• The path to legalizing marijuana in Chile

    If the bill is approved by legislators Chile will become the second country in Latin America to legalize marijuana
    Latin Correspondent
    Monday, April 20, 2015

    Chile_cannabisChile’s Congressional Health Committee approved a bill that would modify the country’s current drug law, known as Law 20,000. The bill would allow up to six marijuana plants for cultivation per household, medicinal marijuana use of with prior medical authorization and possession of up to 10 grams for personal consumption. The public health authorities, such as the Agricultural and Livestock Service (Servicio Agrícola Ganadero), would be in charge of overseeing consumption and cultivation of cannabis in the country.

  • A pill for work and play

    A painkiller becomes Egypt’s favourite recreational drug
    The Economist (UK)
    Saturday, April 18, 2015

    egypt tramadol dealerThe little pills of Tramadol are ubiquitous in Egypt. Taxi drivers take them to stay awake on the road. Men use them to improve their sexual prowess. Petty officials readily accept them as a bribe. And wedding guests even receive them as token gifts. Tramadol has become Egypt’s favourite recreational drug, supplanting heroin and cannabis. An opioid prescribed as a painkiller, Tramadol has a reputation for improving alertness and male sexual stamina — qualities much sought after in a country where people often have several jobs to make ends meet and where few women find it easy to experience orgasm because of widespread female genital mutilation. (See also: Painkiller Tramadol number one drug abused in Egypt: Minister)

  • Fear of flakka: Anti-drug hysteria validates itself

    Tales of superhuman strength have been associated with various drugs over the years
    Forbes (US)
    Thursday, April 16, 2015

    Recent news reports about "the dangerous new drug sweeping Florida," told you two things about flakka: It gives you "superhuman strength," and you should avoid it because it will turn you into a raving lunatic running naked through the streets, chased by invisible enemies, until you drop dead of hyperthermia or a heart attack. Flakka’s dangers are not imaginary, but the hype illustrates once again how yellow journalists collaborate with drug warriors to keep the public in a constant state of panic about the latest chemical menace, which is always worse than the last one.

  • Plan to send Russian drug addicts to labor camps slammed by experts

    Despite having some of the world's most stringent anti-narcotics legislation, Russia is home to more than eight million drug users
    The Moscow Times (Russia)
    Wednesday, April 15, 2015

    Russia's Federal Drug Control Service's proposal to revive Soviet-era work camps in order to treat drug addicts was met with skepticism by leading health researchers and activists, who said that the state's insistence in linking addiction with criminality perpetuates inefficient drug control practices. Viktor Ivanov, head of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN), said that 400,000 "ordinary" drug addicts serving prison terms had cost the justice and penitentiary systems more than 500 billion rubles ($10 million) during the last five years.

  • Swedish politician calls for legal cannabis shops

    The current centre-left coalition is not in favour of changing the country's approach to cannabis
    The Local (Sweden)
    Wednesday, April 15, 2015

    Hanna Wagenius, chair of Sweden's Centre Party's youth wing, thinks that Sweden should take its lead from several places around the world which have legalized cannabis, such as the Netherlands and a number of US states. Sweden has a highly regulated sale of liquor, with government-owned chain Systembolaget (literally translated as 'the System Company') being the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5 percent alcohol. Wagenius has something similar in mind for cannabis. (See also: Center Party youth vote to legalize marijuana)

  • Drug users should be able to get heroin from the health system

    Politicians may not like it, but evidence shows that giving heroin to some users reduces harm
    BMJ (UK)
    Tuesday, April 14, 2015

    No fewer than six randomised controlled trials – in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Canada, and England – concluded that heroin assisted treatment is more effective than conventional treatments in a subgroup of heroin users. The most recent Cochrane Collaboration review concurred, stating, "Available evidence suggests an added value of heroin prescribed alongside flexible doses of methadone for long term, treatment refractory, opioid users, to reach a decrease in the use of illicit substances, involvement in criminal activity and incarceration, a possible reduction in mortality, and an increase in retention in treatment."

  • In debate over legalizing marijuana, disagreement over drug’s dangers

    In their own words: Supporters and opponents of legalization
    Pew Research Center (US)
    Tuesday, April 14, 2015

    pew140415bPublic opinion about legalizing marijuana in the US, while little changed in the past few years, has undergone a dramatic long-term shift. A new survey finds that 53% favor the legal use of marijuana, while 44% are opposed. As recently as 2006, just 32% supported marijuana legalization, while nearly twice as many (60%) were opposed. Millennials (currently 18-34) have been in the forefront of this change: 68% favor legalizing marijuana use.

  • Cannabis-Klubs in Schweizer Städten in weiter Ferne

    Nicht ausgeschlossen ist, dass eine der Städte im Falle einer Blockade ohne Zustimmung des Bundes vorangeht
    Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland)
    Samstag, 11. April 2015

    In den Schweizer Städten wird Cannabis ungehemmt konsumiert. Die Städte möchten deshalb Pilotversuche für einen kontrollierten Konsum in Klubs. Doch die juristischen und politischen Hürden sind hoch. Seit in Genf vor zwei Jahren die drogenpolitische Debatte mit einem Vorstoss für legale Cannabis-Klubs wiederbelebt wurde, flammt die Diskussion nach und nach auch in der übrigen Schweiz auf. Für Druck sorgen dieses Mal die Städte, in denen der Cannabis-Konsum für viele selbstverständlich geworden ist. (Mehr dazu: Cannabis-Bussen: Kiffer werden häufiger bestraft)

  • US president cautions against hopes of ganja legalisation

    Big multinational companies will come in and try to market and control and profit from the trade
    The Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
    Friday, April 10, 2015

    President Barack Obama cautioned persons who have hopes of marijuana being legalised, as he explained the difference between legalisation and decriminalisation. "We had some discussion with Caricom countries about this. I know ... that a lot of folks think that if we just legalise marijuana then it will reduce the money flowing into the transnational drug trade, [bringing in] more revenues and jobs created," Obama said. He expressed reservation about the methods that some countries continued to use in their war on drugs with a lot of emphasis being placed on incarceration.

  • Confusion reigns over alcohol, hashish notification

    Directions were given to avoid registration of cases where the amount of contraband was within a personal consumption range
    The Express Tribune (Pakistan)
    Thursday, April 9, 2015

    Pakistan’s prohibition laws — introduced in 1977 by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and later amended by General Ziaul Haq under The Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order — bars Muslims from purchasing, possessing, or consuming alcohol except for medical reasons. But in practice, the law is only applied to the poor, as most wealthy persons unlucky enough to be caught can pay their way out at checkposts. On December 18 last year, the office of the inspector general of the Islamabad Police “mistakenly” issued a letter directing officials to look the other way if anyone was caught with one bottle of liquor or small quantities of hashish. Under the notification, for the last three months, one bottle of liquor or a few joints worth of hashish had essentially been decriminalised.

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