• Colorado's marijuana tax revenues nearly double last year's figures

    Colorado on pace to take in $125m, compared to just $44m last year
    The Guardian (UK)
    Monday, September 21, 2015

    colorado-marijuanaLegal marijuana tax revenues have been breaking records in Colorado, nearly doubling monthly numbers from last year and on pace to exceed projections of legal sales that bring revenue back to the state. Through the first seven months of this year, Colorado has brought in nearly $73.5m, putting the state on pace to collect over $125m for the year. In 2014, experts predicted legal cannabis would bring in upwards of $70m to the state’s tax coffers. In reality, the state collected just $44m in marijuana taxes.

  • Marijuana prohibition can do more harm than good, doctors tell federal parties

    Put public health 1st in pot policies, addiction doctors suggest
    CBC (Canada)
    Monday, September 21, 2015

    canada-pot-flag3If Canada's new government chooses to legalize marijuana beyond medical use then it should get into the business of controlling its supply and sale to prevent the rise of a "Big Cannabis," addiction specialists say. Cannabis policy could be an issue ahead of October's federal election. The governing Conservative party favours the status quo, the competing Liberals seek to legalize, regulate and tax, and the New Democrats support decriminalization. (See also: State of the Evidence: Cannabis Use and Regulation)

  • Ganja ready for the big times

    Just maybe the Government's decision to decriminalise ganja for medicinal purposes might prove to have been a correct one
    The Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
    Friday, September 18, 2015

    jamaica-cannabis-leafGoing by the announcement by Canada-based Timeless Herbal Care Limited (THC), Jamaica stands to benefit from a US$100-million deal to develop medical marijuana products here for the international market over the next 10 years. We hope to hear a pronouncement on the investment from the local Ganja Producers and Growers Association which has as one of its laudable objectives the defence of the interest of the hundreds of small ganga growers here. Their fear that the small grower could be pushed out when big businesses take over is not entirely unfounded.

  • Tramadol-spiked hashish comes at a high price in Cairo

    Offering hashish, locally known as bango, to wedding guests is an expression of hospitality
    Al Araby (Egypt)
    Wednesday, September 16, 2015

    Hash is easily available in many areas of Cairo, and widely used. But there is increasing evidence that much of the supply has been cut with more dangerous and addictive pharmaceutical drugs. Doctor Manal Adel, the chief physician at the Egyptian Centre for Drug Control, said she regularly sees cases in which hash users suffer from withdrawal symptoms commonly associated with heroin and tramadol addicts. Cannabis plants and their products are currently classified as class A drugs in Egypt, and dealing in these substances can be punishable by death, while using hash is only punishable by a prison term with hard labour.

  • The White House blacklisted Bolivia for growing coca while US states sell legal weed

    The US has been quiet about other countries that are possibly running afoul of the UN conventions
    Vice News (US)
    Wednesday, September 16, 2015

    The US has "decertified" Bolivia over what it calls a failure to comply with the UN drug control conventions, despite recent data showing the country has achieved an unparalleled decrease in coca cultivation compared to other Andean nations in South America. The decision, while widely expected, was roundly criticized by drug policy experts, who called the move hypocritical given that the US may be in contravention of the Conventions due to legalized marijuana markets in several states.

  • Idealistic marijuana growers get suspended jail terms

    By not allowing the safe and responsible production of marijuana, "the court is handing the coffee shops over to organised crime"
    Dutch News (Netherlands)
    Wednesday, September 9, 2015

    A couple who grew marijuana ‘by the book’ and informed the tax office about their income have been found guilty of running an illegal plantation and given three month suspended jail sentences on appeal. Last October, a lower court said the couple had always been honest in their dealings with police and justice ministry officials and had acted in the spirit of Dutch soft drugs legislation with regard to public health and public safety. Although they were guilty of running an illegal plantation, they should not face punishment, the court said.

  • Here’s why we hear so many false claims about cannabis

    Scientists often highlight the negative effects of drugs to justify their own source of funding
    David Nutt
    DrugScience (UK)
    Tuesday, September 8, 2015

    Research on substance use has taught me a major overarching lesson: we are much more likely to demonize drugs for their negative effects than consider their neutral or potentially positive impacts. Or – in scientific terms – there is a built-in bias in the scientific literature, textbooks, and the popular press towards highlighting the negative aspects of drug use. And more ink has been spilled about cannabis than any other drug, perhaps because it’s the most widely used illegal drug and the subject of intense debate concerning its regulation.

  • Dabbing: the ‘cannabis crack’ that makes skunk seem weak

    If smoking a joint is like drinking a pint of beer, doing a dab of concentrated cannabis oil is like necking a quarter pint of vodka. Time for the inevitable tabloid panic?
    The Guardian (UK)
    Monday, August 31, 2015

    dabbingAs soon as they find out what it is, the tabloids are going to freak out about dabbing. This new technique for getting stoned involves people heating a pinhead of super-concentrated cannabis oil with a blowtorch, then inhaling it through a glass pipe. For detractors, it’s known as “cannabis crack”. Even seasoned smokers are surprised by the strength. Street cannabis has around a 15% concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient. A dab has up to 90%.

  • Region should explore billion-dollar ganja industry, Caricom heads told

    The billion-dollar industry could include research and development and production of medicinal marijuana products
    Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
    Monday, August 31, 2015

    The Caribbean Community (Caricom) is considered to have some 'competitive' advantage in the cultivation of the marijuana plant for medicinal purposes and may wish to explore any commercial benefit from a potential multi-billion dollar industry, according to a report now before Caricom heads. The report followed a request by St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and was compiled on behalf of the Caricom Bureau. It has not been officially released but the Jamaica Observer has obtained a copy.

  • Young hands in Mexico feed growing U.S. demand for heroin

    Abusers of prescription pharmaceuticals in America are looking for cheaper highs
    The New York Times (US)
    Saturday, August 29, 2015

    opium-mexicoAs heroin addiction soars in the United States, a boom is underway south of the border, reflecting the two nations’ troubled symbiosis. Officials from both countries say that Mexican opium production increased by an estimated 50 percent in 2014 alone, the result of a voracious American appetite, impoverished farmers in Mexico and entrepreneurial drug cartels that straddle the border. A crackdown on painkiller abuse has made the habit highly expensive. The legalization of marijuana in some U.S. states, has pushed down prices, leading many Mexican farmers to switch crops.

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