• Uruguay's likely cannabis law could set tone for war on drugs in Latin America

    State control of marijuana market should be seen as part of long and pragmatic tradition of market intervention and nationalisation
    The Guardian (UK)
    Monday, November 18, 2013

    The marijuana regulation bill, which has been passed by the lower house of the Uruguayan parliament, will allow registered users to buy up to 40g a month from a chemist's, registered growers to keep up to six plants, and cannabis clubs to have up to 45 members and cultivate as many as 99 plants. Julio Bango, one of the legislators who drafted the bill: "This is an experiment without a doubt and it will have a demonstrable effect. That could be important for the world because it could be the start of a new paradigm."

  • Whither Rio de Janeiro’s Police Pacification Units?

    Former police chief explains why
    Inter American Development Bank blog
    Monday, November 18, 2013

    Rio de Janeiro’s Pacification Police Units (UPP) are celebrating their fifth year in 2013. They do so with generally positive approval ratings from the media and society as a whole. A recent study by Instituto Data Favela indicates that 75% of favelas inhabitants approve of the UPPs. Notwithstanding major crises and criticism, the UPP constitute the single most important public security initiative in the state. And yet the persistent informality of the UPP may eventually undermine its sustainability. (See also: Rio slum pacification police accused of torture, murder)

  • Cannabis clubs blossoming in the UK

    There are 49 of them around the UK now, with members meeting to discuss the drug's production, its medicinal use and legalisation – and to get high
    The Guardian Blog (UK)
    Sunday, November 17, 2013

    Over the past few years, local cannabis clubs have blossomed over Britain. There are now 49 around the UK, which are united by the UK Cannabis Social Club, an organisation founded in 2011 to represent cannabis users. Operating primarily through Facebook, (the LCC's page has had 39,301 likes) the clubs bring cannabis users together from all over Britain to discuss topics ranging from fertiliser to self-medication and campaigning for the decriminalisation of the drug.

  • Sentenced to a slow death

    Editorial
    The New York Times (US)
    Saturday, November 16, 2013

    prisonerIf this were happening in any other country, Americans would be aghast. A sentence of life in prison, without the possibility of parole, for trying to sell $10 of marijuana to an undercover officer? The punishment is so extreme, so irrational, so wildly disproportionate to the crime that it defies explanation. As of 2012, there were 3,278 prisoners serving sentences of life without parole for such crimes, according to an extensive and astonishing report issued by the American Civil Liberties Union.

  • Two in three large councils back organised marijuana cultivation

    Dutch News (Netherlands)
    Friday, November 15, 2013

    In total 26 of the Netherlands’ 38 largest local municipalities support government licensed or organised marijuana production, NOS television says. The 12 other council area are either opposed or have not yet made up their minds. Councils are trying to remove the grey area in the law which says possession of small amounts of cannabis will not be prosecuted but the supply and cultivation is banned. (See also: The Transparent Chain)

  • Czechs can’t access medical marijuana half year after legalization

    Associated Press
    Friday, November 15, 2013

    The Czech Republic’s parliament legalized medical marijuana this year by an overwhelming majority, with the law becoming effective April 1. But some 20,000 patients who are estimated to be eligible for cannabis treatment have no chance to get it legally — although so far police have largely ignored renegade growers who technically would face prison. Patients and medical experts blame interference by the Health Ministry, which has long fiercely opposed legalizing medical marijuana.

  • Stalled Bolivia coca report delivers moderate verdict

    InSight Crime
    Thursday, November 14, 2013

    consumo-coca-boliviaBolivia's long-awaited coca use study has found the country needs to cultivate over 14,000 hectares of the crop to satisfy legal demand, a number more than double opposition claims but just slightly over half of current production. Although current production is nearly double the necessary amount determined by the study, the results are unlikely to be put to immediate use. Upping eradication efforts right away would be socially, economically and politically unviable for the government.

  • Colorado regulators want to know: How much does marijuana cost?

    The Denver Post (US)
    Thursday, November 14, 2013

    colorado-marijuanaColorado regulators have begun surveying marijuana businesses about the price of pot in an effort to implement a new excise tax that voters passed earlier this month. The tax places a 15 percent levy on the wholesale price of recreational marijuana when it moves between the grower and the seller. However, Colorado's recreational marijuana industry won't have a true wholesale market for the first nine months. They must grow almost everything they sell — meaning the wholesale transactions that will be subject to the excise tax are really just pot transfers in which no money is exchanged.

  • Une majorité de français en faveur de l’autorisation du cannabis sous conditions

    Le Monde blog (France)
    Jeudi, 14 novembre 2013

    Le 12 novembre dernier, l'Observatoire Français des Drogues et Toxicomanies (OFDT) publiait les résultats de son étude EROPP 2012 « Perception et opinion des français sur les drogues ». Une majorité de Français est pour la première fois favorable à la proposition d’autoriser le cannabis sous certaines conditions (en maintenant l’interdiction pour les mineurs et avant de conduire). Cette proportion a doublé sur la période 2008-2012 passant de 31 % à 60 % alors même qu’ils sont de plus en plus avertis des risques et danger de sa consommation régulière et quotidienne.

  • 'Mountain of synthetic cannabis' hits Norway

    The Local (Norway)
    Wednesday, November 13, 2013

    Norwegian customs officials are calling for increased funding after a surge in the quantity of synthetic cannabis coming into the country - most of it bought on the internet and delivered by post. "The problem is that synthetic cannabis is very much more dangerous than ordinary cannabis," according to the Norwegian Customs Association. "You never know what's in it." (See also: Norway's greens call for state cannabis farms)

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