recreational marijuana by a vote of 52-29, with two abstentions, paving the way for a fully legal cannabis market. "We've just witnessed a historic vote for Canada. The end of 90 years of prohibition," said Sen. Tony Dean, who sponsored the bill in the Senate. "Transformative social policy, I think. A brave move on the part of the government." Initially, the government had planned for the bill to be passed by both houses of Parliament in time for retail sales to begin by July 1. Now that the bill has passed, it's up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet to choose the actual date when the legalization of recreational marijuana becomes law of the land. (See also: Trudeau says pot will be legal as of Oct. 17, 2018)

  • Philippines' Duterte says no 'justice' for families of drugs war casualties

    The 73-year old leader’s popularity had not diminished, according to opinion polls
    Reuters (UK)
    Tuesday, June 19, 2018

    philippines stop killings2Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the families of people killed in his controversial war on drugs will not receive “justice”, rejecting calls from rights groups seeking redress for the thousands of deaths. More than 4,200 suspected drug dealers have been killed by police in Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign since June 2016, as well as several thousand more by unknown gunmen who authorities have described as vigilantes, or rival gang members. Rights groups and critics of the campaign say some of the killings were summary executions. He also reiterated that he would not allow the police and the military to go to jail for killing drug users and pushers.

  • Cannabis war 'comprehensively lost', says William Hague

    Conservatives should be as "bold" as Canada where state-regulated recreational consumption was being considered
    BBC News (UK)
    Tuesday, June 19, 2018

    Former Conservative leader Lord Hague has called for a "decisive change" in the law on cannabis - suggesting that the Tories should consider legalising recreational use of the drug. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said "any war" has been "irreversibly lost". Lord Hague goes further than senior Tories who have suggested a law change after a boy with epilepsy was given a special licence to use cannabis oil. The government is creating an expert panel to look into individual cases. It will not be looking at the legalisation or decriminalisation of the drug for recreational use, something Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out "because of the impact that [it has] on people's lives". (See also: Home Office rejects Hague's call for cannabis laws to be relaxed)

  • Hunt wants swift review of cannabis oil law after Billy Caldwell case

    Health secretary defends speed of government’s action in granting boy with epilepsy a temporary licence
    The Guardian (UK)
    Monday, June 18, 2018

    The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said he backs the use of medicinal cannabis oil and called for a swift legal review after an emergency licence was provided to Billy Caldwell, a boy with severe epilepsy whose medication had been confiscated. In response to Hunt’s remarks, Labour announced it would legalise cannabis oil for medical purposes if it was in government. Billy was discharged from hospital on Monday after being admitted in a “life-threatening” condition on Friday. Labour’s announcement follows calls from a growing coalition of cross-partisan MPs, experts, campaigners and families whose children also have severe epilepsy, for an urgent change to the law.

  • After law change, Greek medicinal users hope to enter cannabis business

    The number seeking medicinal cannabis has grown by thousands
    Kathimerini (Greece)
    June 18, 2018

    Greece legalised cannabis for medical use last year, and in March this year it lifted a ban on growing and producing it, in the hope of drawing foreign investment into the sector. The law permitting Greeks to grow cannabis has come as a relief to patients, who say that lifting the ban on using it was only half the battle, as long as it remained hard to get. The number seeking medicinal cannabis has grown "by thousands," said Konstantinos Syros, who heads the Organisation for Patients Supporting Medicinal Use of Cannabis. Imports of medicinal cannabis products were given the green light last year, but complicated regulations made it difficult to arrange.

  • Marijuana bill inches closer to passage with House vote

    Bill C-45 now heads back to the Senate for another debate
    CBC News (Canada)
    Monday, June 18, 2018

    The bill to legalize recreational marijuana has cleared another vote in the House of Commons — but it still has to get a final stamp of approval from an unpredictable Senate before it can become law. The Senate had proposed 46 amendments to The Cannabis Act but the Liberal government rejected several major ones last week — including one provision that would have affirmed the provinces' right to ban home cultivation of marijuana. MPs spent a portion of Monday and last week debating the Senate's amendments before 205 of them voted in favour of rejecting 13 of the proposed changes. NDP members supported the bill while the Conservatives voted against it. (See also: Gov't rep in Senate makes case for accepting marijuana bill as is)

  • New York moves toward legal marijuana with Health Dept. endorsement

    It would require the approval of the State Legislature
    The New York Times (US)
    Monday, June 18, 2018

    New York moved a significant step closer to legalizing recreational marijuana, as a study commissioned by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will recommend that the state allow adults to consume marijuana legally, the governor’s health commissioner said. The announcement by the commissioner, Howard Zucker, signals a broad turnaround for the administration of Mr. Cuomo, a second-term Democrat who said as recently as last year that marijuana was a “gateway drug.” “We looked at the pros, we looked at the cons, and when we were done, we realized that the pros outweighed the cons,” Dr. Zucker said, adding, “we have new facts.”

  • The year Mexico legalised drugs

    Yet, despite being deemed a major success, within six months the legislation was overturned
    History Extra (UK)
    Tuesday, June 19, 2018

    On 5 January 1940, Mexico's left-wing president, Lázaro Cárdenas, signed the new Federal Regulation of Drug Addiction into law. The new legislation was truly revolutionary: it swept away the old punitive edicts on drugs offences, authorised doctors to prescribe narcotics to addicts, established out-patient clinics to help these addicts, and made broader pleas to treat addicts as ill rather than as criminals. The selling and purchasing of small amounts of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and heroin, were effectively decriminalised. Small-scale drugs offenders were released from prison and the city’s drug addiction clinics. Police officers dramatically reduced arrests for drug crimes, and half a dozen drug dispensaries were established throughout Mexico City. (See also: Archivo Dr. Salazar)

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