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Hemp cultivation: Uttarakhand's plan to hand out licences to grow the plant is a welcome step for farmers' livelihood
Presently, most of the hemp used in textiles or for food is collected from the wild
The Economic Times (India)
December 20, 2015
Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat’s has announced that the state would encourage hemp cultivation and hand out licences to farmers. However, saying that Uttarakhand is the first state to legalise cannabis cultivation in India, is symptomatic of the misinformation there exists on cannabis and its regulation in the country. Uttarakhand has not ‘legalised’ hemp cultivation; growing hemp has always been legal under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Sections 10 and 14 allow for the cultivation of cannabis for industrial, medicinal and scientific purposes, under the government’s watch. The size of the global hemp market is estimated at $800 million - $1 billion. -
Fatal drug overdoses hit record high in US, government figures show
In 2014 more people died in America from drug overdoses than from car accidents, with heroin and opioids responsible for the majority of deaths
The Guardian (UK)
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Deaths from drug overdoses have surged across the US to record levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, overdose deaths last year exceeded 47,000, more than the number of people killed in car accidents and up 7% from the previous year. The CDC said 61% of the deaths involved some type of opioid pain relievers and heroin. The count also included deaths involving powerful sedatives, cocaine and other legal and illicit drugs. (Rapid rise of heroin use in US tied to prescription opioid abuse, CDC suggests | We have lost the War on Drugs) -
Justin Trudeau and the cannabis factory
Converting a medical-marijuana industry into a recreational one will not be easy
The Economist (UK)
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Many consumers obtain their marijuana through storefront "dispensaries", which have sprung up across Canada, encouraged by liberalisation in the United States. Vancouver has the liveliest retail sector, with 176 dispensaries, or "compassion clubs", which buy the surplus produced by home-based herbalists. These hope to become the basis of a legal distribution network. In June Vancouver’s city council decided to regulate them, even though they remain illegal in the eyes of federal law. (See also: SAQ union explores selling marijuana at liquor stores) -
Moroccan opposition party, PAM, wants public agency to sell cannabis
We think this crop can become an important economic resource for Morocco
Morocco World News (Morocco)
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Morocco’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) called for the establishment of a public agency for the sale of cannabis, introducing a bill to create a "national agency for the culture of cannabis," according to Yabiladi news. The agency should be in charge of selling cannabis in its crop state to industrial and pharmaceutical companies. The import of cannabis seeds and its distribution to farmers would also fall under the responsibility of the proposed agency. The PAM said that the agency should be under the authority of the Moroccan government, but also have financial independence. -
Cannabis regulation is coming to Canada — here are five things to know
Canada may become the second country to implement legalization of marijuana nationally
Open Canada
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promises to regulate recreational cannabis use in Canada. From the inclusion of cannabis policy reform in the speech from the throne to the mandate letter to the Minister of Justice, the Liberals have shown that they see this issue as a major part of their platform and they are committed to following through. And with a majority Liberal government in place, Canada appears all but set to become the second country in the world after Uruguay to develop a national regulatory framework for cannabis. Nazlee Maghsoudi, with the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy, explains the thinking behind such legislation. -
Government approves pilot scheme for drug injection facility in Dublin
Medically supervised facility was proposed by Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin
The Irish Times (Ireland)
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
The cabinet has approved a pilot scheme for a medically supervised drug injection facility in Dublin. The facility was proposed by Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, the Minister in charge of the National Drugs Strategy. Additions to the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2015 will make provision for the establishment of supervised injection facilities. Mr Ó Ríordáin said he was delighted to get cabinet approval for his proposal. "Last month I gave a speech at the London School of Economics where I announced that Ireland needed to take a new approach to dealing with drug policy including the establishment of medically supervised injection facilities." -
'Grandma's magic remedy:' Mexico's medical marijuana secret
For generations Mexicans have been using "grandma's magic remedy" to combat a wide range of pains, fevers or other complaints
AFP
Monday, December 14, 2015
When her legs ache, this Mexican grandmother rubs them with marijuana-infused alcohol. She is well aware the homemade remedy defies the country's cannabis ban, but her family has used the concoction to treat ailments since she was a child, handing it down the generations. Some drink marijuana tea to relieve headaches or help with insomnia. "Infused into alcohol is the traditional use for rheumatism as well as muscular and circulation pains," said Humberto Rocca, a doctor specializing in addictions and herbalism. "It's an ancient medicine, passed on from generation to generation." -
Courts are forcing marijuana users to get drug treatment they probably don’t need
Fewer than 1 in 5 marijuana treatment seekers checked themselves in voluntarily
The Washington Post (US)
Monday, December 14, 2015
Opponents of marijuana legalization often cite the "skyrocketing" number of people seeking treatment for marijuana addiction in their arguments. Project SAM, the nation's leading anti-legalization group, notes with some alarm that "data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that in 1993, marijuana comprised approximately 8 percent of ALL treatment admissions, but by 2009 that number had increased to 18 percent." But new data out this month from the Department of Health and Human Services provides some important context behind those numbers. -
Make cannabis consumption legal; ban is turning people alcoholic
BJD chief whip Tathagata Satpathy
The Indian Express (India)
Friday, December 11, 2015
Tathagata Satpathy, the BJD’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha, called for legalisation of cannabis consumption. It was not the first time the four-time MP has made this pitch. His argument in the Lok Sabha was that banning cannabis consumption has led to increase in alcoholism. “Bhang was a very common intoxicant in the holy city of Puri. You could get it on the roadside. It was legally available there. It is available in Varanasi also. You have made it illegal and it has been replaced by alcohol.” He also connected rising alcohol consumption to rising crime rate. -
Cannabis users to be given on-the-spot warnings to free up police time
The change in enforcing drug laws is part of a major overhaul of how officers handle petty offending to free up police and prosecutors’ time
The Herald (Scotland)
Thursday, December 10, 2015
People caught with small quantities of cannabis will face on-the-spot warnings from police rather than prosecution. Scottish officers will next month start issuing new "Recorded Police Warnings" to many of the tens of thousands of people a year found committing minor offences such as carrying cannabis. Senior police sources stress they are looking for a "proportionate" and "effective" disposal to the kind of offences that until now would either result in a fixed-penalty notice or a report to the Crown Office that ended either in no proceedings or a fiscal warning.
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