The cannabis industry’s moral challenge is to ensure the groups who have suffered the most under the drug war can participate in the green rush and enjoy the spoils of legalization. Marijuana insiders often refer to the “cannabis space” – a term broad enough to include a social justice movement and unapologetic capitalism – and recognize no contradiction between them. For growers who operated in California’s gray and illegal markets and now want to transition into the legal market, the economics can be brutal. In the illegal market, an Emerald Triangle farmer might have sold a pound for $3,000 tax-free. Now the price is more like $600, before taxes and compliance related costs. (See also: High stakes: cannabis capitalists seek funds to drive drug trade)

Cannabis companies are selling off growing facilities, stores and warehouses as they try to better align their offerings with demand. Industry observers say demand for cannabis is high, but there are so many assets available for sale right now because companies have misjudged what consumers want. They say companies are looking to off-load properties as they cut products and pivot toward items more likely to fly off the shelves. Many have realized their business plans are not sound and that demand for particular products is well below their expectations, leaving them with a glut of pot to sell. Others are struggling to stand out as the number of pot products for sale in the country swells, craft cannabis' share of the market grows and illicit sales remain strong.

The Government's coffers could be winners if cannabis is legalised. Work by the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) shows a legal cannabis industry could raise about $490 million a year in tax, including GST. Legalisation of the drug will be put to the vote in a non-binding referendum in September. A tax on a legal cannabis industry has been calculated at 25 per cent. NZIER principal economist Peter Wilson said the projected tax-take on cannabis was only an estimate. There was not a lot of information in New Zealand about cannabis use. If regulatory costs and taxes were too high an illegal market would likely re-emerge and gain market share.

From St. John’s to Vancouver, from Southern Ontario to the Far North, Canada’s nearly century-old prohibition on recreational cannabis lifted on Wednesday – and in Ottawa, the Trudeau government also promised new legislation to let people convicted of simple possession apply for pardons more easily. Not everyone who wanted to smoke up on the first day were able to: Relatively few bricks-and-mortar stores were open, and in Ontario, the most populous province, online retail is the only option until physical stores get the go-ahead next year. While demand was strong, supply was short on Day 1, and could be for the weeks to come. (See also: Canadians welcome legal pot sales, put up with supply issues on opening day)

El Senado de la República de Colombia aprobó en su cuarto debate el proyecto de acto legislativo que busca regular el cannabis de uso adulto. La votación fue de 53 apoyos y solo dos votos en contra. Como es un proyecto de acto legislativo, es decir, que busca reformar la Constitución, para convertirse en ley de la República necesita pasar por dos vueltas en el Congreso. Con la culminación de su cuarto debate finalizó la primera vuelta, pero aún le faltan cuatro debates más para completar la segunda y así tener luz verde para aplicarse en la cotidianidad. No obstante, el avance es importante porque este era una de esas iniciativas que desde años atrás se venía presentando en el legislativo sin éxito alguno.

As Morocco's 2021 round of elections approaches, the cannabis question is once again on the table. The Moroccan government approved the bill to legalize medicinal cannabis for export on March 11 of this year. Proponents of the bill argue that the legalization of cannabis is intended for the promotion of its medical use and that the lucrative revenues will boost the Moroccan economy. The bill was introduced by Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit, who said it would positively impact the underdeveloped regions of northern Morocco and improve economic prospects for the Riffian population. Amid the run-up to the 2021 elections, the question of the legalization of cannabis legalization has grown more divisive among political parties and is being weaponized to glean votes. 

Cuando en Argentina hablamos de cannabis qué es legal y qué no es una duda permanente. En principio, es importante tener en claro que desde hace años se vive un proceso de transición de la prohibición total a estados parciales de legalidad. La ilegalidad del cannabis y la penalización de su cultivo y tenencia son parte de la ley vigente. Hablamos de la ley 23.737, conocida como la Ley de Drogas. En esta norma, sancionada en 1989, están tipificadas todas las conductas que pueden ser penadas en relación al cannabis y otras sustancias psicoactivas. En los últimos años, la legitimidad del uso medicinal del cannabis fue abriendo espacios tanto a nivel cultural como legal. En 2017 se sancionó la ley 27.350, conocida como la Ley de Cannabis Medicinal.

Recientemente se ha vuelto a poner en marcha la discusión sobre cannabis en el Senado de la República y nuevamente se evidencian las contradicciones entre el discurso y la voluntad política de quienes tienen la responsabilidad de generar las leyes que garanticen los derechos de las personas usuarias y la posibilidad de generar una industria benéfica para México. Pocos casos como el de la cannabis ilustran tan claramente las insuficiencias profesionales y la falta de independencia de nuestro Poder Legislativo frente a la agenda del Ejecutivo, donde la llamada "representación popular" ha fallado una y otra vez para cumplir con su deber de legislar para modificar el estatus legal de la planta de la cannabis y de sus usuarios.

Hasta este lunes había en el Instituto de Regulación y Control del Cannabis (IRCCA) 83.719 usuarios registrados para el consumo de la marihuana regulada que se comerciliza a través de las tres vías previstas por la ley. De esa cantidad, 15.157 personas se dedican al autocultivo doméstico de cannabis. Otras 10.026 están afiliadas a alguno de los 298 clubes de membresía habilitados. Las otras 58.536 adquieren el producto en alguna de las 38 farmacias autorizadas. Si se toma en cuenta que, según el último reporte del Observatorio Uruguayo de Drogas de diciembre de 2022, había en Uruguay unos 260.000 consumidores de marihuana y la proporción de los que recurren a algunas de las tres vías legales llega casi a la tercera parte del total.

A plan to legalise cannabis production in Lebanon faces resistance from some of the growers themselves. In the eastern Bekaa Valley, where the crop has been cultivated for centuries, the local farmers are suspicious of government efforts to create a legal cannabis industry. "We view the legalisation of hashish as theft from our people," says one grower, Abu Jafaar. "As this crop generates a lot of revenues, so our politicians want to legalise it to steal that production." Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri has said the Lebanese government is preparing legislation that will allow the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes. The move followed a report by consultants McKinsey into the ailing Lebanese economy.

Imagine that you run a perfectly legal business but are unable to open a simple checking account at a national bank. Believe it or not, that’s the case right now for anyone licensed to sell cannabis in the US. Given the size of the cannabis industry, it’s pretty shocking. But it may be about to change. In the US, 38 states have legalized marijuana for medical use and 23 of them have legalized it for recreational purposes, including three territories and the District of Columbia. An additional eight states have decriminalized its use. Both red and blue states with legalized marijuana laws have collected $15bn in tax revenue between 2014 and 2022, with $3.77bn in tax revenue attributed to 2022 alone.

The rally at the state capitol on April 20, the unofficial holiday for pot aficionados, brought out green-wigged supporters ringed in wisps of smoke. These days, they are far from the only people advocating for the legalization of marijuana. Black Lives Matter activists, who are seeking business opportunities for minority communities and say they have been hit hard by drug laws, joined the Hartford rally, as did labor organizers who want to see the industry unionized. More broadly, cannabis companies, banks and new marijuana trade organizations are deploying platoons of lobbyists to state capitals and Washington, D.C., to help shape the ground rules for the industry as more states legalize use, and as Congress weighs measures that could further legitimize the market.

Malta’s laws for the sale of recreational cannabis could likely make room for large players seeking to corner the market, with the prospect of cannabis retailer ‘chains’. Malta’s not-for-profit model in the sale of cannabis has been a founding principle for the fledgling regulator, the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC). But under the laws and directives issued by the authority, large associations will be able to have multiple distribution sites, as well as grow cannabis in greenhouses in rural settings usually outside the development zones. The largest association possible to grow cannabis being allowing a maximum of 500 members, such a cannabis club will also be able to split the volumes of cannabis it grows across multiple distribution sites. (Clarification: Multiple distribution points for cannabis associations)

In September 2018, the Constitutional Court decriminalised the private cultivation of cannabis by adults for personal private consumption. This created an opportunity for businesses to ‘privately’ grow and prepare cannabis for clients. But recent police action has nipped their operations in the bud, so they want legal clarity. In October this year, police in the Western Cape announced that provincial detectives had arrested two suspects on drug trafficking charges. It turned out the target of this clampdown had been The Haze Club (THC). This service is what is known as a cannabis grow club – there are apparently several in South Africa – and involves a business leasing to clients what it deems to be private space, in an appropriate facility, where it cultivates clients’ cannabis on their behalf.

Before Canada legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018, there was considerable debate about its potential effects. Some predicted it would trigger an economic “goldrush,” while others worried it would lead to public health “tragedies.” As it turns out, certain trends were already underway before legalization and continued afterward. On the flip side, some changes did not happen as anticipated. The percentage of adults using cannabis had already been increasing prior to 2018. Unsurprisingly, it continued to rise after legalization. There was a boost after legalization beyond the ongoing trend. But part of that might have been from people becoming more open about cannabis use. On the other hand, teenagers’ cannabis use hardly budged after 2018.

Canadians will get pardons if they were convicted of possessing marijuana before it was legalised. That means their criminal record for cannabis possession is kept separate from other criminal records - but it doesn't erase the crime. It could still affect people in situations like job applications, travelling abroad and getting houses - and the person who wants a pardon has to apply and pay for it. Some politicians argue that pardoning doesn't go far enough and something called expungement - when all government records of the crime are erased - should happen instead. "We now need to go back and be able to remove the stain that is on the record," the New Democratic Party's Guy Caron said.

There is now a unique moment to build a coherent regulatory framework that would prevent the growing cannabis market from being concentrated in the hands of large for-profit conglomerates, beholden to purely commercial interests, which might well introduce new harms just as those created by prohibition are being mitigated. It is particularly important do so before big actors such as the United States follow and legalize medical cannabis at the federal level. There is first a pressing need to knock down the considerable market barriers that exist for small-scale farmers from traditional producer countries in low- and middle-income countries. These actors have often been those most affected by the so-called “war on drugs”, which has fostered discrimination, poverty, violence, and fear.

The Draft South African Cannabis Masterplan states that there are up to 900,000 traditional dagga growers in South Africa and that they and ‘dagga’ need to be included in the cannabis value chain, but makes no recommendation as to how this is to be achieved. The current trajectory of industrial and medical cannabis is exclusionary of traditional growers and our indigenous cannabis. The country’s cannabis legislation must enable existing growers to enter and participate in the value chain serving as a pro-poor mechanism to regenerate the rural economy, maximise our competitive advantage of farmers and climate-resilient and drought-tolerant genetics, formalise the massive existing illicit market and negate the necessity for further court challenges on the constitutionality of the legal framework.

For the first time in history, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to both validate and protect the burgeoning cannabis industry by giving it access to banks, credit unions and insurance companies. The SAFE Banking Act, which easily cleared the House with a 301-123 vote but still has to clear the U.S. Senate before passing into law, would allow financial institutions to work with cannabis companies without fearing retribution. It’s still currently possible under federal law to prosecute banks for doing so; punishments can even include stripping them of deposit insurance. (See also:  How the U.S. cannabis banking bill could hurt Canadian exchanges)

The opportunity to commercialise the hemp and cannabis industry in South Africa is that it is a new, fast-growing, multi-billion dollar sector with local and international markets. The potential legal pharmaceutical market for hemp and cannabis in South Africa alone has been estimated at over R100 billion a year. But there are challenges. First, that the government fails to implement changes needed to ensure the sector grows in a way that benefits township and rural entrepreneurs farmers. The second is that, from mid-2022, small scale farmers farming cannabis promised to be issued with licences to farm legally. However, some farmers in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape are still waiting.