Highs and lows in cannabis policy reform
Recent developments in cannabis regulation
Cannabis is the most widely produced and consumed illicit substance globally. A significant number of states have long engaged in soft defection from the UN drug control regime in relation to tolerant policies on the personal possession, cultivation and use of cannabis. Recently, there has been growing debate within political circles on the benefits of regulated cannabis markets. This has been driven by a number of factors, including the continuing illegality of supply, the associated and often violent involvement of criminal elements and the use of finite criminal justice resources. In this section you will find an overview of our most recent blogs on the issue.
Latest: Silver linings: U.S. State votes to legalize cannabis boost reform opportunities in the Americas, John Walsh, November 10, 2016
• A lot has happened and a lot has not happened: Demystifying the changes - Examination of the Jamaican experience, Vicki Hanson, October 20, 2016
• 2015 the Year of Ganja in Jamaica, Vicki Hanson, January 29, 2016
• Harsh sentences against the Pannagh cannabis club, Tom Blickman, December 30, 2015
• Cannabis policy reform in Europe: Bottom up rather than top down, Tom Blickman, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies No. 28, December 2014
• Mexico legislators consider regulating marijuana to protect human right, Zara Snapp, July 14, 2014
• The Netherlands is ready to regulate cannabis: The only obstacle is the current minister of Justice, Tom Blickman & Martin Jelsma, December 19, 2013
• A step back in Spanish drug policies: A de facto criminalisation of cannabis use? Inés Giménez, IDPC, December 19, 2013
• Uruguay’s pioneering cannabis regulation marks the tipping point in the failed war on drugs, TNI press release, December 10, 2013
• Support Pannagh: Stop prosecution and regulate social cannabis clubs, November 25, 2013
• The Transparent Chain: A revision of the Dutch coffee shop policy is long overdue, November 10, 2013
• Majority of the Dutch favour cannabis legalisation, Tom Blickman, October 4, 2013
• Uruguay moves one step closer to becoming first country to legally regulate marijuana, Hannah Hetzer, Drug Policy Alliance, August 6, 2013
• The present continuous of cannabis clubs in Catalonia, Sustainable Drug Policies Commission, March 30, 2013
• How does a Cannabis Social Club work? A visit to Trekt Uw Plant in Antwerp, Balázs Mészáros & Lena Oddbal, February 18, 2013
• The will of the voters: Colorado and Washington have put legal marijuana on the map, John Walsh, November 13, 2012
• Taking the initiative on legal marijuana: Voters in Washington State appear poised to approve legal, regulated marijuana, John Walsh, November 2, 2012
• Cannabis pass abolished? Not really: Half-baked compromise in Dutch government coalition agreement continues disastrous coffeeshop policy, Tom Blickman, October 30, 2012
• Portugal progresses toward integrated cannabis regulation: Proposed legislation would authorise growing for personal use and the creation of Cannabis Social Clubs, Martin Barriuso Alonso, October 25, 2012
• The Dutch 2012 election result and the coffeeshops: The future of the Dutch coffeeshops is in the hands of the liberal-conservative party, Tom Blickman, September 14, 2012
• Far but near: Marijuana reform in Mexico? The quest for a new "Mexican approach" to marihuana regulation, Jorge Hernández Tinajero, August 20, 2012
• Between collective organisation and commercialisation: The Cannabis Social Clubs at the cross-roads, by Martín Barriuso Alonso, August 9, 2012
• Cannabis regulation in Uruguay: "Someone has to be first ...", John Walsh & Martin Jelsma, July 17, 2012
• Cannabis reaches parliament: The debate on regulating Cannabis Social Clubs in the Basque country, Martín Barriuso Alonso, June 26, 2012
• Uruguayan Government Announces Unprecedented Plan for Legal, Regulated Marijuana Markets, Coletta Youngers, June 23, 2012
• Government opposes Copenhagen City Council on cannabis shops: In Parliament majority in favour of decriminalization unlikely, Tom Blickman, May 28, 2012
• Hollande will not go Dutch on cannabis: No major changes expected on drug policy in France, Tom Blickman, May 17, 2012
• Copenhagen wants controlled cannabis shops: Regulating the cannabis market after a failed attempt to re-criminalise, Tom Blickman, January 9, 2012
• Legal cannabis in Basque Country? Confusion about the regulation of cannabis social clubs, Tom Blickman, December 16, 2011
• Cannabis social club activists in Spain liberated, Tom Blickman, November 18, 2011
• Dutch government to ban tourists from cannabis shops? Tom Blickman, June 28, 2011
• The future of Dutch cannabis policy, Tom Blickman, March 14, 2011
• California's Proposition 19 Falls Short, but Moves the Marijuana Policy Debate Forward, John Walsh, November 3, 2010
• Kerlikowske draws the wrong conclusions: What can be learned from the Dutch cannabis experience? Martin Jelsma, August 16, 2010
• Budgetary benefits of cannabis regulation, Tom Blickman, April 20, 2010
• Regulating cannabis could help cut Dutch state deficit, Tom Blickman, April 14, 2010
