The Constitutional Court judgment on cannabis probably made a lot of people happy because, across all sectors of society, people smoke weed and have, until now, been doing so in dark corners, fearful of being arrested. The judgment was clear in how it expanded the view of private use to not being confined only to one’s private dwelling. It remains to be seen whether there will be consensus on what “private use” is. Parliament must provide the clarity that is not in the judgment. Parliament must also call on South Africans to help it imagine a future cannabis industry in the country, before the cannabis farming space is exploited by cartels and private corporates. (See also: Why the ConCourt decision to legalise dagga for private use is a good thing)

A major alcohol industry association is officially backing federal marijuana legalization, sending a letter to congressional leadership that implores lawmakers to “regulate adult-use cannabis at the federal level.” The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) said that “the current conflict between state and federal law is not only causing adverse consequences for consumers and non-consumers of cannabis but will also have long-term public health and safety costs that are too great to ignore.” Now that states are even discussing ways to begin interstate commerce of the product, a “piecemeal” approach to marijuana reform is untenable, so lawmakers should “comprehensively” address the issue.

Banning a plant with hundreds of industrial and medical uses was never going to work out well, but 2022 saw marijuana prohibition reach peak absurdity, not to mention peak confusion for consumers and new businesses trying to make sense of it all. At first glance, cannabis reform appears to be humming along smoothly. Maryland, Missouri and Rhode Island approved legalization initiatives in 2022 as states such as New Mexico and New York raced to establish regulations for legal recreational sales. New laws in mostly blue states expunged cannabis arrests from criminal records for thousands of people. President Joe Biden made moves to pardon federal marijuana prisoners and reconsider the federal “scheduling” of marijuana...

Senate majority leader Ricardo Monreal expects a law to be passed before December for recreational use of the drug, allowing regulated private firms to sell it to the public. Indeed the legal cannabis industry is already a multi-billion-dollar global trade, and some big players, including Canada’s Canopy Growth and The Green Organic Dutchman, and a unit of California-based Medical Marijuana Inc, told Reuters they were eager to tap the new Mexican market. While a growing cannabis industry promises to be a money-spinner, it faces resistance from campaigners who are worried that regulations for both medical and non-medical cannabis will heavily favor big, often foreign corporations.

2023 may be the year of his first legal cannabis harvest in Morocco. After years of semi-underground, Aziz has decided to move over to "the legal side." The farmer from the Rif, a mountainous region in northern Morocco that is home to one of the world's largest cannabis-producing areas, intends to turn his back on drug traffickers and sell his kif to companies involved in the manufacture of cannabis products. "Two Americans came to the village a few days ago," he said. "They want to build a factory in the area and will need large quantities. They are interested in our plants. We haven't talked about price yet." "What I fear is that the benefits will go to the state, laboratories and multinationals and that we will be left behind," said Farid, in his fifties, who grows kif in a nearby village.

When cannabis is legalized, a lot is at stake for the existing, state-level industry. The entrepreneurs who make up weed’s $33.8 billion market are predominantly small business owners. A new report says they’re worth protecting. The report, How to Federally Legalize Cannabis Without Violating the Constitution or Undermining Equity and Justice,” was ideated by the Parabola Center for Law and Policy. It offers a clear blueprint for Congress to protect the cannabis industry, ensure justice, and not obliterate the hard work that the states have done in the last decade. America’s weed industry is made up of over 10,000 small businesses providing an estimated 400,000 jobs across the country. The report was written to address “concerns that federal marijuana legalization would wipe out current state markets and replace them with a national monopoly.”

Tough times in the cannabis industry aren’t stopping its leaders from going to Davos. For the second year in a row, there will be a Cannabis House in Davos, Switzerland this week alongside the schmoozing and speeches of the World Economic Forum. The 2020 offering promises to be “a little more formal and more professional” than last year’s, according to Jason Paltrowitz, executive vice president of corporate services at OTC Markets Group, one of the sponsors of the Cannabis House. Cannabis House will feature a two-day conference focused on the themes of Davos 2020, including sustainability, climate change, social equity and impact investing. (See also: Entrepreneurs at Davos portrayed cannabis as a ‘gateway’ drug – but in a good way – for mental health treatment)

Desde 2018, la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) reafirmó que, al ser una medida desproporcionada que atenta en contra del derecho al libre desarrollo de la personalidad, la prohibición absoluta del uso personal de cannabis prevista en la Ley General de Salud (LGS) es inconstitucional. La SCJN ordenó al Congreso de la Unión modificar o derogar la prohibición de la cannabis en un plazo de noventa días naturales. No obstante, el Congreso incumplió el mandato. En este escenario, es fundamental cuestionar, ¿por qué el Congreso ha sido incapaz de legislar? En este artículo ofrecemos un repaso detallado de cuál ha sido el actuar de nuestras legisladoras y legisladores en el proceso de regulación de la cannabis en México.

There are good reasons to legally regulate drugs markets, rather than persist with efforts to ban all non-medical uses of psychoactive substances. Regulated cannabis and coca markets are already a reality in several countries, with more likely to follow. But ignoring or denying that such policy shifts contravene certain obligations under the UN drug control treaties is untenable and risks undermining basic principles of international law. States enacting cannabis regulation must find a way to align their reforms with their international obligations.

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Mark Spear might be a thorn in the side of the Canadian weed industry. Or he may be a heel. He certainly stands out when it comes to gently pissing off the ones writing the rules on the Green Mile of corporate weed on Bay Street. Across the country, there are thousands more like Mark Spear – old-school cannabis folks who know how to grow weed better than anyone, and who want to see cannabis grown in the ground under the Canadian sun. They’re the former outlaws of the cannabis industry who were supposed to benefit the most from legalization. The Harper-era privatization of medical cannabis has led to a deeply corporatized recreational weed market. And for folks like Spear, it’s all a bit disappointing.

It’s been just three short years since cannabis was legalized in Canada, but it’s already clear the nation’s exorbitant taxation on cannabis cultivators is not only unsustainable; it’s killing craft growers that are paying more in tax than they earn in margins. Earlier this month, Tantalus Labs CEO Dan Sutton outlined exactly how problematic Canada’s cannabis excise tax is, with small businesses paying as much as 30 percent of their top line revenues to it, in a Twitter thread. “We are milking a calf to death,” he wrote. The industry emphatically agreed, and since then, the conversation has evolved into a campaign to raise the issue with lawmakers.

The Marley family and a Seattle-based private equity firm announced the creation of Marley Natural, "a premium cannabis brand rooted in the life and legacy" of one of marijuana’s most devoted sons. Marley Natural will look like a modern consumer product, cleanly packaged and marketed with the help of the same agency that branded New Balance and Starbucks Coffee. The cannabis will be sold as "loose packed" buds, oils or concentrate. "This is what the end of prohibition looks like," said Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Privateer Holdings, which owns Marley Natural. (See also: Riding high: Is pot poised for a (legal) business boom | Marley Natural: The weed that manages to sell out both Bob Marley and Jamaica)

Nearly a year after Thailand decriminalised cannabis amid promises of an economic bonanza, Thai growers and sellers say they are being undercut by illegal imports from the United States that sell for a fraction of the price of homegrown buds. Thailand struck cannabis from its list of banned narcotics in June 2022 after a high-profile campaign by Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to establish the kingdom as a global hub for cannabis for medical purposes. But Thailand’s parliament has yet to pass a long-awaited cannabis bill, leaving the regulatory framework for the industry in limbo. The Bhumjathai Party’s big promises have predictably fallen flat, with big money from the US, the Netherlands and Canada dashing hopes of a booming domestic industry, according to veteran cannabis advocate Chokwan “Kitty” Chopaka.

Canada has a tradition of overregulation and one can already sense that the government is poised to place a myriad of restrictions on production and distribution of marijuana. Invariably, the more complex the regulatory framework, the more likely the market will be overrun by multinational corporations, Crown agencies and the heroes of big business. This completely undercuts the 1960s idealism which spawned our taste for the uplifting effects of marijuana; however, idealism always plays second fiddle to the realism of money markets. (B.C. cities to ask Ottawa for cut of legal pot revenue)

As the government crawls towards legalization with the appointment of a task force, my tempered enthusiasm has started to wane, replaced by dismay. I see countless interested parties and stakeholders lining up to cash in on cannabis dollars. Canada has a tradition of overregulation and one can already sense that the government is poised to place a myriad of restrictions on production and distribution. The more complex the regulatory framework, the more likely the market will be overrun by multinational corporations, Crown agencies and the heroes of big business. If excluded from the new market, the underground will continue to flourish. If the fallback position is that anyone who does not comply with the rules of the market must be dealt with by the criminal justice system, then we have not achieved legalization.

The Canadian cannabis industry is booming. From giant industrial operations such as Canopy Growth to smaller “luxury” cannabis retailers, to an array of cannabis “lifestyle” brands and “cannabis brand consultancy” firms, the industry is a lucrative frontier for those seeking wealth. Canadians spent $1.6-billion on legal weed in 2018. Cannabis is quickly becoming mainstream, and – as is the norm for our capitalist society – firmly corporate. This is a failure. Revenue from legal weed should be used to fund meaningful reparations for communities targeted for decades by racist drug laws and enforcement. The rapidly growing cannabis industry in Canada reveals a troubling trend: The profits and wealth being generated are overwhelmingly landing in the pockets of white Canadians.

The cannabis industry can build a better and regenerative culture, rather than falling into the same old tired and destructive human and corporate patterns of extractive companies. We can create a diverse industry from the ground up. The federal and provincial governments can incentivize and support the creation of small sustainable environmentally friendly farms. In a transparent legal market, consumers can purchase cannabis aligned with their values, whatever they may be. We can promote gender parity and inclusiveness in the boardroom, and foster equity in the licencing process with buy-in from local, provincial and federal governments. Let’s create fair trade standards that will help farmers to not just survive but thrive, and give back to our communities economically, in the spirit of good stewardship.

Shut down, Mayor John Tory told marijuana shop owners, or face “whatever enforcement mechanisms” the city can muster to extinguish the “wildfire” spread of pot shops across Toronto. Almost a year and many raids, seizures, arrests and court dates later, the federal government is poised to clear the legal haze as early as next week. Police, meanwhile, continue playing whack-a-mole with storefront pot vendors numbering, at the moment, 52. Depending on who you talk to, Toronto’s law-and-order approach has been either a qualified success and victory for safe neighbourhoods, or a hypocritical, costly attack on pot pioneers to enable a corporate takeover of their lucrative industry.