• Canada's doctors decline to join anti-marijuana campaign

    Doctor groups say they do not support any 'political messaging' on anti-drug issue
    CBC News (Canada)
    Saturday, August 16, 2014

    The main groups representing Canadian doctors have declared they will not participate in Health Canada's upcoming anti-drug campaign targeting young people. “The educational campaign has now become a political football on Canada's marijuana policy,” said a joint statement by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. “We did not, and do not, support or endorse any political messaging or political advertising on this issue.” (See also: Government working on new pot legislation)

  • Drug legalisation in the UK is a question of time

    Newsweek (US)
    Friday, August 15, 2014

    Twelve years ago, a promising young politician rose to speak in the British parliament. “I ask the Government not to return to retribution and war on drugs,” he said. “That has been tried, and we all know that it does not work.” He went on to criticise the government for “posturing with tough policies”, and “calling for crackdown after crackdown”, thereby “holding back the debate”. And when a vote was called, his was cast in support of “the possibility of legalisation and regulation”.

  • Medicinal cannabis and the caregiving community giving it away for free

    Marijuana legislation is being relaxed all over the world – but not in the UK, where the most unlikely of horticulturalists are taking the law into their own hands
    The Guardian (UK)
    Friday, August 15, 2014

    cannabis-growingEven though, in 1998, the Home Office granted GW Pharmaceuticals a license to grow cannabis in order to develop cannabinoid-based medicines, Britain is not following suit. Norman Baker, Lib Dem minister of state for crime prevention, called for more liberalised drug laws, and specifically the legalisation of cannabis grown for medicinal use. A coalition spokesman rejected his suggestion outright. And so those seeking cannabis for medicinal purposes must continue to chase it in the same way as recreational users, through the black market.

  • Barcelona shuts down 49 cannabis clubs

    The Local (Spain)
    Thursday, August 14, 2014

    solo-sociosAuthorities accused the clubs selling cannabis illegally and attempting to lure tourists to their premises. The Catalan federation of cannabis associations, CatFAC, appealed for dialogue between the authorities and the clubs. "We are aware that the administration does its job well and ensures the common good but this situation would be easier if, before it acts, it set clear rules for all cannabis associations," it said in a statement.

  • Colombian President Santos backs medical marijuana use

    BBC News
    Thursday, August 14, 2014

    Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said he supports the legalisation of marijuana for medical use. He said the measure - which is due to be voted on by Colombian lawmakers - would be a "compassionate response" to pain experienced by people with terminal illnesses. "We look favourably on the initiative on the medical and therapeutic use of marijuana," Santos told a drugs forum in the Colombian capital, Bogota. "It's a way to stop criminals from acting as intermediaries between the patient and a substance that is going to ease their suffering."

  • Täglich zehn Gramm von der Stadt

    WOZ Die Wochenzeitung (Schweiz)
    Donnerstag, 14 August 2014

    Schweizer Städte wollen mit der Cannabisabgabe experimentieren. Doch auf eidgenössischer Ebene scheint eine rechtliche Änderung unwahrscheinlich. «Die internationalen Entwicklungen, vor allem die Liberalisierungen des Cannabiskonsums in Colorado und Uruguay, haben neue Dynamik in die Diskussion gebracht», sagt Sandro Cattacin, Leiter der Genfer Projektgruppe für Cannabisvereine. In den Vereinen sollen KonsumentInnen eine täglich auf zehn Gramm begrenzte Menge erwerben können. Genf steht nicht allein: Eine Arbeitsgruppe aus Basel, Zürich, Bern und Genf trifft sich regelmässig.

  • Drugs minister calls for legalising cannabis for medicinal use

    Norman Baker will say in a letter to Jeremy Hunt that cannabis would help relieve symptoms of a range of medical conditions
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, August 13, 2014

    norman-bakerLiberalised drug laws should be introduced to legalise the widespread use of cannabis to relieve symptoms of certain medical conditions, including the side effects of chemotherapy, the drugs minister Norman Baker will say. Amid concerns that "credible people" are having to break the law to secure the only substance that can help to relieve their condition, Baker is writing to the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to call for a review of the medicinal properties of cannabis.

  • Marijuana crime: Are police turning 'a blind eye' to pot charges?

    'It's kind of the new vagrancy charge,' criminologist says
    CBC News (Canada)
    Tuesday, August 12, 2014

    canada-pot-flagIn Canada there appears to be "just a lack of enthusiasm on the part of police" to enforce possession laws. "There's a huge amount of discretion. It's kind of the new vagrancy charge, really," said Neil Boyd, professor and director of Simon Fraser University's school of criminology. A phone survey conducted by Ipsos Reid between Jan. 30 and Feb. 7, 2014, suggested that 70 per cent of 3,000 Canadians polled want to see pot possession either legalized or decriminalized.

  • Banks are slowly welcoming legal marijuana dealers

    Credit unions and banks are wary of running afoul of money laundering statutes
    The Washington Post (US)
    Tuesday, August 12, 2014

    A top federal official said that 105 banks and credit unions are doing business with legal marijuana sellers, suggesting that federal rules giving financial institutions the go-ahead to provide services to dealers are starting to work. The Obama administration in February gave the banking industry the green light to offer financing and accounts to pot distributors who can legally conduct business in 20 states and the District. Sellers hailed the decision as a step toward bringing marijuana commerce out of the shadows and into the mainstream financial system. But banking groups said the guidance did little to allay fears of doing business with companies whose products remain illegal under federal law.

  • Nonsense to arrest for a spliff

    Editorial
    The Gleaner (Jamaica)
    Monday, August 11, 2014

    The attorney general, Patrick Atkinson, must move with dispatch to determine, as the justice minister, Mark Golding, suggests, whether the police can proceed by issuing summonses to, rather than arresting, persons who are to be prosecuted for possession of small amounts of marijuana. The idea makes sense in the face of the Government's declared policy to decriminalise ganja use, but has added urgency following last week's death, apparently the result of a severe beating while in a Montego Bay police lock-up, of Mario Deane, who was arrested for a ganja cigarette. (See also: Ganja decision should not be based on votes)

Page 328 of 471