• Decriminalise drugs to meet users' right to good health, says UN official

    UN special rapporteur Dainius Pūras says in letter that repressive narcotic controls stop people seeking help and lead to violence
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, December 9, 2015

    dainius-purasAll drug use should be decriminalised and possession made free from the threat of lengthy prison terms, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to health has said, criticising punitive sanctions on users. In an open letter (pdf), Dainius Pu?ras throws down the gauntlet to governments with the claim that a focus on repressive drug control means they are failing to meet their treaty obligations to realise citizens’ rights to good health. He argues that punitive measures against drug users and dealers drive many people away from health services and have led to epidemic levels of violence.

  • Cannabis industry, advocates trying to find right balance on marijuana legalization

    Growing disconnect between businesses that could fund further legalization efforts and advocates for social justice and public policy as opposed to profit margins
    Marijuana Business Daily (US)
    Wednesday, December 9, 2015

    cannabis-parade-nycBusiness and advocates both play a key role in furthering marijuana legalization, but finding the ideal balance is proving difficult. That was particularly evident with Ohio’s ill-fated legalization measure, which seemed to shove aside the wants and needs of traditional advocates and marijuana supporters in favor of big businesses and investors. The issue resurfaced again last week when a former Marijuana Policy Project official pegged the industry’s growing influence on legalization efforts as a reason for his departure from the influential organization. (Netflix Co-Founder Mitch Lowe: Who’s Driving the $60 Billion Cannabis Market Revolution?)

  • California’s leading legalization initiative gathers momentum

    AUMA consolidated support from the main rival legalization group
    East Bay Express (US)
    Tuesday, December 8, 2015

    California’s leading legalization initiative is gathering momentum, and has announced amendments that add input from hundreds of stakeholders. Proponents of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) formally amended their initiative with the Secretary of State — boosting protections for children, workers, and small canna-businesses. The board of ReformCA, a rival to AUMA, formally withdrew its own proposal, and six ReformCA Board Members voiced their support for AUMA.

  • Decriminalizing drugs: When treatment replaces prison

    Decriminalization doesn’t work alone. You need to invest heavily in public health response
    The New York Times (US)
    Tuesday, December 8, 2015

    joao-goulart-decrimCities all over the US are copying Seattle’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, in which police officers put low-level drug offenders into treatment and social services instead of jail. It is hard to imagine US Congress decriminalizing drugs, but easy to imagine that soon, any debate at the national level may be irrelevant. Where will that take us? We can look at what happened in various countries that have decriminalized drugs.

  • Canada’s next big move? It may be legalizing pot

    About 450,000 potential daily customers represent an industry worth 1.2 billion Canadian dollars — about $900 million
    The Washington Post (US)
    Sunday, December 6, 2015

    canada-pot-flag2The new Liberal government has promised to act quickly to legalize marijuana for general use, which would make Canada the first Group of 20 country to end cannabis prohibition. The Liberals point out that more than 600,000 Canadians have criminal records for simple possession of marijuana and that the number continues to grow. Some fear the concentration of corporate power into “Big Pot,” with the kind of vested interests associated with global alcohol and tobacco companies. (Going to pot? Canada leads way in legalizing marijuana)

  • Three types of marijuana to hit Uruguayan pharmacies in 2016

    Marijuana will be sold in Uruguay at about $1 per gram, with locals allowed to buy up to 40 grams per month
    Reuters
    Sunday, December 6, 2015

    milton-romani2Uruguayans will be able to choose from three varieties of state-sanctioned cannabis when marijuana starts being sold in pharmacies next year, the National Drug Board said. Each variety will have different levels of the mind-altering compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), believed to soften the impacts of THC, said the board's president, Milton Romani. "There will be three options with indications about the effects of each that point beginners toward starting with the lowest level" of THC, Romani said.

  • Chile president: Marijuana no longer on ‘hard drug’ list

    Chile is joining an international trend of easing restrictions on marijuana for medical or personal use
    The Washington Post (US)
    Friday, December 4, 2015

    Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has signed a decree that removes marijuana from the country’s list of hard drugs. The decree also authorizes the sale of cannabis-derived medicines at pharmacies. Planting, selling and transporting marijuana remains illegal in Chile and carries prison terms of 5-10 years. But Congress is expected to soon debate wider changes to Chile’s drug law.

  • Big Marijuana is coming — and even legalization supporters are worried

    Is the industry taking over the movement?
    Vox (US)
    Wednesday, December 2, 2015

    Ohioans rejected a very unusual marijuana legalization proposal. Beyond legalizing pot, the ballot initiative would have given campaign donors direct rights to the state's 10 pot farms as an explicit gift for their support. Even legalization advocates argued it was a flagrant display of would-be members of the pot industry trying to cash in on a movement motivated primarily by social justice issues. Some legalization backers are increasingly concerned that the interests of the pot industry, which will grow more and more as legalization spreads, will take priority over the public's best interests.

  • Mexico's president condemns legal marijuana push amid national debate

    Enrique Peña Nieto says he is open to discussion but asks: ‘Should we put children’s health at risk in order to combat organized crime?’
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, December 2, 2015

    Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto has come out strongly against legalizing marijuana on the same day his government announced a national public debate on the issue. He suggested the recent, informal debate on the issue has already created confusion, even among his own children. Mexico’s supreme court ruled in November that growing, possessing and smoking marijuana for recreation is legal under the right to freedom, but that ruling applied only to the four people involved in the case.

  • Dutch cannabis grower revels in court victory

    In the Netherlands wholesale growing and sale of marijuana remains banned, forcing coffee shop owners to buy from criminals to meet the demand
    Asia One / Reuters
    Tuesday, December 1, 2015

    doede-de-jongOnce in his greenhouse in a remote Dutch village, Doede de Jong nurtured a thriving cannabis crop to sell to local users. Now only five plants remain, after the police moved in. Yet the 66-year-old Dutchman remains unbowed after winning a court victory despite deliberately flouting the country's drugs laws. In a verdict that could have major implications for cannabis growers in The Netherlands, a court found De Jong guilty of breaking the law, but refused to hand down a sentence, arguing that his enterprise was quite distinct from that of real criminals who rake in huge, illicit profits.

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