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Years after legalizing marijuana, voters see it as a huge success
The perception of success seems to correlate with both the passage of time and the efficiency of a state’s retail recreational marijuana system
Leafly (US)
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Residents in nine of the 11 states that have legalized the adult use of cannabis have no regrets about ending prohibition. In fact, according to a new survey, large majorities now deem the move a whopping success. YouGov, an international research data and analytics group based in London, surveyed more than 32,000 Americans in legal states. Participants were asked if they considered recreational marijuana legislation to be more of a success or failure. The survey was conducted April 17-20, 2020. In Colorado and Washington, the first states to legalize (in 2012), voters responded with two thumbs up. -
Illinois announces $31 million In marijuana revenue-funded grants to repair drug war’s harms
Regulators have identified economically distressed areas around the state where businesses and nonprofits are eligible for the funds
Marijuana Moment (US)
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Illinois is putting its marijuana money where its mouth is, announcing that $31.5 million in restorative justice grants are now available thanks to tax revenue derived from legal cannabis sales. Under the legalization bill that Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed last year, a Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program was established. It provides grant opportunities for “communities impacted by economic disinvestment, violence and the severe and multilayered harm caused by the war on drugs.” There are five priorities of R3 that the funds are meant to address: civil legal aid, economic development, reentry from the criminal justice system, violence prevention and youth development. -
Is Southeast Asia's drug trade too big to control?
The war on drugs looks like a losing battle in Southeast Asia. Although authorities carry out big busts, prices remain low and demand is high
Deutsche Welle (Germany)
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Police in Myanmar this week announced the largest synthetic drug seizure on record in Southeast Asia. Between February and April, security forces seized more than 200 million tablets of methamphetamine, 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of crystal meth, 300 kilograms of heroin and 3,750 kilograms of liquid 3-methylfentanyl (3MF). "The amount of 3MF is truly incredible. 3MF is 10 times stronger than fentanyl, which is 100 times stronger than morphine. That makes it equivalent to a few thousand tons of morphine — or several billion doses. That has to be for global supply, not just regional," Myanmar expert Richard Horsey told DW. -
It’s time to admit it: Drug dealers should be considered essential workers
If there’s one thing living in and writing about the dope game for over a decade has taught me, it’s that the ‘cure’ we now have for addiction is worse than the disease
The Independent (UK)
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard stories about how the pandemic has disrupted the global narcotics trade. In Mexico, it’s messing up business for the Sinaloa cartel. No chemicals coming in from China = no ingredients for fentanyl or crystal meth. A tiny microscopic virus did what a billion dollars of DEA funding could not. We’ve also heard stories of how dealers are getting around quarantine, sometimes dressing up as nurses or delivery drivers to give their clients their fix. Like coronavirus, the drugs issue is a public health crisis. Since the pandemic is making us reconsider a lot of things, from our lifestyles to government spending, I’d like to propose we reconsider our drug policy. -
Legalising the cannabis economy takes a Covid-19 hit
Covid-19 lockdown regulations affecting the sitting of parliamentary committees and the ability to hold a public participation process
Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Delays in passing new laws governing the possession and use of cannabis, caused by the Covid-19 lockdown, have placed on hold the development of a different kind of green economy mentioned by President Cyril Rampahosa in his February State of the Nation address. The delays in promulgating the Regulation of Cannabis Bill and additional changes to the Medicine and Related Substances Control Act mean the state will not meet the September 2020 deadline set by the Constitutional Court in the 2018 judgment declaring the prohibition on cannabis cultivation, possession and use unconstitutional. (See also: No legal sales in new cannabis Bill) -
'Instead of doctors, they send police to kill us': locked-down Rio faces deadly raids
Covid-19 quarantine has not stopped police from storming favelas, with 13 killed in the latest operation
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, May 18, 2020
Police operations and body bags are nothing new to Rio, where state police killed a record 1,810 people last year, nearly five a day. But with the city now in partial shutdown because of Covid-19, and citizens under orders to stay indoors, favela residents are voicing outrage that the police’s terrifying incursions into their communities have not been halted. Friday’s operation – which left 13 people dead – was the latest in a series of deadly police assaults which have continued despite the quarantine imposed by Rio’s hardline governor, Wilson Witzel, in mid-March. “People should be getting help, not getting shot at,” complained congresswoman Renata Souza, who said it was inhumane for such operations to continue during the pandemic. -
‘License to Kill’: Inside Rio’s record year of police killings
A Times analysis found officers shoot without restraint, protected by their bosses and by politicians, certain that illegal killings will not be held against them
The New York Times (US)
Monday, May 18, 2020
Officially, the police in Brazil are allowed to use lethal force only to confront an imminent threat. But an analysis of four dozen police killings in a violent Rio district shows that officers routinely gun down people without restraint, protected by their bosses and the knowledge that even if they are investigated for illegal killings, it will not keep them from going back out onto the beat. In at least half of the 48 police killings analyzed by The New York Times, the deceased were shot in the back at least once, according to autopsy reports, immediately raising questions about the imminent threat required to justify such killings. One quarter of the police killings examined involved an officer who had previously been charged with murder. -
Licensed retail herb houses can now sell to qualified patients online
Jamaica's long delay in promulgating regulations for the commercial export of cannabis has resulted in a Canadian company pulling back on its expansion plans in Jamaica
Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
Saturday, May 16, 2020
The Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has established interim measures to facilitate online sales by licensed retail herb houses to registered patients in keeping with the Government's initiatives to practise safety while ensuring business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CLA said the measures for the online sale and subsequent pick up of the ganja at licensed retail facilities, were established in consultation with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries. In a separate move last week, CLA also established interim regulations for the import and export of cannabis products, while a Canadian company pulled out of expansion plans in Jamaica's cannabis industry. -
Dutch and Mexican gangs are teaming up to sell high-end meth to Asia
A VICE investigation reveals that meth shards "the size of your arm" are the latest product of the globalized drug trade
Vice (UK)
Thursday, May 14, 2020
A new and rapidly evolving Dutch meth trade shows evidence of collusion between Mexican and Dutch organized crime groups to produce and traffic high quality meth to Asia and Australasia. Until 2016 police had busted just three meth labs in Holland. Yet in the last three years they have busted 27. Holland’s rising meth producing industry is notable for its links with Mexican criminals.Dutch crime gangs, which already produce and export huge quantities of ecstasy and amphetamines around the world, are utilizing existing labs, trafficking routes and infrastructures to smuggle meth to the other side of the world. (See also: Crystal meth: Europe could now see a surge in supply and use) -
Minimum legal age for cannabis use should be 19, study suggests
The authors found different optimal minimum legal ages depending on the outcome of interest
Medical Xpress (Canada)
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
The optimal minimum legal age for non-medical cannabis use is 19 years of age, according to a study published in BMC Public Health. Researchers investigated how Canadians who started using cannabis at several young ages differed across important outcomes (educational attainment, cigarette smoking, self-reported general and mental health) in later-life. "Our results indicate that, contrary to the Canadian federal government's recommendation of 18 and the medical community's support for 21 or 25, 19 is the optimal minimum legal age for non-medical cannabis use. Keeping the legal age below 21 may strike a balance between potential increases in underground markets and illegal use, and avoiding the adverse outcomes associated with starting to use cannabis at an earlier age."
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