Oposición e independientes radicaron un paquete legislativo para prohibir el glifosato, cambiar la política prohibicionista por un enfoque de salud y cesar la persecución a pequeños cultivadores. Con estos proyectos se consolida una alianza interparlamentaria para replantear la política antidrogas del país. Una perspectiva novedosa que propone un enfoque diametralmente opuesto al del gobierno de Iván Duque. La iniciativa madre de dicha alianza es una reforma constitucional que busca que el enfoque en la lucha contra las drogas abandone la estrategia prohibicionista y asuma la perspectiva de salud pública y prevención del consumo como su bandera.

The global story about cannabis — the most-used recreational drug in the world — is about as fuzzy as your body feels after taking your first hit. While some places, such as states in the US, have legalized the drug, it is strictly prohibited in others. Almost 200 million people smoke pot worldwide according to the 2019 World Drug Report, and that number is rising. Whether this is a good or bad thing seems somewhat hard to decipher with inconsistent global regulations on the drug, conflicting research studies and little concrete evidence of its long-term effects. But how can we decide whether to condemn or support the devil's lettuce when our own governments can't seem to figure it out?

El gobernador de Nueva York, Andrew Cuomo, presentó hoy un proyecto de ley para reducir las penas por posesión de pequeñas cantidades de marihuana, en un esfuerzo para rebajar el número de detenciones relacionadas con ella y que suelen afectar en mayor medida a las minorías latina y afroamericana. "Esta nueva ley salvará a miles de neoyorquinos, que son de manera desproporcionada jóvenes negros e hispanos, de cargos por delitos menores", dijo Cuomo.

Minister of Justice, Senator Mark Golding, tabled the much-anticipated Bill proposing the automatic expungement of convictions for certain minor ganja-related offences in the Senate. The Bill, officially titled An Act to Amend the Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders), also provides that conviction for a minor offence of ganja possession, which involves a fine of $1000 (or such other amount as may be prescribed), or for smoking ganja, shall not be entered into the criminal record of the offender.

The Barbados Government has announced the coming of a major shift in the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Act. Persons found in possession of minuscule quantities of cannabis on the streets will no longer be charged. Governor General Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason announced during The Throne Speech that the Drug Abuse Act will be amended. "We will [...] amend our Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Act to provide that possession of 14 grams, or half an ounce or less of cannabis is no longer an offence for which one can be arrested, charged and tried; and will therefore not result in an appearance before the Magistrates Court or in a criminal record." Similar to a traffic ticket, the person would have 30 days to pay a fine of $200 (US$ 100).

Luxembourg's governing coalition continues to drag its feet on fulfilling its election promise to legalise the production and sale of cannabis, but could allow plants to be raised at home. Adult residents would be allowed to grow four cannabis plants per household if proposals announced by government ministers are adopted into law. The moves to decriminalise cannabis also would sharply lower fines punishing people who carry three grams or less from the current €250 to €2,500 to between €25 and €500. But consuming cannabis in public would remain illegal. The government is still working to legalise cannabis production and sale but is facing "international constraints" delaying its 2018 election promise. (See also: Growing cannabis for personal use to become legal In Luxembourg, a first In the E.U.)

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.

Growing small amounts of marijuana at home for private use is not a crime, Italy’s top court has ruled, putting an end to a yearslong legal dispute and adding Italy to the short list of countries to allow cultivation of recreational cannabis. A 1990s law prohibits the cultivation and sale of marijuana in Italy, but conflicting court decisions, and a 2016 amendment that opened a loophole in the law, created confusion over how it should be interpreted. The court appears to have stopped short of outright legalizing marijuana, but has decriminalized small-scale, private cultivation. (See also: Italy court rules home-growing cannabis is legal, reigniting dispute) (In Italian: Coltivazione cannabis: non è penale se per uso personale | Cannabis coltivata in casa, i paletti posti dalla Cassazione)

Last summer, during a press conference, Germany’s drug czar Daniela Ludwig said something goofy: “Just because alcohol is dangerous doesn’t mean that cannabis is broccoli.” The quirky statement was widely ridiculed online as typifying her out-of-touch approach to recreational cannabis consumption. And the drug czar seems to be in denial of how widespread cannabis use is. According to one survey, 28.3 per cent of Germans aged 18 to 64 have consumed the drug at least once in their lifetime. In Berlin, of course, weed and hash are omnipresent: On the street, in parks, wafting from balconies.

Israelis who have been convicted for possessing or using cannabis for personal purposes were called upon to submit a request to have their criminal record erased, President Isaac Herzog and Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced. The call came after on February 9 a proposal was put forward to amend the Administrative Rules and Order law such that possessing or using cannabis will be designated as an administrative offense and will not warrant the opening of a criminal record. The clemency process in Israel requires that a person who wishes to erase his criminal record submit a request with the Justice Ministry, which then prepares a file and recommendation for the President to decide upon. 

American businessman, Chase Ergen and Greek billionaire, Alki David, have formed a consortium aimed at developing the cannabis business in the Eastern Caribbean nations. The duo has disclosed plans to purchase agricultural land and partner with farmers to create a cooperative entity modeled after the ones in Switzerland. The first plane load of hemp seed for a designated parcel of land totaling 300 acres arrived in St Kitts and Nevis, but focus will also be placed on Dominica and Antigua. Ergen and David intend on reaching out to business and government leaders across the region. The cannabis initiative is expected to create thousands of jobs and will also tap into the rich cultural history and cannabis know-how of the strengthening Rastafarian movement in the region.

En la Argentina se está preparando una nueva ley de cannabis que apunta al uso recreativo, basada en la reducción de daños y con un objetivo de máxima: quitarles al narcotráfico y sus aliados en las fuerzas de seguridad y el Poder Judicial la regulación ilegal del mercado. Sus propulsores, unas 28 organizaciones de la sociedad civil, entre científicas, académicas, especializadas en salud mental y de Derechos Humanos, aseguran que por primera vez en la historia del país es posible una reforma profunda de las políticas de drogas. El Acuerdo por la Regulación Legal del Cannabis para personas mayores de 18 años, lanzado en septiembre pasado al cumplirse tres décadas de la ley de drogas, plantea la despenalización.

On August 17, 2020, the director of public prosecutions in Canada issued new guidelines under which federal prosecutors are to resort to criminal prosecution for possession only in the “most serious” cases – that is, where accompanying circumstances or conduct are deemed to pose a risk to others. It’s a potential, tentative de facto decriminalization. Recommended responses to possession of smaller quantities comprise addiction treatment (including Indigenous cultural or abstinence-based recovery centres), counseling, or restorative justice (including Indigenous restorative justice programs) among others. Some media outlets instantly announced that Canada was decriminalizing. Others, including Filter, have been warier.

At first glance, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s cabinet looks very different from that of predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. It comprises many scientists and other experts in their respective fields, where the previous administration favored military and neoliberal ideologues. Minister of Human Rights Silvio de Almeida is among those who say they support a public health approach to drug use rather than a carceral one. But time and again, we see lip service performed by officials we call “progressive,” while we wait for their actions to match their words.

K2 overdoses in Brooklyn sent 33 people to hospital. The rise of K2 could be fueled by a twist on the "gateway drug" theory: it’s not marijuana use, but marijuana criminalization, that could lead many to turn to synthetic cannabinoids. Just like marijuana activists are championing studies that suggest cannabis reforms could lead to decreased heroin and opioid use, stopping the spread of K2 could become a rallying point for the marijuana movement. As Adam Winstock, a consultant psychiatrist and founder of the Global Drug Survey put it, "In some regions, it could be the best argument for legalization in quite some time."

The Attorney General announced updated guidelines for how the police should work with drug possession charges. The Attorney General has said that drug addicts should not be prosecuted for having drugs for personal use. The Supreme Court has said that this advice applies to those found with up to five grams of heroin, amphetamine or cocaine. Lawmakers also say that those caught with “modest exceedance” of this limit should receive a reduced sentence or punishment. The Attorney General has advised that fair exceedance would be a quantity of narcotics of up to ten grams. Three recent rulings in the Supreme Court, which saw three drug addicts handed reduced sentences or no punishment at all for being in possession of drugs, prompted the new guidelines.

As Canada continues to work out the kinks of legalizing cannabis—and jurisdictions around the world follow suit—harm reduction advocates and drug policy researchers have their sights set on the regulation of all drugs, a reform they say is necessary to save lives and look at the issue from a public health perspective. Legalizing drugs would be different from decriminalizing drugs—the latter would make it legal to possess and use small amounts of banned substances but not to produce or sell them. Legalization would mean securing a safe supply of drugs and, with varying degrees of strictness, making those drugs accessible to the public.

A referendum on making growing cannabis legal in Italy has been blocked by the country's constitutional court. In a ruling judges said the law would have forced Italy to violate its international obligations to prevent drug trafficking. But critics said that the court had stifled the democratic process after a petition gained 630,000 signatures, well above the threshhold to trigger a referendum on the issue. Supporters of the referendum believed that the legalisation of cannabis, which they say is no more harmful than legal substances such as alcohol and tobacco, would have made it possible to remedy overcrowding in prisons while focusing police action on violent criminal organisations. (See also: Top Italian court blocks marijuana and psilocybin referendum from going before vote)

The INCB dedicated one of its latest series of Alerts, from June 2019, to the issue of ‘State responses to drug-related criminality’, covering decriminalisation, proportionate sentencing, the death penalty and extrajudicial killings. The Board has recently taken a more positive stance towards decriminalisation, in particular under the leadership of Werner Sipp in 2016. In April 2017, the INCB had already published an Alert on the issue, although mostly reiterating language included in the UN drug conventions. This month’s Alert goes into further detail, explaining the ‘more differentiated’ approach adopted by member states in recent years – as 26 countries have now moved towards a decriminalisation model.

La sanción del consumo o tenencia de drogas en lugares públicos, una infracción grave incluida en la Ley de Protección de la Seguridad Ciudadana, conocida popularmente como Ley Mordaza, experimentó un notable aumento durante el pasado año, según el Anuario Estadístico del Ministerio de Interior de 2018. En total, se impusieron 177.199 multas por esta causa, lo que supone un promedio de 485 al día y un incremento del 12% con respecto a las 157.694 registradas en 2017. La primera consecuencia del aumento del número de multas fue, evidentemente, el incremento de la recaudación, que en 2018 ascendió a 116,7 millones de euros.