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Group forms to oppose Colorado marijuana stores
The Denver Post (US)
Friday, March 15, 2013
A citizens' group opposed to a large-scale recreational marijuana industry in Colorado has hired two powerhouse lobbyists in preparation for the state legislature's coming pot fight. Smart Colorado formed as a nonprofit group within the last weeks, group leader Doug Robinson said. They have hired former congressional candidate Mike Feeley and longtime Capitol lobbyist Sandra Hagen Solin to represent it as legislators write the laws for the forthcoming recreational marijuana industry. -
U.N. development chief flags failings of "war on drugs"
Reuters
Thursday, March 14, 2013
There is increasing evidence that the war on drugs has failed, with criminalization often creating more problems than it solves, said Helen Clark, the head of the United Nations Development Program. Clark, a former New Zealand prime minister, said Latin American leaders should be encouraged to develop different policies to tackle the drug scourge. "I've been a health minister in my past and there's no doubt that the health position would be to treat the issue of drugs as primarily a health and social issue rather than a criminalized issue." -
Seattle downplays likelihood of sending pot to Copenhagen
City spokesperson says Copenhagen's suggestion to import cannabis from Colorado or Washington would be a breach of state laws
The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
Thursday, March 14 , 2013
A Seattle city official has poured cold water on Co enhagen's idea of importing cannabis from the US. One of the elements of the city's proposal to legalise cannabis on a three-year trial basis is to explore the possibility of importing cannabis from the US states of Washington and Colorado. A spokeswoman for Seattle's city attorney Pete Holmes said that Washington state law would prohibit exporting cannabis. -
Meet state’s ‘go-to guy’ on marijuana
The Seattle Times (US)
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Randy Simmons might have the most interesting job in Washington state. He is the ganja guru for the state agency charged with implementing the new legal pot system, which is untested on the planet. While three appointed Liquor Control Board members will decide rules and regulations, they’re getting much of their information from Simmons and his 11 research teams. -
Crack down on cannabis, world body tells U.S.
Reuters
Thursday, March 14, 2013
The United States must not turn a blind eye to the recreational use of cannabis in states that liberalize drug laws, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said, urging the country to live up to its treaty commitments. Raymond Yans, president of the INCB, said assurances from the U.S. government in December that growing, selling or possessing the drug remained illegal under federal law were "good, but insufficient". -
High-school students twice as likely to smoke pot as cigarettes
Washington state students are more likely to use pot than tobacco, a new survey shows
The Seattle Times (US)
Thursday, March 14, 2013
A University of Washington researcher who supported the new marijuana law said it’s a big improvement over prohibition alone, since the government has done a lousy job of educating young people about marijuana. "More adolescents reducing their use of tobacco is an indicator, as I see it, of the effectiveness of well-funded, science-based education," said Roger Roffman, a professor emeritus of social work and a therapist in private practice. "If that can work with tobacco, why wouldn’t it work with regard to marijuana?" -
French court rejects sick man's cannabis plea
The 40-year-old man has suffered from myopathy
The Local (France)
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
A French man suffering from a muscular disease since childhood had his request to be given the right to use cannabis for medicinal reasons rejected by a French court. To make matters worse he was fined €300 for possession. “I’ve been condemned – my disease is incurable, and only cannabis can give me any relief,” Dominique Loumachi told French TV TF1, before the verdict. -
Copenhagen looking to import cannabis from the US
Part of the city's plan to legalise cannabis is to explore importing from two US states that recently legalised use of the substance
The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Ahead of a City Council cannabis conference on Friday, Copenhagen officials say they are ready to make another push to legalise the substance. According to prepared documents from the council, the city is proposing a three-year trial, arguing that “the legal sale of cannabis will result in decreased gang criminality, more prevention and a better life for average cannabis users”. (See also: Danes importing pot advice from Pete Holmes) -
An ugly truth in the war on drugs
Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Ruth DreifussThe New York Times (US)
Sunday, March 10, 2013
This week, representatives from many nations will gather at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna to determine the appropriate course of the international response to illicit drugs. Delegates will debate multiple resolutions while ignoring a truth that goes to the core of current drug policy: human rights abuses in the war on drugs are widespread and systematic. -
Warren: Drug possession warrants jail time but laundering cartel money doesn’t?
The Raw Story (US web)
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Appearing at a Senate Banking Committee hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) grilled officials from the Treasury Department over why criminal charges were not filed against officials at HSBC who helped launder hundreds of millions of dollars for drug cartels. “HSBC paid a fine, but no one individual went to trial, no individual was banned from banking, and there was no hearing to consider shutting down HSBC’s activities here in the United States,” Warren said.
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