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Govt may legalise recreational use of cannabis in future: Thai Health minister
He also noted several more countries plan to follow in Thailand's footsteps by decriminalising cannabis
The Nation (Thailand)
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Despite repeated calls by doctors to suspend the decriminalisation of ganja, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul hinted at the opposite – further legalising the plant for recreational use. Anutin, leader of the Bhumjaithai Party which championed its free ganja use campaign during the previous election, said a new cannabis bill may be amended to allow recreational use if the people accept it and know how to use it safely. “In Thailand for the time being, we don’t advocate recreational use, but that will not be definite, it can be amended when people have full understanding on how to use it correctly and it might come, but not now,” Anutin said during the event. He also said the cannabis bill, which is being vetted by a special House committee, will be sent back to the House this week for the second and third readings. -
Cannabis trial: Basel pharmacies to charge black-market prices
Several other local authorities, including Zurich, Geneva and Bern, have also applied to roll out similar trials
Swissinfo (Switzerland)
Thursday, August 18, 2022
The first Swiss project on the legal sale of cannabis in pharmacies will start on September 15 in canton Basel City. Hemp users over 18 can now register to take part, with the number of participants limited to 370. Six cannabinoid products – four types of cannabis flowers and two types of hashish – will be sold in nine pharmacies selected by the authorities. The prices charged by the pharmacies will be around those charged on the black market for products with a THC content. A gram will therefore cost CHF8-CHF12 ($8.40-$12.60). The Federal Office of Public Health approved the pilot in April. It will be part of a project by the University of Basel, its psychiatric clinics and the cantonal health department. It is intended to help evaluate the effects of new regulations on the recreational use of cannabis and ultimately combat black market distribution. -
Germany will legalize cannabis — but nobody knows when
The political will is there. But actually implementing it is hampered by international law, bureaucracy and tax rules. Activists want the process sped up.
Deutsche Welle (Germany)
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Cannabis has become a part of everyday culture in Germany and now, policymaking. The coalition government of center-left Social Democrats (SPD), environmentalist Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) stated clearly: "We are introducing the controlled supply of recreational cannabis to adults in licensed shops." To turn these words into practical policies, however, is proving to be a monumental task. It involves almost every federal government ministry, which makes the legislative process very complex. Although all signs point toward legalization, a cannabis consumer gets caught in the net of the police and judicial system every three minutes. That is why activists are calling for the consumption of cannabis to be decriminalized immediately as a first step, something provided for in the UN conventions. -
German Health Minister lays out next steps for cannabis legalisation
On a special episode of Germany’s popular satirical “Heute Show”, Karl Lauterbach admitted to having smoked weed and came out personally in favour of legalisation - having previously spoken out against it
The Local (Germany)
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
The SPD Health Minister coming out for legalisation put an end to some rumours that he was being pushed into it by the socially liberal Free Democrats, who negotiated cannabis legalisation as a key part of their coalition agreement with the SDP and Greens to form the three-way “traffic light” government. Lauterbach emphasised that his legal team was working to make sure such an ambitious legalisation approach would be in line with EU law, but says he doesn’t anticipate any problems. The government will likely finish drafting its law to go before the Bundestag sometime before the end of this year, before finally coming into force in early 2023. But it could take longer than that to set up all the supporting infrastructure. -
Cannabis funding needed
The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) is recommending that the Government create a funding facility for entrepreneurs and small farmers in the cannabis industry
Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
The recommendation follows the completion of a market study of the cannabis industry in Jamaica, which revealed that funding is one of the major impediments in the industry. The FTC report, which was released in August, stated "policymakers should consider establishing [a] source of funding to encourage easier entry/expansion of the legitimate trade of cannabis". The agency said this is crucial as potential entrants may encounter difficulties accessing loans through local financial institutions given global efforts to limit the illegal trade of cannabis. The recommendation was also made in light of the fact that access of legally produced cannabis to international markets is likely to be frustrated by numerous treaties established to curtail the illegal trade of cannabis. -
Over 10,000 people in B.C. have died due to toxic drugs since health emergency was declared in 2016: coroner
More than 1,000 of those died in first half of 2022, report says
CBC News (Canada)
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
More than 140 people died from illicit drug toxicity across B.C. during the month of June, the provincial coroners' service says, pushing the total number of fatalities this year past 1,000. The number of drug toxicity deaths in the first six months of 2022 is the highest ever recorded in that period of a calendar year, according to preliminary data released by the B.C. Coroners Service. The tally also means more than 10,000 people have now died as a result of toxic drugs in B.C. since a public health emergency was declared in April 2016. "These were men, women and youth from all walks of life. They lived in our neighbourhoods, worked in our workplaces and played on our sports teams. Some lived ordinary lives, while others faced enormous challenges," Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe wrote in a statement. -
Most Texans support legalizing pot for recreational or medical use, new poll finds
Many efforts at the state level reflect growing popular support for legalization and decriminalization among voters, but some legislators and governors, especially in red states, remain hesitant
Dallas Morning News (US)
Monday, August 15, 2022
Since 2012, 19 states, Washington, D.C., and Guam have legalized marijuana for recreational use — something 55% of Texans have said they either support or strongly support, according to a new Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll. And the numbers are even higher for medical use: 72% of those surveyed said they would either support or strongly support the legalization of marijuana to help treat illnesses, a move the Texas Legislature helped bolster last year when it expanded the state’s medical marijuana program to include all forms of post-traumatic stress disorder and cancer. After a May survey with similar results, Gov. Greg Abbott said his position on legalization has not changed beyond what he’s proposed in the past — reducing the criminal penalty for possession to a Class C misdemeanor, but not legalizing the drug. -
‘Public opinion is ready’ – These French senators want to legalise marijuana
A group of 31 French senators of the Socialist, Green and Republican parties have come together to write a statement calling for the legalisation of marijuana in France
The Local (France)
Thursday, August 11, 2022
France is known for having some of the strictest laws regarding marijuana in Europe – while simultaneously maintaining one of the highest rates of cannabis usage in the EU. A group of French senators – from the Socialist, Green and centre-right Les Républicains parties – are trying to change those laws, and call for marijuana to be legalised in France. The group of 31 co-signed a statement published in French newspaper, Le Monde, on August 10th. In the statement, the senators promised to launch a ‘consultation process’ to submit a bill to legalise marijuana in the coming months. Nearly one in two French people (45 percent) said they were in favour of legalisation, according to a survey by the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT). -
Colombia’s first leftist president says war on drugs has failed
At his swearing in Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla, says the country is getting a ‘second chance’ to tackle violence and poverty
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, August 8, 2022
Colombia’s first leftist president has been sworn into office, promising to fight inequality and bring peace to a country long haunted by bloody feuds between the government, drug traffickers and rebel groups. The incoming president said he was willing to start peace talks with armed groups across the country and also called on the United States and other developed nations to change drug policies that have focused on the prohibition of substances like cocaine, and fed violent conflicts across Colombia and other Latin American nations. “It’s time for a new international convention that accepts that the war on drugs has failed,” he said. “Of course peace is possible. But it depends on current drug policies being substituted with strong measures that prevent consumption in developed societies.” -
Towards a ‘human rights-based’ drug policy
Karen Mamo, a drug-policy researcher specialising in harm-reduction, argues that the ‘prohibitionist’ approach to drug legislation is not conducive to reducing the prevalence of drug use
Malta Today (Malta)
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
In 2018, Malta became one of the first European countries to fully decriminalise cannabis for medicinal purposes; followed up by a broader reform to (within limits) decriminalise the drug for recreational purposes, too. For people brought up in a very different Malta – where drug-users were routinely criminalised – the contrast is rather striking. Yet it also forms part of what appears to be an international movement: away from ‘prohibitionism’, and towards a ‘harm-reduction’ approach. Decriminalisation itself is not even all that ‘new’, really: if you look at individual countries, and how their drug legislation has evolved over the decades, you will find that the process has actually been ongoing for around 20 or 30 years.
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