-
'Shock and awe' has failed in Philippines drug war, enforcement chief says
The anti-drugs strategy has mostly targeted low-level operatives
Reuters (UK)
Friday, February 7, 2020
Colonel Romeo Caramat, the head of drug enforcement for the Philippine National Police, said that ultra-violent approach to curbing illicit drugs had not been effective. “Shock and awe definitely did not work,” he said. “Drug supply is still rampant.” Caramat said the volume of crime had decreased as a result of the drug war, but users could still buy illegal drugs “any time, anywhere” in the Philippines. He said he now favored a new strategy. Rather than quickly arresting or killing low-level pushers and couriers, he wants to put them under surveillance in the hope they lead police to “big drug bosses”. -
Ganja growers want answers
The Dangerous Drugs (amendment) Act of 2015 is in need of updating to match the fast-moving developments in the legal cannabis industry globally
Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
Friday, February 7, 2020
Ganja growers are calling on the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to clarify the conditions under which cannabis has been exported from Jamaica, even before the passage of the import/export regulations that are still in draft. “Some companies have been allowed to export and there is confusion as to whether it's samples for testing, or it's for export. There is nothing on the CLA website to guide how do you get this special permission for export,” acting programme director of the Ganja Growers and Producers Association Jamaica Paul Burke said. He said the cannabis growers continue to push for a moratorium, to allow traditional farmers to get involved in the regulated industry. -
High time: Netherlands moves to clean up absurd cannabis policy
For 40 years ‘schizophrenic’ approach benefited violent gangs. Not for much longer
Irish Times (Ireland)
Thursday, February 6, 2020I
f there’s one contradiction that goes to the heart of why Dutch drugs policy has lost its way, it’s this: that while it’s legal for “coffee shops” to sell cannabis for personal consumption, growing the cannabis they sell is illegal and subject to stiff penalties that have forced production underground. The result of this wholly irrational arrangement has been to undermine pretty much every significant policy initiative since 1972, when a Labour-led coalition government took the innovative step of focusing public resources predominantly on hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. There are now moves at government level to find a more sensible way to supply cannabis to coffee shops without subsidising criminality. The Rutte government has set up a four-year pilot scheme in 10 cities. -
Cannabis coffee: Indonesia's sharia stronghold sidesteps drug ban
Pot was once so common in Aceh that locals grew it in their backyards and marijuana was sold to the public
The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Agus plunges a wooden paddle into his coffee and marijuana-filled wok, taking care to roast just the right mix of ingredients -- and stay one step ahead of police in Indonesia's Aceh province. His contraband brew is a hit with locals and buyers in other parts of the Southeast Asian archipelago, who pay 1.0 million rupiah ($75) for a kilo of it. But this is risky business in Aceh, where even drinking alcohol or kissing in public can earn you a painful whipping under its strict Islamic law. Agus, not his real name, is part of a clandestine economy in the region at the tip of Sumatra which, despite its no-nonsense reputation, is Indonesia's top weed-producer. -
Conservative Aceh proposes cannabis legalization
Those growing their own cannabis plants for medical purposes have been subject to criminal penalties
The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
Monday, February 3, 2020
Calls for cannabis legalization are on the rise in the conservative Muslim province of Aceh as local leaders believe the move will boost economic development in the region, where cultivation of the substance is already widespread. Indonesia, which has one of the strictest drug laws in the world, currently prohibits the possession and use of marijuana. According to the 2009 Law on Narcotics, marijuana is a type-1 narcotic, putting it on par with crystal meth and heroin, which are illegal for consumption including for medical purposes. A professor at Aceh's Syiah Kuala University, Musri Musman, said that allowing Acehnese people to cultivate the plant would improve the local economy. (See also: Be flexible: Islamic party lawmaker wants Indonesia to export cannabis) -
Mboweni says ‘legalize it!’ as he dares cops to arrest him for growing dagga
The finance minister is clearly backing reforms around the laws restricting the cannabis industry in SA
The Citizen (South Africa)
Monday, February 3, 2020
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni uploaded photos of dagga plants growing on his farm in Limpopo, which he explained were occurring there naturally. The law around cannabis in South Africa is complex, after the Constitutional Court declared that private growth and use should be protected by rights to privacy. However, the plant remains a controlled substance according to the statute books. Many commentators have pointed out that a legal cannabis industry could contribute significantly to economic growth in South Africa, with detractors arguing that the plant is a “gateway drug” to more serious drug abuse. -
'This was supposed to be reparations': Why is LA's cannabis industry devastating black entrepreneurs?
Black merchants affected by the war on drugs are denied licenses and thrown into debt as white owners thrive
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, February 3, 2020
A Los Angeles government program set up to provide cannabis licenses to people harmed by the war on drugs has been plagued by delays, scandal and bureaucratic blunders, costing some intended beneficiaries hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. Black entrepreneurs and activists across LA said that the city’s embattled “social equity” program has left aspiring business owners on an indefinite waiting list, causing potentially irreparable damage to their families’ finances and preventing them from opening marijuana shops they have been planning for years. The community most disproportionately targeted by marijuana arrests is again facing discrimination. -
Drug decriminalisation would 'save hundreds of millions', but Queensland Premier rules it out
The Queensland Productivity Commission says "all available evidence" shows the war on drugs fails to restrict usage or supply
ABC (Australia)
Friday, January 31, 2020
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ruled out decriminalising drugs despite a new report saying it would cut the state's record rate of incarceration and save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year. It is the centrepiece of 42 reforms proposed by the Queensland Productivity Commission (QPC), after its examination of the state's overcrowded prison system. The QPC found decriminalisation would improve the lives of drug addicts without increasing the rate of drug use. Its report estimated that if reforms were implemented immediately, "the prison population would be between 20 to 30 per cent lower in 2025". "This would save between $165 million and $270 million in annual prison costs and avoid $2.1 billion in prison investments," the report said. -
Canberrans can now grow and smoke cannabis, though some questions remain unanswered
The local police force is in a bind, because it serves two masters — the Commonwealth and the ACT — each of which is giving different orders
ABC (Australia)
Friday, January 31, 2020
Canberrans can now grow dope, keep a small amount of the drug at home and smoke it without fear of committing a criminal offence … kind of. Friday marked the first day that the ACT's controversial new cannabis legislation is in effect. The laws have been widely described as the first in Australia to legalise the personal use of marijuana. Yet that's not quite what the ACT legislation does: it simply removes criminal and financial penalties for possessing and using small amounts of the drug. The Federal Government has made it clear that it opposes this shift and has threatened to use the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to enforce its own criminal laws against Canberrans who choose to light up. (See also: Legal cannabis a good step, but drug war hangover remains) -
Essais pilotes de cannabis: feu vert d'une commission
Se ralliant au Conseil fédéral, la commission de la santé du National ouvre la voie à une distribution contrôlée de cannabis à des consommateurs volontaires
Tribune de Genève (Suisse)
Vendredi, 31 janvier 2020
Des essais pilotes de distribution de cannabis devraient avoir lieu. La commission compétente du National s'est finalement ralliée vendredi par 17 voix contre 8 à la proposition du Conseil fédéral. La participation aux projets pilotes sera limitée aux consommateurs de cannabis âgés d'au moins 18 ans. Les participants devront être étroitement accompagnés et l'évolution de leur état de santé devra faire l'objet d'une surveillance constante, énumère la commission. Seul point de divergence par rapport au gouvernement: les produits cannabiques devront être issus de l'agriculture biologique suisse afin que ces essais profitent aux paysans suisses.
Page 89 of 471
