More than 25 persons representing cannabis growers and consumers from several communities throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines met at Victoria Park to discuss government’s announcement to legalise medical cannabis. The meeting, which was called by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cannabis Revival Committee (SVGCRC) was presided over by Junior Spirit Cottle, who is also the committee’s president and Vice President Ajit Duncan. The meeting looked at the restructuring of the organisation to enable it to operate more effectively. The SVGCRC has been calling for alternative livelihood for growers, medical cannabis and decriminalisation, as well as the legal right of Rastas to use cannabis as a religious sacrament.

According to cannabis industry analytics firm Headset, pot sales in the United States spiked in mid-March, with sales growth peaking at 64% in the week ended March 16 — the highest growth rate since at least the beginning of 2019. But after people had apparently replenished their stockpiles for fear dispensaries might be closed amid virus shutdowns, sales decelerated during the last two weeks of the month to the "mid- to high-single-digit range," the Headset analysts said. In the course of April, most US federal states surprisingly declared cannabis an "essential good" like groceries, allowing pot dispensaries to offer curbside delivery. In Germany efforts to ensure a high-quality domestic supply, means the country is now aiming for the first local cannabis harvest by the end of this year.

Thailand made headlines all over the world last December when it became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize cannabis for medical use and research purposes, sparking a race to cash in on what could someday become the country's main cash crop. Full legalization was a core policy of the Bhumjaithai party's campaign in the March 24 election, which helped it win the fifth most seats in Thailand's new parliament. The government has also made the development of the industrial potential of the drug one of its priorities, saying its study and development "should be sped up for the medical industry to create economic opportunity and income for the people."

A bill to legalize cannabis use in Israel was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, passing its first hurdle on the way to becoming law. The legislation will decriminalize the possession of up to 50 grams of marijuana while fully legalizing the possession and consumption of up to 15 grams by individuals above the age of 21. If the bill becomes law, selling and purchasing marijuana for personal use will be legal for those above 21 and authorized shops will be allowed to sell cannabis product, through growing marijuana at home will still be illegal. The legislation also outlined medical cannabis reform. (See also: Cannabis legalization bills pass early readings; ultra-Orthodox MKs walk out) | Israeli lawmakers give preliminary approval for cannabis decriminalization)

The Public Health Ministry in Thailand has completed the first draft of the Cannabis-Hemp Act and said it will not reclassify cannabis as a narcotic, Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew said. Dr Cholnan said the new law is based on amendments to the first draft. It has been updated to address various public concerns or loopholes that allow people to use cannabis for recreational purposes, he added. The core of the law still defines cannabis as a controlled herb, while any extract that contains more than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) remains listed as a narcotic.

Cannabis has been identified as a potential substitute for users of legal or illicit opioids, but a new Vancouver-based study shows the drug may also help reduce people’s cravings for another highly addictive substance: crack cocaine. Scientists at the BC Centre on Substance Use tracked 122 people who consumed crack in and around Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside over a three-year period and found they reported using that drug less frequently when they opted to also consume cannabis. The findings do suggest that cannabinoids might play a role in reducing the harms of crack use for some people. (See also: Study: cannabis may reduce crack use |Therapeutic Use of Cannabis by Crack Addicts in Brazil)

Este 6 de julio se cumplen 4 años de la ley 1787, la cual reguló el cannabis medicinal y científico en Colombia. Esta norma nació como una opción de tratamiento y como una industria con gran oportunidad económica. Aunque la industria aún no ha despegado en esas proporciones y el coronavirus ha frenado procesos, el balance que hacen desde varios sectores es positivo, más aún teniendo en cuenta que la ley fue reglamentada hasta 2017 con el decreto 613, que sentó las bases para que Colombia tenga hoy más de 970 licencias de cannabis y un cupo de producción de 56 toneladas al año. (Véase también: Trámites digitales, nuevo impulso a industria del cannabis medicinal)

Tres años y algunos meses después de la sanción de la ley que permite el uso medicinal de la marihuana en Argentina, los usuarios que hasta ahora debían moverse en la sombra de la clandestinidad a riesgo de ir presos recibirán la noticia que tanto esperaban: el Gobierno permitirá finalmente que los usuarios terapéuticos puedan cultivar en sus hogares la planta de cannabis, además de habilitar su expendio en farmacias y proyectar cultivos y producción pública. El ministro de Salud presentó el borrador de la nueva reglamentación de la ley, que contemplará la mayoría de los pedidos de los usuarios y anulará la redactada por la administración del gobierno anterior, que había sido muy criticada por no resolver la demanda de los pacientes.

A tripartite agreement was signed to implement a cannabis pilot programme in Accompong, St Elizabeth, under the Cannabis Licensing Authority's (CLA) Alternative Development Programme. The agreement was signed by representatives of the CLA, Accompong Town Maroons, and Timeless Herbal Care. The Alternative Development Programme is being implemented as a strategy to transition traditional cannabis farmers from an illicit framework into the regulated environment, as a means of promoting sustainable economic development and poverty eradication. It is also aimed at providing access to quality-controlled cannabis for medicinal purposes, in keeping with government policy.

Many African states that persecuted citizens for cannabis related offences for years are now promoting legal cannabis production. Over the past five years 10 countries have passed laws to legalise production for medical and scientific purposes. These include Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Ghana, Eswatini, Rwanda and Morocco. South Africa has also legalised the private growing of cannabis plants by adults for their own personal consumption. The cannabis policy liberalisation in Africa has been brought about by two main factors. One is the lobbying by local activists. Cannabis use is still criminalised in most African countries. The other factor is the emergence of the global legal cannabis industry projected to grow to nearly US$200 billion by 2028.

In a new report, Ending the U.S. government’s war on medical marijuana research, researchers at the Brookings Institution call on the federal government to eliminate roadblocks to medical marijuana research in the U.S. "The federal government is stifling medical research in a rapidly transforming area of public policy that has consequences for public health and public safety," authors John Hudak and Grace Wallack, say. "Statutory, regulatory, bureaucratic, and cultural barriers have paralyzed science and threatened the integrity of research freedom in this area."

The results of clinical trials testing cannabis as a PTSD treatment are pending. Previous research has linked cannabis use with poorer mental health in PTSD patients, but it’s unclear whether cannabis exacerbates PTSD symptoms, or if patients with worse symptoms are simply self-medicating more. Much of the existing evidence for cannabis as a PTSD treatment comes from patient reports of success. A recent study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that PTSD increased the risk of major depressive episodes among Canadians who didn’t use cannabis by roughly seven times, and suicidal ideation by roughly five times. But, among Canadians who did use cannabis, PTSD was not statistically associated with either outcome.

The “legendary” Chui Valley may be destroyed with herbicides. Legendary in quotes – because the Valley is known primarily for cannabis that grow there. Located in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl Oblast and Kyrgyzstan’s Chui Province, about 140,000 hectares of the total area of the valley see intensive growth of cannabis. It is not known precisely when cannabis started growing in the valley. Some claim that the seeds were brought here in the 17th century by Turkestan Governor-General Kolpakovsky with the good intentions to prevent sand encroachment. Others believe cannabis has grown here since ancient times and the people found it useful in everyday life because of high durability of the material. Now the valley is a heaven for drug dealers. Up to 5 tons of cannabis a year can be produced.

The Black Farmers' Association of South Africa (BFASA) have threatened to shut down the regulatory authority for allegedly excluding them from opportunities in the rapidly growing cannabis industry. BFASA says it has written to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) amid concerns that the cannabis industry is not being steered in a sustainable nor inclusive manner. "SAPHRA has maliciously and deliberately blocked every aspect of the cannabis and hemp industry. Job creation. Investment from keen investors. Untold agricultural, industrial, recreational, and traditional healing methods are thwarted selfishly," Dr Lennox Xolile Mtshagi, BFASA’s national president, wrote in his letter to SAHPRA. "SAHPRA has handed the cannabis industry to 'white monopoly colonialists'."

Es el comienzo del fin de una época donde la norma fue criminalizar pacientes y cultivadores solidarios. Pasaron casi cuatro meses desde que el ministro de Salud Ginés González García y su vice Carla Vizzotti presentaron en privado la nueva reglamentación de la ley de uso medicinal del cannabis a referentes de la ciencia y el activismo. Finalmente el Gobierno confirmó aquello y publicó un decreto donde establece la regulación del cultivo doméstico y el expendio en farmacias de aceites y cremas producidas con esta planta. La novedad más importante es la mejora del artículo 8 de la ley, que incluye la autorización del cultivo personal y en red para los usuarios, investigadores y pacientes que se registren en el Programa nacional de Cannabis (REPROCANN) y “que no se encuentra operativo”.

Dans les provinces d’Al Hoceima et de Chaouen, les cultivateurs de la plante de cannabis ont décidé de lancer une initiative légale pour accompagner la mise en œuvre de la nouvelle législation relative à cette culture. D’après le quotidien Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, ces derniers viennent de créer la «Coordination des zones d’origine du cannabis». Cette initiative intervient au moment où le nouveau projet de loi sur les usages légaux du cannabis vient tout juste d’être présenté par le ministre de l’Intérieur devant le Parlement. Parmi les premières revendications de cette organisation associative, une révision du casier judiciaire des personnes recherchées pour cette activité, l’assainissement du foncier consacré à cette culture et l’accélération du renforcement du rôle des coopératives.

Le PAM a réussi à réunir les cultivateurs de cannabis de la région de Bab Berred. Des centaines de personnes, liées à la culture de cette plante sujet de polémique, se sont rassemblées dans une tente caidale dressée pour l’occasion à la sortie du village de Bab Berred, non loin du poste de la gendarmerie de la région. Dans l’assistance, des propriétaires ou de simples ouvriers agricoles travaillant les terres cultivées par le cannabis. Pour les agriculteurs qui ont pris la parole, il s’agit de sortir la région tout entière de la peur. Selon certains d’entre eux, la culture de cannabis est la seule source de revenus, mais aussi des tracas et de chantages que subissent les habitants de ces régions. (Lire aussi: Dans les régions du cannabis – sur la piste des 48.000 wanted)

Canopy Growth is ceasing cannabis cultivation in Africa, Canada, Colombia and the United States in a bid to “improve efficiencies” in its global operations. The company also said it is eliminating 85 full-time positions. Almost half the workforce reduction is coming from the company’s Colombian operations. The downsizing does not affect Europe. Canopy’s pullback comes after Canadian producers raked up collective net losses exceeding 6 billion Canadian dollars ($4.5 billion) in 2019, the first calendar year recreational cannabis products were allowed to be sold in Canada. Many companies, including Canopy and competitor Aurora Cannabis, invested heavily in far-flung areas of the world, where actual medical marijuana markets remain years – maybe decades – away.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar is calling for Caricom and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to take a collective approach to the development of standards governing the negotiation of cannabis trade agreements for their member states. Caesar said small Caribbean states should no longer be competing against each other.  He said if the Caribbean as a region intends to fully realise the opportunity that the fast-growing cannabis industry presents, it must develop a unified approach and ensures a seat at the international table.  (See also: T&T riding last wave in $m marijuana train)

Al menos unas 200 mil personas se reunieron en la 11ª movilización en reclamo de la legalización de la marihuana para todos sus usos, en más de 25 ciudades de Argentina. Si bien se trata de una marcha que se replica en varios puntos del mundo, desde 1973, en el país las principales consignas son la regulación estatal de todas las drogas, la creación de clubes de cultivo y la disposición de recursos públicos para investigar los usos médicos del cannabis. “Las personas que usan cannabis con fines terapéuticos están peor que antes de la sanción de la ley del cannabis, que el mes pasado cumplió dos años”, asegura Mariano Fusero, ex integrante de Sedronar. La multitud caminó hasta el Congreso para reclamar por la legalización y autocultivo de la planta. (Véase tambien: No es sólo por el faaaaaaaso)