El líder de la mayoría en el Senado, Chuck Schumer, propuso una legislación para legalizar la marihuana a nivel federal, una medida destinada a suavizar las políticas restrictivas sobre drogas que han impactado de manera desproporcionada a las comunidades de color y los pobres. La Ley de Oportunidades y Administración de Cannabis eliminaría la marihuana de la Ley de Sustancias Controladas e introduciría regulaciones para gravar los productos de cannabis. La propuesta eliminaría los registros federales de infractores no violentos de cannabis y permitiría a las personas que cumplen condena en una prisión federal por delitos de marihuana no violentos solicitar ante un tribunal una nueva sentencia. (Véase también:Demócratas proponen despenalización de la marihuana en todo EE. UU.)

Con 82 votos a favor, 18 en contra y 7 abstenciones, el Senado de la República aprobó el dictamen para despenalizar el uso lúdico o adulto de la marihuana. Esto quiere decir que a partir del 15 de diciembre, si pasa en la Cámara de Diputados, las personas podrán cargar hasta 28 gramos de la yerba, es decir una cajetilla de 28 cigarrillos, y tener de 6 a 8 plantas de marihuana en sus casas, sin terminar en la cárcel. En términos sencillos, el dictamen que se aprobó amplía de 5 a 28 gramos la posesión para autoconsumo, es decir despenalizada y que no amerita sanción. Queda permitido a personas mayores de dieciocho años consumir cannabis psicoactivo. (Véase también: Marihuana: la polémica entre los derechos humanos y facilitar el consumo)

2018 was a big year for cannabis advocates in South Africa. It was the year the constitutional court ruled the government couldn’t invade the privacy of citizens who want to grow and consume cannabis at home. The ruling was seen by many as South Africa’s opportunity to re-engage with its cultural ties to the plant and enter into the expanding global cannabis market. But judging by what’s written in the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, it’s clear lawmakers didn’t share the same goals. While the legislation is on its surface a step forward in drug policy reform, its steep penalties and confusing rules feel like a step backward to populations that have been consuming dagga recreationally and traditionally for centuries.

The St Kitts-Nevis government said it would table legislation in the Parliament allowing for the regulated and controlled use of marijuana for medicinal, scientific, religious and recreational purposes amendmending the Drugs (Prevention and Abatement of the Misuse and Abuse of Drugs) (Amendment) Bill, 2019. “The far-reaching legislative amendments come after the Cabinet established a National Marijuana Commission to ascertain the views of citizens and residents on cannabis use,” noting that the consultations, which were chaired by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Hazel Laws, had “found unanimous agreements for the decriminalisation of marijuana in the Federation”. (See also: St Kitts-Nevis review of Cannabis laws reflect changing view)

St Vincent and the Grenadines has become the first Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) member to pass legislation allowing for the decriminalisation of marijuana for medicinal and scientific purposes. Parliament approved two pieces of legislation that also allows for the production of the crop under a tightly controlled framework. Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar, who piloted the measure, said that it would end many of the sufferings people had endured in the illegal marijuana trade. Lawmakers also approved the Medical Marijuana Amnesty Bill amidst calls by the Opposition and some members of the Rastafarian for the Ralph Gonsalves Government to go the full length and legalise small portions of the plant for recreational use.

The St Vincent and the Grenadines parliament will meet for the first reading of three pieces of legislation as the government continues its efforts to establish a medical marijuana industry in the country. Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Saboto Caesar will table The Medicinal Cannabis Industry Bill, The Cannabis Cultivation (Amnesty) Bill, and The Permitted Use of Cannabis for Religious Purpose Bill, a few months after the Ralph Gonsalves administration had indicated a desire to have the relevant laws passed by March. The main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) has said that the government must ensure that any medical marijuana industry established in St Vincent benefits the citizens. (See also: Medical marijuana bills reach Parliament)

The experiences of countries that have decriminalised drugs show that fears of explosions in drugs use are unfounded.

A total of 31,177 people applied for the medical marijuana amnesty online during the 90-day registration period, which means the number of medical marijuana users in Thailand may exceed 50,000, says the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre. However, Prof Thiravat Hemachudah, the head of the centre -- which assisted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the online amnesty registration process -- said patients will still have to contact the FDA to complete the process. Prof Thiravat said the Red Cross and the FDA never expected to receive so many queries and applications for an amnesty when the initiative was launched. (See also: Pot prescriptions possible by end of June)

Thailand legalised cultivating and consuming cannabis this month, reversing a hard-line approach of long prison sentences or even the death penalty for drug offences. Cafés and stalls have been openly selling all kinds of cannabis products, or showing off jars filled with potent marijuana flowers. The minister for public health, Anutin Charnvirakul - architect of the new law - was seen sampling weed-laced curries, and being applauded by farmers who hope it will bring them new sources of income. The new law appears to give Thailand what is perhaps the most liberal approach to marijuana anywhere in the world. For the moment, people can grow and consume as much of the plant as they like, though there are a few limits on how they can market and sell it. (See also: Thousands of cannabis offenders being released, but not all)

With an estimated $7 billion in sales in 2016 and potentially exponential growth due to recent ballot initiatives on recreational use, the legal marijuana industry has a lot of businesses seeing green. But as is so often the case in this country, there’s a darker side to this story and it splinters on the lines of race. For decades, the war on drugs has disproportionately targeted black and brown users for arrest and incarceration, and legalization efforts have until recently not addressed what happens to people who have been put in prison for possessing a substance that voters have since opted to make legal.

Ecuador has entered a new era in drug policy and legislation. Twenty-five years after the last major legal reform, brought about by the famed Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Law (Ley de Sustancias Estupefacientes y Psicotrópicas, Law 108), which took effect on September 17, 1990, the National Assembly is about to debate—for the second and final time—the draft Law on Prevention of Drugs and Use or Consumption of Substances Classified as Subject to Oversight (Ley de Prevención de Drogas y Uso y Consumo de Sustancias Catalogadas Sujetas a Fiscalización.)

Almost 10,000 people have registered with public health agencies to be eligible for the amnesty over marijuana possession, says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA set the deadline for the registration as May 21. FDA secretary-general Thares Karasnairaviwong said that as the deadline draws nearer, more people have turned out to register, prompting the Public Health Ministry to add places for registration, including allocating officials to work on registration during the weekend. He warned the registration is open only for those in possession of marijuana for medical purposes. “This does not mean to give permission for individuals to grow marijuana plants,” Dr Thares told the media. (See also: Medical cannabis moving ahead in Thailand, but who stands to benefit?)

In 2018, Malta became one of the first European countries to fully decriminalise cannabis for medicinal purposes; followed up by a broader reform to (within limits) decriminalise the drug for recreational purposes, too. For people brought up in a very different Malta – where drug-users were routinely criminalised – the contrast is rather striking. Yet it also forms part of what appears to be an international movement: away from ‘prohibitionism’, and towards a ‘harm-reduction’ approach. Decriminalisation itself is not even all that ‘new’, really:  if you look at individual countries, and how their drug legislation has evolved over the decades, you will find that the process has actually been ongoing for around 20 or 30 years.

La nécessité d’inscrire les noms des personnes poursuives pour trafic de cannabis dans les zones du Nord sur la liste des bénéficiaires de la grâce royale est une revendication du Parti de l’authenticité et de la modernité (PAM) et de l’Istiqlal (PI). Les groupes parlementaires de ces deux formations politiques ont ainsi réitéré cette demande, à en croire Hespress. Le parti de la Balance a alerté sur le fait que les détenus dans ces affaires «ne bénéficient pas de la grâce comme d’autres prisonniers», notant qu’il existe «des crimes plus abjects et dont les auteurs bénéficient de l’amnistie». (Lire aussi: Le nombre d’affaires liées à la drogue explose)

A bill to decriminalize low-level marijuana possession in Trinidad and Tobago, the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2019, was approved by the nation’s House of Representatives. The recently introduced legislation would remove criminal penalties for possession of up to 30 grams of cannabis. A fixed fine would be imposed for possession of more than 30 but fewer than 60 grams, and it would not impact an individual’s criminal record if the debt is paid. The proposal would also provide a pathway for expungements of prior cannabis convictions and allow individuals to cultivate up to four plants for personal use. (See also: House passes cannabis amendments)

Thailand’s military government is carrying out an experiment: What happens when a country in Asia, a region where drug laws tend to be harsh, essentially legalizes marijuana overnight? But the high times may not last. Sprawling draft legislation, which is expected to move through Parliament in the coming weeks, will seek to regulate legal gray areas around the cultivation, sale and consumption of the drug. It could become law as early as next year. Exactly how the law would affect the industry and consumers, will depend very much on the fine print. But, for the moment, its exact scope and focus are being negotiated in a parliamentary committee, out of the public eye.

Southeast Asia, a region of 11 countries and some 680 million people, has long been infamous for having the strictest anti-drug laws in the world. But in a sign that regional leaders are mulling a new approach, Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize marijuana for medical and other purposes. Smoking weed for fun is still illegal, Thai’s health minister clarified to CNN, but he expects legal cannabis production to boost the economy. Over 3,000 inmates incarcerated in Thai prisons for marijuana-related offenses were freed. Martin Jelsma at the Transnational Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam, says a common Southeast Asian approach to regulating marijuana and other narcotics is unlikely to happen. But he believes that in a region “so plagued by excessively repressive drug policies, the positive influence of Thailand’s recent policy changes on the regional debate is most welcome.”

Joe Biden has selected Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his vice presidential running mate. She has evolved significantly on marijuana policy over her career. Though she coauthored an official voter guide argument opposing a California cannabis legalization measure as a prosecutor in 2010, she went on to sponsor legislation to federally deschedule marijuana in 2019. Harris is the chief Senate sponsor of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act—a comprehensive piece of legalization legislation that includes various social equity and restorative justice provisions. Advocates will be watching to see if she continues to advocate for the reform move as she’s on-boarded to the Biden campaign. (See also: 67% of Americans are ready to end federal cannabis prohibition)