• Organised cultivation of cannabis matter of concern: High court

    Times of India (India)
    Wednesday, December 6, 2017

    Even as the Himachal Pradesh high court has expressed concern over organised cultivation of cannabis in the higher reaches of Kullu district, its wild growth can be seen in Chamba, Kangra, upper Shimla and areas adjoining to Uttarakhand. A division bench observed that destruction campaigns are merely on paper and nothing has been done on the ground level by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) or state police for curbing the drug menace in the state, which is reflected in the mind-boggling figures with regard to seizure of contraband by the NCB. The court said that though the situation in the entire state was quite alarming but at present Malana village appears to be the epicenter of drug menace and immediate steps are required to be taken by the agencies concerned.

  • Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

    Local harm-reduction advocates have been frustrated by what they see as stagnation and inaction since decriminalisation came into effect
    The Guardian (UK)
    Tuesday, December 5, 2017

    portugal dissuasionIn 2001, Portugal became the first country to decriminalise the possession and consumption of all illicit substances. Rather than being arrested, those caught with a personal supply might be given a warning, a small fine, or told to appear before a local commission – a doctor, a lawyer and a social worker – about treatment, harm reduction, and other support services. The opioid crisis stabilised, and the ensuing years saw dramatic drops in problematic drug use, HIV and hepatitis infection rates, overdose deaths, drug-related crime and incarceration rates. Despite enthusiastic international reactions, local harm-reduction advocates criticise the state for dragging its feet on establishing supervised injection sites and drug consumption facilities.

  • A taxing problem: how to price, tax legal weed to stamp out the black market

    The policy goals — including stamping out the black market, reducing underage consumption or drumming up tax revenue — are often at odds with each other
    National Post (Canada)
    Tuesday, December 5, 2017

    Stamping out the illicit market is one of Ottawa’s major goals as the country approaches a July 2018 deadline for the legalization of recreational marijuana — leaving politicians little time to lay out exactly how to sell, price and tax cannabis. As Washington state, which legalized recreational sales in 2014, has learned, pricing and taxation can heavily influence whether the black market blooms or shrivels. The state originally levied a 25 per cent tax on producer sales to processors, another 25 per cent tax on processor sales to retailers, and a further 25 per cent tax on retailer sales to customers. The high consumer costs, combined with a shortage of legal cannabis, fuelled the black market, according to analysts.

  • Legalization of marijuana unlikely to kill Canada’s black market right away

    Whether the black market shrinks and how quickly, observers say, will depend on what the legal market ends up looking like
    Global News (Canada)
    Monday, December 4, 2017

    From texting a local dealer to dropping into a neighbourhood dispensary or ordering online, Canada’s black market for recreational marijuana has seen significant changes in recent years and will see more as the country hurtles toward legalization next summer. What does seem clear is that the illegal market is unlikely to disappear in a puff of smoke come legalization day. “There’s a huge, complex system out there operating in the world that has been delivering excellent product to people at reasonable prices for 40 years now,” says Donald MacPherson of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “It’s really the degree to which the regulated system can, over a period of years, encroach on as much of that pre-existing market as possible – that is the key question.”

  • Israel eases sanctions on home marijuana growers

    The new shift in policy to differentiate between 'personal use' and 'commercial purposes' is an internal police order first reported by Cannabis magazine
    Haaretz (Israel)
    Monday, December 4, 2017

    When it comes to throwing the book at marijuana growers, police are distinguishing between those growing pot for their own use and those growing it for commercial purposes, as determined by an internal police order. A order issued this past summer by the police prosecution department states that growing marijuana in small quantities at home for personal use will, under certain conditions, be treated as the relatively minor violation of “personal use,” rather that the more serious offenses of “growing a dangerous drug” or “possession not for personal use,” which is what home growers are now suspected of, whether they are growing a single plant in a flower pot or a whole field of plants.

  • Lawlessness on cannabis attracts more tourists in Morocco

    “Here, you smoke where you want, except in front of the police station”
    Africa News
    Monday, December 4, 2017

    ChefchaouenIt may not feature in Morocco’s official tourism brochures but cannabis attracts thousands of visitors a year to the North African country. Northern Morocco is a key production centre for hashish for export to Europe, but it has also seen traffic in the other direction — an influx of European visitors heading to sample the local pleasures. While Moroccan law bans the sale and consumption of the drug, that has not stopped farmers growing vast plantations of it, providing a living for some 90,000 households, according to official figures for 2013, the most recent available. Smoking kif is seen as part of the local culture, and is largely tolerated by the authorities.

  • Légalisation du cannabis: oui de Berset aux études

    L'OFSP étudie comment compléter la loi actuelle afin qu'une étude sur la vente légale de cannabis y soit conforme
    Tribune de Génève (Suisse)
    Lundi, 4 decembre 2017

    L'Université de Berne pourrait être autorisée à mener son étude sur la vente légale de cannabis. L'Office fédéral de la santé publique (OFSP) est en train d'étudier comment compléter la loi actuelle afin que ce type de projets y soit conforme, a indiqué le ministre de la santé Alain Berset. Mi-novembre, l'alma mater s'est vu refuser par l'OFSP l'autorisation d'étudier les effets de la régularisation de la vente de cannabis sur les consommateurs et sur le trafic de stupéfiants à Berne. La loi sur les stupéfiants ne permet en effet pas une consommation pour des raisons non médicales.

  • Police have killed dozens of children in Philippines war on drugs, Amnesty says

    Rights group urges International Criminal Court to open investigation into crimes against humanity committed over past 18 months in brutal state crackdown
    The Guardian (UK)
    Monday, December 4, 2017

    Police have killed dozens of children in the “war on drugs” in the Philippines in the last 18 months, Amnesty International said. The rights group urged the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into crimes against humanity in the violent crackdown, including the deaths of an estimated 60 young people by police and vigilantes. Some of those killed were deliberately targeted in anti-drugs raids, while others were caught in the crossfire. There have also been “riding in tandem” attacks, carried out by vigilantes on motorcycles, which are often paid for by police, Amnesty said. (See also: Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte orders police back into deadly drug war)

  • Supervised injection sites could stop untold opioid-related deaths

    With hundreds of successful examples across Europe, Australia, and Canada, the potential for safe rooms stateside is real
    Vice (US)
    Friday, December 1, 2017

    insite kitIn addition to the legal issues, the heavy stigma around heroin and other opioids driving the nation's overdose crisis can push individuals into the shadows where they are most vulnerable. Officially, at least 91 die people every day from opioid overdose nationwide, a number that likely undershoots the true total due to underreporting. Aiming to stem the ever-rising number of deaths is a push for supervised injection facilities, spaces where people can test their drugs, use them in a clean and safe area, and access medical and addiction services if necessary or desired.

  • Danish police use drone in operation against Christiania cannabis trade

    Aim of the current police operation is to press home the message that buying cannabis in Christiania carries a risk of prosecution
    The Local (Denmark)
    Thursday, November 30, 2017

    A special unit of the Copenhagen police force has been operating in and around the ‘free city’ of Christiania and on its notorious Pusher Street in a bid to stamp out the organised sale of drugs. One of the new methods being used is overflying the area using drones. Buyers have been the primary target. By using the drones, police have been able to follow them to and from the sellers’ tables. “Then we can just wait until the suspect arrives at the exit and stop them,” said deputy inspector Lars-O Karlsen. Although the residents of Christiania drove out the sellers from Pusher Street a year or so ago, there are still a lot of drugs being sold. (See also: Make gangs illegal – starting with the Hell’s Angels)

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