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Australia spends billions ‘failing to police’ cannabis that earns black market $25bn a year, Greens say
David Shoebridge says legalising the drug would bring in $28bn in tax revenue in first decade
The Guardian (UK)
Friday, March 17, 2023
Australia’s cannabis industry could be earning the black market $25bn a year and, rather than policing it, we could be gaining revenue from it by legalising it, Greens senator David Shoebridge has said. “Law enforcement is spending billions of public dollars failing to police cannabis, and the opportunity here is to turn that all on its head by legalising it,” he said. In answer to a question from Shoebridge during Senate estimates on how much cannabis Australians consumed, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (Acic) provided data from the nation’s wastewater which found 14.6 kilograms of THC (the psychoactive compound found in cannabis) per thousand people a year. -
These are the rules cannabis associations will have to follow
New legal notice spells out fines, membership rules and paperwork requirements
Times of Malta (Malta)
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Cannabis associations that sell to non-members or minors will face fines of up to €10,000, with the associations also required to cough up money for harm reduction and community projects. A newly-published legal notice spells out what cannabis associations in Malta will need to do to obtain a permit allowing them to sell cannabis to registered members - from what records they must keep to who they can employ. The legal notice comes 15 months after the government effectively legalised recreational cannabis and weeks after the sector's new regulator started accepting registration applications. (See also: Small cannabis clubs should be able to cultivate weed in grow tents – Releaf) -
Lauterbach wants to present new proposal
Besides critical voices, there is also support for the legalisation project
Legal Tribune Online (Germany)
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Germany's Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is sticking to his legalisation plans. In the coming weeks, he will present a proposal for cannabis legalisation that conforms to European law. "In the meantime, we have changed the original key point paper somewhat," Lauterbach said, without giving details. The proposal that he will present will be in conformity with European law on the one hand, and on the other hand will achieve the goals of the Federal Government. Scientists from Nijmegen University concluded in an expert report that the introduction of a state-controlled, national cannabis licensing system by an EU member state is possible under certain conditions in accordance with European and international law. -
Farmers say making dagga legal has only made them poorer
Eastern Cape remains the province with the highest number of cannabis and hemp licences issued in South Africa
Scrolla (South Africa)
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Small-scale cannabis farmers in the rural parts of the Eastern Cape are feeling the pinch of obtaining farming licences. This is particularly difficult for a 27-year-old farmer who has been involved in the cannabis industry for the past four years. Originally from Mcobothini, in Lusikisiki, the farmer has managed to find a secluded area where he plants approximately 500 trees of cannabis annually with plans to expand his production. “Obtaining cannabis farming licences has proven to be more difficult than I thought, but they have promised to come up with a way forward,” he said. He said another problem is that licences are only issued to cooperatives — and not to individuals. -
Is legalisation a human rights imperative?
Criminal law scholars from the University of Nijmegen show that cannabis legalisation in Germany could succeed under European and international law
Legal Tribune Online (Germany)
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Does the cannabis legalisation planned by the German government's traffic lights coalition violate European law and relevant UN agreements? While Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) presented an expert opinion by law professor Bernhard Wegener from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Munich, who answered this question with a clear "yes", LTO has received an unpublished legal study by two scientists from the University of Nijmegen, which comes to the opposite conclusion. They examined the relevant EU Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, which obliges Member States to criminalise any form of illicit trafficking in drugs and thus also in cannabis. -
Jamaican ganja farmers outraged after licence granted to import Canadian herb
"I am very angry that a country that does not allow Jamaican imports or exports from Jamaica into their market could be granted permission to export to Jamaica”
Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Some local ganja farmers are fuming over reports that a licence has been granted to a company to import Canadian cannabis into Jamaica. Speaking inside the ‘Jamaica Cannabis Industry Forum’ WhatsApp group, President of the Jamaica Cannabis Licensed Association, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, asked growers to figuratively “holster [their] weapons and keep [their] powder dry”, noting that the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) was aware of the ire created within the local industry following the latest development. (See also: Hylton slams Hill’s ‘dubious’ claim on ganja imports | Gov't to formulate local cannabis policy following Canadian company backlash)
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Talks with bank to offer services to cannabis associations
Licensing of associations starts at the end of February
Times of Malta (Malta)
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
The authorities are having talks with a leading bank with a view that it could offer services to non-profit organisations running cannabis associations, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told parliament. He was replying to a parliamentary question by Cressida Galea (PL). She noted that as from the end of this month, NGOs running the associations may apply for a licence to supply cannabis to their members. She asked if talks are being held with the banks to ensure that these NGOs do not end up having their banking services restricted because of the nature of their business. The minister in confirming the talks with a bank, said that talks will also be held with other banks in the coming week. -
America has lost the War on Drugs. Here’s what needs to happen next
Editorial
The New York Times (US)
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
For a forgotten moment, at the very start of the United States’ half-century long war on drugs, public health was the weapon of choice. Before long, the funding ratio between public health and criminal justice measures flipped. The results of that shift are clear: Drug use is soaring. More Americans are dying of overdoses than at any point in modern history. It’s time to reverse course. Drug use and addiction are as old as humanity itself, and historians and policymakers likely will debate whether the war on drugs was ever winnable, or what its true aims even were. In the meantime, it’s clear that to exit the current morass, Americans will have to restore public health to the center of its approach. -
Tilburg and Breda to kick off regulated marijuana experiment
The ‘wietexperiment’ was first approved by the senate in 2019 after several years but has since stalled for a variety of reasons Read more at DutchNews.nl:
Dutch News (Netherlands)
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Coffee shops in Tilburg and Breda may be able to take part in the experiment with regulated marijuana as early as October, ministers have agreed. The full trial will not take place until 2024 but ministers have now agreed to a ‘run-up’ involving the two southern cities because they are almost ready to go.The aim of the run-up is to ‘practice with all the processes and systems’, health minister Ernst Kuipers said. The minister told MPs that the initial period would last for six months and that he then hoped other cities would come on board. (See also: Amsterdam now wants to sign up to regulated marijuana experiment) -
Is legal cannabis available in Cape Town?
Capetownetc (South Africa)
Sunday, February 19, 2023
While cannabis is being legalised in many countries around the world, South Africa still finds itself in a state of legislative limbo, with more and more businesses offering “legal weed”. Both medicinal and recreational cannabis are in high demand and growing acceptance has resulted in improved access to the plant and its products. However, despite an eased approach to cannabis in recent years, a “legal grey area” continues to cause widespread confusion in a largely unregulated industry. Meanwhile, as clubs and dispensaries continue to open across the country, raids are occurring and operators are finding themselves at odds with the law.
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