• Decriminalization law for up to 10 grams of ganja lags behind after 5 years

    The legislation is still being refined by the Attorney General’s Ministry
    Amandala (Belize)
    Saturday, February 11, 2017

    In 2012, Belize began to seriously look at changing its laws to decriminalize the possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana – about a handful of what is locally known as ganja – in a process which is still going through legal fine-tuning five years later, even as more youths are finding themselves in trouble with the law over the use of the drug. Whereas the proposal is not to make the use of marijuana legal, it proposes to introduce a system of nominal fines for the possession of very small quantities of the weed.

  • A rare survivor of a Philippine drug raid takes the police to court

    The case comes as the antidrug program has been temporarily suspended
    The New York Times (US)
    Friday, February 10, 2017

    philippines duterte delarosaAs the only known survivor of a so-called buy-bust operation, Mr. Morillo has provided a chilling first-person account that challenges the government’s assertion that the thousands of suspects killed in President Rodrigo Duterte’s antidrug campaign were killed by the police in self-defense. And his testimony lies at the heart of the first court case to challenge that campaign. According to his sworn affidavit, none of the five suspects were drug users and none were armed. (See also: Rodrigo Duterte says drug war will go on as police plan purge | Duterte targets Philippine children in bid to widen drug war)

  • In Duterte’s footsteps, Hun Sen launches a drug war

    Cambodia's new war on drugs aims to blunt a spike in addiction and trafficking, but critics see a publicity stunt ahead of crucial provincial elections
    Asia Times
    Thursday, February 9, 2017

    Cambodia’s newly launched war on drugs is in full swing, with nearly 3,000 people arrested in the campaign’s first month of crime-busting. Authorities claim they have confiscated over 9kg of illegal drugs in busts on dealers and users, with more than half the haul being crystal methamphetamine, one of the country’s most prevalent and abused narcotics. Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government announced the campaign in December shortly after a state visit by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has made global waves through his violent execution of an anti-drugs drive that has seen more than 7,000 deaths. (See also: Indonesians fear Duterte-style assassinations, drug war)

  • Peru's Government proposes to legalise medical marijuana

    President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski says plan stems from Lima police raid on house where group of parents were found growing marijuana to make oil to treat children's epilepsy
    The Independent (UK)
    Thursday, February 9, 2017

    Peru's government says it will present to the opposition-dominated legislature a plan to legalise the medical use of marijuana “for the treatment of serious and terminal illnesses.” President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's administration said the plan was developed after police raided a house in a Lima neighborhood where a group of parents grew marijuana to make oil for treating their children suffering from epilepsy and other diseases. Officials say that trafficking and use of marijuana for other purposes would remain a crime under the proposal.

  • Drug control policy fuels social unrest in northern Morocco

    The government must discuss the legal regulation of cannabis and reform the drug laws
    World Policy (US)
    Wednesday, February 8, 2017

    morocco cannabis issaguenFor the past three months, the Rif region in northern Morocco has been experiencing widespread protests and social unrest following the death of Mouhcine Fikri, a 31-year-old fish vendor who was crushed by the compactor of a garbage truck. Fikri was illegally selling swordfish, a species protected during the fall season, when police officers seized it and unlawfully threw it in the garbage truck without first providing official notification. In addition to opposing these questionable police procedures and their sometimes tragic consequences, the Rifans, supported by protesters in Rabat and Casablanca—Morocco’s capital and financial hub, respectively—have been marching against what is called in Maghreb Arabic the “hogra,” which translates as “disdain.”

  • Plan to open injection facility in Dublin for drug users

    Laws would exempt drug users from prosecution if found with certain drugs at centre
    The Irish Times (Ireland)
    Tuesday, February 7, 2017

    The Government will discuss legislation which would exempt drug users from prosecution if found with certain illegal drugs in a supervised injection facility. Minister for Drugs Catherine Byrne will seek approval to proceed with plans which would open such a facility in Dublin’s city centre. The centre would open for 12 hours a day, seven days a week and would cost between €1.5 million and €1.8 million per year. Government sources stressed the Misuse of Drugs Act, which controls the possession of substances, will still apply. Exemption from prosecution will only be applicable to authorised users when on the premises and injecting with the licence holder’s permission. (See also: No location chosen for drug user injection centre, Dáil told)

  • Thousands call for full weed legalization at Tel Aviv rally

    Knesset members join others urging public security minister to go beyond decriminalizing cannabis use
    Times of Israel (Israel)
    Sunday, February 5, 2017

    Thousands of Israelis, including two lawmakers, demonstrated for the full legalization of cannabis, urging the government to go beyond the recently announced measures to decriminalize use of the drug. Protesters urged Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to enshrine in law recent changes he approved to hand out fines to offenders rather than prosecute them, and asked him to go further by fully legalizing the use of cannabis. Some called on the government to regulate the marijuana market to prevent sky-high prices.

  • Marijuana, made in Italy

    Italian military dope has less THC but more CBD, compared to its street-bought equivalent
    The Local (Italy)
    Wednesday, February 1, 2017

    The first batches of made-in-Italy pot have just arrived in pharmacies. Its production is just one of the activities of the military's 164-year-old chemical and pharmaceutical institute (ICFM). The body prides itself on the fact that its cannabis was registered as a pharmaceutical product by Italy's medicines agency in September 2015. The quality has to be reliable because the output from the military's Cannabis Project Team is destined for patients, not potheads.

  • Marijuana health trends mostly positive but still bear watching

    Overall marijuana-related hospitalizations have increased since 2008
    Colorado Springs Gazette (US)
    Tuesday, January 31, 2017

    colorado marijuanaMarijuana-related emergency room visits dropped, accidental poisonings are down and recreational marijuana failed to bring a much-feared spike in adolescent pot use. The results were detailed in the latest report by the Retail Marijuana Public Health Advisory Committee - a group of epidemiologists, toxicologists, psychiatrists, physicians and public health officials studying health-related marijuana trends in Colorado. The state's chief toxicologist, Mike Van Dyke, called the trends "encouraging," because it signaled that education campaigns by either the state or the marijuana industry appear to be resonating with users."

  • Jailed for a puff

    Why Tunisia's prisons are crammed with cannabis users
    France 24 (France)
    Wednesday, February 1, 2017

    Many Tunisian prisons are overcrowded, some at 150 percent of their capacity — and authorities say one third of the inmates are there only for marijuana use. Under Tunisia’s Law 52, authorities can carry out random urine tests that can lead to convictions for marijuana use or possession and an automatic one-year prison sentence. Law 52 convictions have been on the rise, going from just a few hundred to several thousand over the last 15 years. But in February parliament is set to debate reforms that could cut down on overcrowding. (See also: “All this for a Joint” - Tunisia’s repressive drug law and a roadmap for its reform | Cannabis in Tunisia)

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