• Pot-related bills advance in Wash. Legislature

    The Seattle Times (US)
    Thursday, February 21, 1013

    yes-i502Two marijuana-related bills advanced in Olympia, with legislative committees giving their OK to one measure that would block police from arresting medical marijuana patients and another that would let people have misdemeanor pot convictions erased. After Initiative 502 passed, allowing adults over 21 to have up to an ounce of marijuana under state law, thousands of people still have criminal records for activity that is now legal - criminal records that can keep people from getting jobs, housing or loans.

  • Mayor Bloomberg makes a small step toward a rational policy on marijuana

    It's welcome news that people caught in possession of marijuana in New York City will no longer be jailed
    The Guardian (UK)
    Wednesday, February 20, 2013

    In his final state of the city address as Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, announced that anyone caught in possession of marijuana would no longer have to spend a night in jail. Effective next month, anyone who is arrested for marijuana possession will still be taken to the police station, fingerprinted and so on, but if there are no pending warrants, they will be released with a summons to appear in court. This is a small step in the right direction.

  • Report: Mexico disappearances constitute 'crisis'

    The report also says security personnel sometimes work with criminals, detaining victims and handing them over to gangs
    The Seattle Times (US)
    Wednesday, February 20, 2013

    noHuman Rights Watch called Mexico's anti-drug offensive "disastrous" in the report Mexico's Disappeared: The Enduring Cost of a Crisis Ignored, that cites 249 cases of disappearances that the group says mostly show evidence of having been carried out by the military or law enforcement. The report says the "enforced disappearances" follow a pattern in which security forces detain people without warrants at checkpoints, at homes or work places, or in public. When victims' families ask about their relatives, security forces deny the detentions.

  • Legalising drugs would be the perfect Tory policy

    It would save money, aid global security and be tough on crime. What could appeal to Conservatives more?
    The Guardian (UK)
    Tuesday, February 19, 2013

    smoking-jointsA new poll out today by the campaign group Transform finds a majority now favour permitting cannabis use, while four in 10 Britons favour total decriminalisation and more than two-thirds favour a comprehensive review of all drug policies. Support cuts across political divisions and embraces readers of all papers. Current policies are staggeringly wasteful of taxpayers' cash. A report last year found more than £65bn spent globally each year on enforcement.

  • Colorado marijuana task force recommends allowing pot tourism

    The Denver Post (US)
    Tuesday, February 19, 2013

    pot-tourism-coloradoMembers of a task force proposing regulations for recreational marijuana in Colorado approved recommendations that would allow for marijuana tourism but block out-of-state pot shop owners. The Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force voted to allow people from outside of Colorado to shop in forthcoming retail marijuana stores, though the amount they could purchase at any one store would be limited. (See also: Pot tourism in Colo.? Marijuana regulators OK idea)

  • How does a Cannabis Social Club work?

    A visit to Trekt Uw Plant in Antwerp
    Balázs Mészáros & Lena Oddball (HCLU)
    Monday, February 18, 2013

    trekt-uw-plantWhat was originally a small group of friends, has become a feasible alternative to the cannabis black market in the north of Belgium. Our guest author guides us through Antwerp’s cannabis social club. Belgium legalised the possession and use of small amounts of cannabis for personal use a decade ago. Since that time, smokers can not only carry up to 3 grams in public but can also legally grow one plant per person at home.

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  • Obama drug czar: We will go after marijuana distributors in Wash. and Colo.

    Examiner (US web)
    Monday, February 18, 2013

    In an interview with Canadian news magazine Maclean’s, Gil Kerlikowske, President Obama’s Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, stated that despite recreational legalization in Washington and Colorado, they would still go after distributors and growers in both states. Under Obama the DEA raided four times as many marijuana dispensaries as Bush, in half the time.

  • Tirah valley: The land of pure hashish

    The moderate climate and red soil make it a child’s play for Tirah Maidan’s local farmers to grow cannabis
    The Express Tribune (Pakistan)
    Sunday, February 17, 2013

    pakistan hash2The moderate climate and red soil make it a child’s play for Tirah Maidan’s local farmers to grow cannabis. The crop’s stems are hung for two weeks to dry, after which a thin cloth is used to carefully thresh the plant to extract the dust power called “garda.” There are no official statistics on total hashish production in the valley. A tribesman familiar with the matter, however, said that a banned outfit controls the price and is heavily invested in the business. In November and December last year, a kilogramme was being sold for Rs65,000 while in June, July and August, the supply increased, dropping the price down to Rs45,000. There are about 250 shops selling hashish in the Wazir Dandh area, Jamrud. (See also: Pakistan's goat-grown hashish)

  • Les Cannabis Social Clubs forcent la loi

    Les 425 clubs de producteurs de cannabis prônent un usage maîtrisé et, pour défier le gouvernement, vont déposer leurs statuts en préfecture
    Libération (France)
    Samedi, 16 fevrier 2013

    dominique-broc2Ils sont chefs d’entreprises, éducateurs spécialisés, universitaires, produisent eux-mêmes le cannabis qu’ils fument, et entendent «renverser la prohibition». De la marijuana, ils prônent un usage modéré et régulé sans en nier les dangers, surtout pour les jeunes. Pour ce faire, ils ont copié un modèle qui existe depuis vingt ans en Espagne: le Cannabis Social Club (CSC). Associations officieuses à but non lucratif. (Lire aussi: Les politiques restent accros à la répression)

  • Decriminalise heroin and cocaine says Belfast drugs worker

    BBC News (UK)
    Friday, February 15, 2013

    heroin_syringeOne of Northern Ireland's most senior drugs workers has said that class A drugs like heroin should be decriminalised, regulated and made available on prescription. "I think the impact of decriminalising, of regulating, of taking this activity out of the hands of organised crime, is the way to improve our society right now," said Michael Foley, the head of the Belfast Trust's Drug Outreach Team.

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