• Legalising marijuana: An intoxicating affair

    Over the past four years, support for de-criminalising cannabis has come from various lawmakers, be it for medicinal use or recreational
    India Legal (India)
    Sunday, June 17, 2018

    Wild cannabis in UttarakhandCannabis, hemp, pot, ganja, bhang – call it what you wish, but there’s no denying that the venerable, yet also reviled, plant has been endemic to the Indian subcontinent and the use of its derivatives as medicine or recreational drugs is common among spiritual (particularly Shaivites) and ordinary folk alike. Yet today, as the world is waking up to the potential of exploiting cannabis for medicinal use and accepting the rationality behind making marijuana a legal recreational drug, the five-bladed leaf remains a banned substance under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. In an article for web portal The Print, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, argued for legalisation of marijuana in India, “the land of bhang”.

  • Maroc : Le kif, une drogue néfaste pour l’environnement rifain

    Connue notamment pour la culture du cannabis, la région du Rif en paie le prix écologique. Des associations locales de défense de l’environnement ont lancé l’alerte ...Suite : https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/66091/maroc-drogue-nefaste-pour-l-environnement.html
    Yabiladi (Maroc)
    Dimanche, 17 juin 2018

    morocco cannabis2Dans un article fouillé, EFE est récemment partie à la rencontre d’acteurs associatifs locaux du Rif, qui alertent sur les dangers environnementaux de la culture non réglementée du cannabis. Mohamed Andaloussi, président de l’Association Azir, en fait partie. Cela fait plusieurs années qu’il œuvre, depuis Al Hoceïma, pour la protection de cet écosystème montagneux. Cité par l’agence de presse espagnole, il estime que les champs de cannabis représentent près de la moitié de la superficie des hauteurs rifaines, étendues sur environ 20 000 km² et comprenant les provinces de Tétouan, de Chefchaouen, d’Al Hoceïma et de Nador.

  • Reform of drug laws begins as bill passes first reading

    New narcotics laws to decriminalise drug users and legalise the controlled use of kratom and marijuana passed first reading at the National Legislative Assembly
    The Nation (Thailand)
    Sunday, June 17, 2018

    The National Legislative Assembly passed by a landslide vote the three narcotics control policy bills, which are an effort by authorities to reform official drug policies and tackle the problem of overcrowded prisons. Academics praised the new laws as heading in the right direction, but cautioned that there remained the need for clear regulations to help prevent drug abuse and segregate drug users from drug dealers. Deputy Prime Minister ACM Prachin Chantong said that the three bills will later be merged into a single law regulating various aspects of drug issues. The final bill will aim to legalise a limited use of narcotics for medical, science and industrial purposes, while enhancing the rehabilitation of drug users and limiting the spread of drug abuse in society.

  • Portugal's parliament legalises cannabis-based medicines

    The bill now goes to President Marcelo Rebelo de Souza to be signed into law
    Reuters (UK)
    Friday, June 15, 2018

    Portugal’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill to legalise marijuana-based medicines, after rejecting earlier proposals to allow patients to grow the drug at home. Only one party, the centre-right CDS-PP, abstained in the vote in parliament legalising marijuana-based prescription drugs to treat chronic pain, post traumatic stress disorder, side effects from cancer therapy, and some other ailments. Portugal decriminalised the use of all drugs in 2001 to fight a heroin epidemic, and has legal plantations growing marijuana products for export.

  • Cannabis petition reaches vote threshold in under 24 hours

    Petition to legalise 'coffee shops' selling cannabis in Luxembourg will now be debated by lawmakers
    Luxembourg Times (Luxembourg)
    Thursday, June 14, 2018

    It took very little time for petition 1031 on the Luxembourg government's website – calling for the legal sale of cannabis in 'coffee shops' – to reach the 4,500-signature threshold. This means the petition will now be debated in parliament. A coffee shop based on the Dutch model – and, therefore, the legalisation of cannabis sales under controlled conditions – is the aim of petition 1031, filed in May on the Chamber of Deputies website. The petitioner cites a current policy of "acquiescence" in the sale and consumption of cannabis and argues for legalisation to curb drug trafficking in Luxembourg. The petition claims coffee shops would not only reduce pressure on police forces but also create jobs. (See also: Va-​​t-​​on vers une légalisation du cannabis?)

  • Sweden's zero-tolerance drug policy should be reviewed: narcotics officer

    The EU's drugs monitoring centre ranked Sweden as the country with the second highest rate of drugs fatalities
    The Local (Sweden)
    Thursday, June 14, 2018

    Sweden's current policy is based on the goal of a "drug-free society" and makes no distinction between "hard" and "soft" drugs. Those found guilty of possession or usage can face fines and a mark on their criminal record, sanctions that Lennart Karlsson, chairman of the Swedish Narcotics Police Officers Association (Svenska narkotikapolisföreningen) argued were counter-productive. "The most vulnerable people in society who have addiction problems often have economic problems and no way of paying. Giving them fines is ineffectual," Karlsson told SVT Nyheter. Instead, he argued that more money should be invested in treating addictions -- though he doesn't support a complete removal of the sanctions. (See also: Number of cannabis users in Sweden hits all-time high)

  • Pot legalization battle brewing as government rejects key Senate change

    Provinces’ right to ban homegrown cannabis emerging as key issue for some senators
    CBC News (Canada)
    Wednesday, June 13, 2018

    The federal government is rejecting several Senate changes to its cannabis legalization bill, setting the stage for a possible showdown between the Senate and the House of Commons. The Senate has proposed 46 amendments, and while the government is accepting some of them, it is passing on several major ones. According to the House's order paper, the changes the government plans to reject include: affirming the provinces' right to ban home cultivation of marijuana; banning branded promotional items; and establishing a public registry of all cannabis companies' directors, officers, controlling parent corporations or trusts, and their directors, members and shareholders. (See also: Trudeau battles provinces, Senate for right of Canadians to grow cannabis)

  • Pledge to arm Philippine community chiefs sparks 'Wild West' fears

    The proposed plan to offer firearms to barangay chiefs was slammed by opposition politicians
    The Telegraph (UK)
    Wednesday, June 13, 2018

    The Philippines interior ministry plans to acquire pistols for community leaders willing to fight crime, sparking fears of more lawless bloodshed in the country’s violent crackdown on drugs. Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine president, said that he was considering arming community leaders, known as “barangay” captains, after pledging that officials who opted to fight the war against drugs would have his full support. Last week he promised to provide the same legal protection to barangay captains as he did to soldiers or police, vowing that they “will never go to jail” if they shot suspected criminals while performing their official duties.

  • 7 mayors want pot removed from federal list of illegal drugs

    “Eventually, legalization will come to every state — and we want to make sure it’s done so safely and effectively”
    The Associated Press (US)
    Tuesday, June 12, 2018

    Mayors from seven U.S. cities in states with legal marijuana have formed a coalition to push for federal marijuana policy reform just days after President Donald Trump expressed support for bipartisan congressional legislation to ease the federal ban on pot. Mayors from Denver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and West Sacramento — all in marijuana-friendly states — sponsored a resolution at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Boston that asked the U.S. government to remove cannabis from a list of illegal drugs, among other things. It was approved unanimously by the broader gathering Monday, Larry Jones said, a spokesman for the conference.

  • How mapping marijuana DNA could change the future of pot

    Scientists hope that a "cannabis genome" could mean better results for growers and patients – but will it allow big pharma to take over?
    Rolling Stone (US)
    Tuesday, June 12, 2018

    Scientists are currently in the midst of exploring uncharted territory: The cannabis genome. Unlike with other plants, researchers don't have a long history of closely analyzing the genetic makeup of the plant. But for the past seven years – as more and more states legalize medical and recreational pot – researchers have been working on producing a high-quality marijuana genome. Everyone from low-level researchers to larger companies are part of this effort, and they say mapping the cannabis genome could be highly beneficial to people who grow or use cannabis. Phylos Bioscience released its first reference genome for cannabis at the end of 2016.

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