• Boom du cannabis indoor

    En Suisse alémanique, les saisies de plantations de chanvre ont explosé
    Tribune de Génève (Suisse)
    Jeudi, 21 may 2015

    Les faits divers mettent en lumière un phénomène impressionnant: en un an, le nombre de plantations découvertes a pratiquement quadruplé, passant de 18 à 70 entre 2013 et 2014. Alors que les saisies de plus de 100 plants restent, en règle générale, anecdotiques, Saint-Gall compte pour l’an passé 19 plantations entre 100 et 1000 plants, et 4 au-delà de 1000. Les champs exposés à la vue de tous ont été délaissés pour des cultures «indoor», en intérieur. (The rise of cannabis farms in Switzerland)

  • Experte warnt vor Cannabis-Freigabe in der Schanze

    Henning Brauer vom Anwohner-Verein Standpunkt Schanze bezeichnet den Flora-Park als "norddeutschen Hotspot für Marihuana"
    Die Welt (Germany)
    Donnerstag, 21. May 2015

    hamburg-floraparkUm dem zunehmenden Cannabis-Handel im Flora- und Schanzenpark Herr zu werden, fordern Anwohner des Schanzeviertels nun die Freigabe der Droge für ihr Viertel. Zwar sehe der Koalitionsvertrag eine Prüfung solcher Modellversuche vor, das letzte Wort habe aber der Bund. "Die Stadt Hamburg muss im Bundesrat wirbel machen, damit Bewegung in die Sache kommt", so Vorstandsmitglied Brauer. Das Bezirksamt hatte einem runden Tisch organisiert. (Mehr dazu: Kommt 2017 die schwarz-grüne Kiffer-Koalition? | Durchaus gesellschaftsfähig)

  • Germany's bad idea to legalize pot

    The detailed legislative proposal from the Greens could make things worse
    Bloomberg
    Wednesday, May 20, 2015

    Green Party member Dieter Janecek and Christian Democrat Joachim Pfeiffer filed a policy proposal for legalization. The idea of legalizing cannabis is gaining momentum in Germany. It's getting surprising support from parts of the political spectrum that have historically been hostile to the idea. Yet the measure, if adopted, could make it harder for Germans to get marijuana. (See also: Germany marijuana legalization push revives debate over drug policy)

  • MPs block cities from harvesting marijuana

    According to municipalities, regulated cannabis cultivation will lead to less crime and fewer health risks
    NL Times (Netherlands)
    Wednesday, May 20, 2015

    A narrow majority in the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament in the Netherlands, supported a motion to not allow municipalities to experiment with cannabis cultivation: 75 parliamentarians voted for, 70 voted against. Many municipalities want to experiment with the production of cannabis for coffee shops, despite opposition of the government. Municipalities like Utrecht, Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Rotterdam are investigating whether there are opportunities for communal recreational cannabis cultivation. (See also: Dutch police destroyed 6,006 marijuana plantations in 2014)

  • First ‘ecstasy’ shop opens in Amsterdam

    In the Netherlands 40,000 people use ecstasy on a monthly basis
    RT News (Russia)
    Tuesday, May 19, 2015

    A Dutch political movement is calling for the legalization of the psychoactive drug ecstasy – and has opened a shop to promote its cause. The youth wing of the Dutch Liberal Democrats says decriminalizing MDMA would make drug-taking safer. The Young Democrats opened the shop in downtown Amsterdam – but just for one day. The group said it aimed to show “why regulation is better than leaving the distribution to illegal street dealers.” Sadly for the party people, the shop still has to respect the law, so it’ll be handing out placebos, not real MDMA pills. The group says the law should be changed to prevent partygoers dying from tainted ecstasy pills, citing in particular one case of seven deaths in 2014. (See also: ‘Moralising about drug use doesn’t help, but neither does trivialising the problems’)

  • How America overdosed on drug courts

    Drug courts embolden judges to practice medicine without a license—and they put lives in danger
    Pacific Standard (US)
    Monday, May 18, 2015

    drug-courtDrug courts celebrated their 25th anniversary last year. Hailed as the most compassionate way for the criminal justice system to deal with addicts, drug courts were designed to balance punishment with rehabilitation. Many drug court judges oppose opioid maintenance and require patients to become completely abstinent as a condition of participation or graduation. They believe that maintenance simply amounts to swapping one drug addiction for another. This critique betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of opioid pharmacology and addictive behavior.

  • Drug experts plead for a better way

    The group is hoping to influence public opinion in advance of the release of the second yearly drugs report from the federal government
    The Local (Germany)
    Monday, May 18, 2015

    In an Alternative Drugs and Addiction Report, experts have warned politicians that current laws on dangerous drugs are doing more harm than good in Germany. "Since 1971 [the year the Drugs Law was passed] drug consumption and dependency have increased in a way unimaginable back then," the experts wrote in the report. The researchers and activists write that bans and legal punishments are not enough to deal with the problem of drugs. "The law has not only failed in its objective, but prevented further measures that would have limited the damage."

  • Jamaica hoping to be world leader in medical marijuana

    A licence permits the university to grow the herb for the purposes of research and development
    The Gleaner (Jamaica)
    Friday, May 15, 2015

    The Government intends to make Jamaica a world leader on the medical uses of marijuana. Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell said marijuana is one of the most researched herbs, and evidence is pointing to a number of medical benefits. "There is now convincing data and evidence to support beneficial effects in relation to glaucoma, epilepsy, eating disorders and several more conditions, especially those affecting the nervous system," Paulwell said while handing over a marijuana research licence to the University of Technology (UTech).

  • Defying U.S., Colombia halts aerial spraying of crops used to make cocaine

    The United States had pressed the Colombian government to continue the spraying program
    The New York Times (US)
    Thursday, May 14, 2015

    Fumigation_Colombia_NYTThe government of Colombia rejected a major tool in the American-backed antidrug campaign — ordering a halt to the aerial spraying of the country’s vast illegal plantings of coca, the crop used to make cocaine, citing concerns that the spray causes cancer. The decision ends a program that has continued for more than two decades, raising questions about the viability of long-accepted strategies in the war on drugs in the region.

  • German Green, CDU politicians launch cannabis legalization initiative

    A pair of German politicians - one conservative, one green - is promoting legalizing marijuana. One of the arguments is the potential for a tax windfall
    Deutsche Welle (Germany)
    Wednesday, May 13, 2015

    In a proposal for parliament obtained by German public broadcaster ARD, Christian Democrat Joachim Pfeiffer and Green party member Dieter Janecek put forward their plan for the liberalization of cannabis, questioning whether criminalizing posession and purchase of the drug for recreational purposes made sense. Janecek and Pfeiffer estimated a state-regulated market for cannabis would bring in up to two billion euros in tax revenue. (See also: Greens, conservatives want weed legalized | Pot decriminalization proposal criticized by German drug commissioner)

Page 295 of 471