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Mayor looking to shut down Pusher Street permanently
Sophie Hæstorp Andersen says that she has had enough of all the violence associated with illegal cannabis trade
The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen is indicating that she wants to completely shut down Pusher Street due to the violence associated with the illegal cannabis trade. She has had enough of the violence and crime fostered by ‘activities’ taking place in the area. “If the residents of Christiania are clear in wanting to close down Pusher Street and do something else with the area, Copenhagen Municipality is prepared to support making a plan to find out what can be done with the street,” Andersen told Ekstra Bladet tabloid. Andersen contends that the situation at Pusher Street has reached a level that can no longer be tolerated. (See also: Lord Mayor wants Pusher Street closed) -
How did Sweden end up with its zero-tolerance attitude to drugs?
Since the late 1960s, government after government has constantly sought to drill a zero-tolerance message into the public mind.
The Local (Sweden)
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Johan Wicklén, a prize-winning journalist for Sweden's public broadcaster SVT, published a book on the history of Swedish drugs policy titled Vi ger oss aldrig, or "We will never give way", subtitled: "This is what happened when Sweden lost the war on drugs". Generations of Swedes, Wicklén argues, have been through a process of indoctrination on drug use and drug policy, making it difficult for policy makers today to propose more rational, pragmatic solutions to the problem. Sweden's hardline stance on drugs was set in the late 1970s. "That's when the authorities formulated the idea of a drug-free society. That's when we were starting to distance ourselves from a lot of other countries. The policy is restrictive: that means that illegal drugs are not tolerated in any way." -
Cannabis issue still causing jitters
Legalisation did not have intended effect
The Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Since the Thai government legalised cannabis on June 9, 2022 by removing the plant from the list of prohibited narcotics, the tourism sector was expected to reap a windfall as Thailand was the first country in Asia to allow hemp consumption for certain purposes, other than recreational use. A month after decriminalisation, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) published rules and regulations concerning cannabis and hemp use in the country in a bid to inform and warn tourists about prohibitions against smoking in public. The bid followed a number of reports about foreign tourists who possessed or consumed cannabis without knowing they could face harsh punishment. -
State cannabis sales will not be implemented in current legislative period
Government ministers presented a new pilot project for the introduction of recreational cannabis sales points, although the bill will not appear in the Chamber of Deputies in this legislative period
RTL Today (Luxembourg)
Friday, April 28, 2023
Ministers Claude Meisch, Paulette Lenert and Sam Tanson presented a new bill, which would lead to the installation of 14 state sales points around the country as part of the recreational cannabis pilot project. Consumers would be able to purchase up to 5 grams a day, or 30 grams a month, with two government production licences to be awarded. However, the pilot project has not yet been established in a legal text, and is expected to be presented to the EU Commission soon. It is not yet known when it is due to start, although it is thought it will not take place until the next parliamentary period. The bill on growing up to four cannabis plants at home, however, has been improved and is likely to be pushed through as part of a first phase. (See also in German: Cannabis ganz legal an 14 Verkaufspunkten im Land - irgendwann) -
Legalise it? Czechia moving closer to regulated cannabis but obstacles remain
Because of the Schengen space it’s very complicated to allow a substance in one country once you don’t have regular borders to other countries
Radio Prague (Czech Republic)
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
The Czech cabinet recently approved drug policies that include introducing a strictly regulated cannabis market. The details of the plan are still being fine-tuned – but there already obstacles in sight. The exact rules are now being drafted by an expert group. The state’s drugs policy chief, Jindřich Vobořil, said previously that taxation on legalised cannabis could bring no less than CZK 15 billion into the state coffers annually. The authorities in Germany are discussing a similar move. However, they recently had to tone down their intentions somewhat following concerns from the European Union.The Czech government’s plans could run into similar obstacles. Another aspect is that all elements within the five-party Czech government coalition may not be in unison on the matter. -
Singapore executes man for cannabis trafficking
A Singaporean man was hanged for conspiring to smuggle a kilogram of cannabis. Singapore has some of the world's toughest anti-drug laws
Deutsche Welle (Germany)
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Singapore executed a man accused of coordinating a cannabis delivery, despite pleas for clemency from his family and protests from activists. The United Nations Human Rights Office had asked Singapore to "urgently reconsider" his scheduled execution over one kilogram of cannabis. Activist Kirsten Han from the Transformative Justice Collective confirmed that the execution had been carried out, and that his family had been given the death certificate. Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was convicted in 2017 of "abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic" 1,017.9 grams of cannabis, twice the minimum volume that merits the death sentence. He was sentenced to death in 2018 and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision. -
Ban, ignore or regulate? Kratom and the Whac-A-Mole world of soft drugs
The Czech Republic is testing a new approach to controlling psychoactive substances
Politico (US)
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
It’s a leaf, it’s sold as a dye, and it’s used as a drug: It’s kratom, and it’s all the rage in the Czech Republic. Kratom is among the dozens of psychoactive substances emerging on Europe's recreational drugs scene every year. Some, like kratom, are fairly new to Europe but have been used in other parts of the world for hundreds of years. Others, so-called designer drugs, are concocted by recreational drugmakers to circumvent drug laws — hence their moniker, “legal highs.” They're drugs that fly under the radar, open to abuse but which don't (yet) fall under the purview of international drugs laws. And they create a cat-and-mouse game between policymakers and drug designers. -
Czechs go to pot
Czechia is preparing to introduce a fully legal and regulated cannabis market, with details expected by the end of June, but it’s still not a done deal
Balkan Insight
Monday, April 17, 2023
On April 5, the government approved the 2023-2025 Addiction Policy Action Plan, a wide-ranging policy reform package, including the liberalisation and possible legalisation of recreational cannabis use, sale and production in the Czech Republic. With government parties enjoying a majority in both chambers of parliament, a newly elected pro-legalisation president and widespread public support to ease the rules, the declared goal of legalisation coming into force in 2024 doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Seeing it as a homerun, however, would be a mistake, according to Lukas Hurt, a long-time pro-legalisation activist and editor-in-chief of Magazin Konopi, an online and print publication he co-founded in 2018 that specialises in covering the medical uses of cannabis. -
Dutch cannabis policy example of ‘how not to do it’, says German minister
The Netherlands is currently investigating ways of removing the grey area between licenced cannabis cafes or coffee shops and illegal growing
Dutch News (Netherlands)
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Germany is legalising cannabis use, with the Dutch policy as an example ‘of how not to do it’, German health minister Karl Lauterbach has told broadcaster NOS. Coffee shops, where the Dutch can buy cannabis in limited quantities for private use, are not part of the German plans which include allowing people to grow their own small amount of cannabis at home, or obtain it via non-commercial associations. Germany is also looking at the possibility of commercial cannabis plantations. The Dutch combination of legal sale and consumption and black market production ‘is a sum of disadvantages’, he said. -
Government to deliver pilot project "in due course"
The Minister of Health is optimistic that at least one concept on the legalisation of cannabis may soon be presented to the government council
RTL Today (Luxembourg)
Thursday, April 13, 2023
The pilot project on the legalisation of cannabis in Luxembourg is expected to arrive at the government council "in due course," according to Paulette Lenert. In an interview with RTL, the Minister of Health said the controlled public sale of cannabis is likely to follow Germany's example in being authorised within the framework of an experiment, so as not to violate international rules. Lenert is optimistic that the government will soon be able to present updates on the concept to the government council. Lenert declined to confirm whether a bill on cannabis legalisation is likely to be tabled before the parliamentary elections.
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