À frente da discussão sobre a regulamentação do cultivo de cannabis para fins medicinais, o diretor-presidente da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (Anvisa), William Dib, tem enfrentado resistências dentro do governo. Ele evita entrar em atrito direto com o principal opositor, o ministro da Cidadania, Osmar Terra, mas sustenta que, até o fim do ano, as regras serão estabelecidas: "Estamos devendo essa resposta à sociedade". "Meu papel é cumprir a legislação que é da competência (da Anvisa) e oferecer serviço de qualidade para a população. Acredito que a coerência e o bom senso vão predominar. Queremos discutir ciência, não o efeito nocivo de droga ou o que ela faz no corpo. Isso não é função da Anvisa. Não vou discutir se deve ser liberada ou não a droga".

Last month Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed an order paving the way for a change in the country's legislation. If the bill passes through parliament then the production of cannabis could be allowed. But for the moment, the whole plan is confused and far from concluded. To start with, the type of plant the government is proposing to be legalised is not the same variety the farmers currently sow. Perhaps more problematic though, is that it's being suggested that the law will not allow anyone who currently grows cannabis illegally to be involved in future legal production. So instead of benefiting from a change in the law, the farmers who rely on the plant for their livelihood would be out of a job. (See also: In Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, locals divided over legalisation of medical marijuana)

A village in Lebanon, where cannabis grows everywhere, has long counted on hashish for income. But the country’s economic crisis has farmers reconsidering the crop. The Lebanese pound has lost 80 percent of its value against the United States dollar since last fall, and farmers have taken the hit. The costs of imported fuel and fertilizer needed to grow the crop have soared, while the Lebanese pounds that growers earn by selling their hash are worth less and less. Lebanon’s financial crisis has also undermined the drug’s domestic market, and the war in Syria has snarled smuggling routes, making it harder for middlemen to reach foreign markets.

As the Tripura government continues its crackdown on cannabis, a state BJP leader has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking legalisation of the drug across the country for medicinal and industrial purposes. Prasenjit Chakraborty, former state BJP spokesperson and founder of Janajagaran Mancha, a social service organisation, said in his letter that the country can benefit from proper and scientific application of cannabis, or ‘ganja’. Chakraborty requested the PM to form a high-power commission to research the subject and tell the government about the benefits of cannabis as a medicinal plant and as raw material in industrial applications. (See also: Jammu and Kashmir first in country to develop medicines from cannabis; institute signs pact with Canadian firm)

For centuries, the mountains of the Rif have been a centre of cannabis farming. Morocco is to this day the biggest producer of cannabis resin in the world, according to the United Nations. In July 2021 in an effort to improve the economy of one of the poorest regions, the kingdom decided to officially approve a bill legalising the production of cannabis for industrial, medicinal and cosmetic uses in the Rif. Up to now, the local farmers who have made the choice to grow cannabis legally are still few. By May, only about 400 of them had received authorization to begin. According to Khalid Mouna, a Moroccan anthropologist, with a focus on the Rif and kif, the small-scale local farmers might become the ones who will be left behind by the new law.

Pacientes, consumidores lúdicos y empresarios miran con grandes esperanzas al nuevo Gobierno para que regule el cannabis, como mínimo para usos medicinales e idealmente de manera integral. Una encuesta reciente del Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) mostró que 84% de las personas encuestadas se mostraron favorables a una regulación medicinal y los que aprobarían la integral (47%) superan a los que mantendrían la prohibición (41%). Casi todas las fuentes consultadas están convencidas de que la regulación es más una cuestión de tiempo que de incertidumbre. También es cierto que esto se repite como un mantra desde hace unos cuatro o cinco años y nada ha cambiado. (Manifiesto del GEPCA sobre la necesidad de una regulación integral del cannabis)

El juez de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de Brooklyn Gustin Reichbach, enfermo de cáncer de páncreas desde hace tres años, ha tenido la valentía de escribir en un artículo de opinión en el diario de The New York Times que usa la marihuana para paliar los efectos secundarios del tratamiento de quimioterapia que recibe; como son las naúseas, los vómitos y la falta de apetito. Un grito silencioso que tiene como fin que se apruebe el cannabis para uso médico en el Estado de Nueva York, una carta espontánea de un problema de muchos.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir is making it clear that 30 per cent of any investment coming to Barbados for the medicinal cannabis industry must be reserved for ordinary Barbadians. Weir added that foreign investors will receive 70 per cent. Weir did not give details as to exactly how Barbadians will receive the 30 per cent. However, he said he was cognizant of the fact that if Barbadians were to receive the full 100 per cent investment, “we probably still would have to take Government’s intervention to get it off the ground, and Government certainly does not have those resources”. The Minister mentioned that Government was having a conversation regarding providing financial assistance for those who do not have resources.

Uruguay paved the way when it legalised cannabis in 2013. But it is the reform in Canada, a G7 member, that has done most to heighten international tension over cannabis’s legal status. Last year it fully legalised the drug. Part of its rationale was that a regulated legal trade would curb the black market and protect young people, who were buying it there. Canada’s change has caused fierce fights within the UN in Vienna, according to Martin Jelsma of the Transnational Institute, a think-tank. A possibility that intrigues international-policy wonks is for Canada and other law-breakers to form an “inter se” (between themselves) agreement, allowing them to modify existing drug-treaty provisions. For this to be an option, Canada will probably want to wait until the club of outlaws is bigger.

At the recently concluded 6th Latin American and 1st Caribbean Conference on Drug Policy, held in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, I started a discussion on the cannabis situation in Jamaica with a statement that “A lot has happened and a lot has not happened”, and this is the very same way I wish to start the engagement in this blog. Jamaica has in the last two (2) years has been thrust into the midst of the international discourse on drug policy reform, with specific emphasis on Cannabis reform.

Learn how lessening the barriers for small farmers while raising them for large companies can help to steer legal cannabis markets in a more sustainable and equitable direction based on principles of community empowerment, social justice, fair(er) trade and sustainable development.

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Benjamin Cadet stands among his plants in a white polo shirt bearing his company logo. He dons surgeon's gloves and handles the flowers carefully. They are full of pollen — ripe for the picking. The Ugandan entrepreneur and former member of parliament is the CEO of the only company licensed to grow and export cannabis legally in the East African country. The cannabis plantation, located in Uganda's mighty Rwenzori Mountains, extends over three hectares in the country's west, almost directly on the Equator. More than 40,000 cannabis plants thrive in greenhouses under strict hygienic conditions. They are destined for export to Europe. (See also: Aiming high: Africa’s cannabis future)

Albania plans to legalise the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes, six years after beginning a crackdown on an illegal trade that turned it, by some accounts, into Europe’s largest outdoor grower of cannabis. Prime Minister Edi Rama said the time was ripe for one of Europe’s poorest countries to enter the lucrative market, emulating its neighbours North Macedonia, Greece and Italy - the latter a destination of tonnes of cannabis from Albania. “Illegal cultivation is completely under control,” Rama said. “This is the third or fourth year of consolidation. We plan to pass the bill in this session of parliament.” Villagers were asking for a full amnesty for those convicted on cannabis charges - not merely the amnesty for dodging tax on illicit earnings that Rama is proposing in addition to the legalisation.

The Albanian government is close to concluding a draft law which allows for the cultivation of medical cannabis in the country. According to Rama, the government has been working on the draft law for a year now after continuous consultations with foreign experts. "The draft will be available very soon for public discussion, just like the one on the fiscal amnesty, which is ready and is being discussed with several international institutions," Rama said, emphasizing the importance of these discussions. The EU delegation to Albania stepped in to clarify that it had not been involved "in preparation, drafting or consultation of draft reports concerning plans for cultivation and legalization of cannabis for medical purposes in Albania."

The second draft of a law on cultivating and processing cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes has been put forward by the Albanian government, bringing the plant another step closer to at least partial legalisation. Albania has a long reputation for being one of the biggest producers and exporters of cannabis, as well as having extensive gang networks in Europe. But now, the government wants to legalise the herb and reap the tax and investment benefits. In July, a first draft was proposed under which licenses will be granted for 15 years with a right of renewal. The new draft states that those applying to cultivate medicinal cannabis must hold another similar license in an OECD country and a Good Manufacturing Practice from the European Medicines Agency or Food and Drug Administration.

El presidente Alberto Fernández aseguró que no tiene "problema" que durante su gestión se abra el debate sobre la legalización de la marihuana en Argentina, la comparó con el consumo de alcohol y advirtió que es "el mayor problema en los jóvenes" pero que pasa eso "no hay restricciones". Para el mandatario "hay algunas cosas sobre las que no tiene sentido" discutir, como por ejemplo "que el consumo de marihuana se ha expandido y que muchos jóvenes la consumen", pero "también es cierto que la marihuana es nociva, que como toda droga genera perjuicios a la salud". (Véase también: El gobierno habilitó el registro para autorizar el cultivo de cannabis medicinal)

As more states, including Virginia and New York, continue to legalize marijuana, an overwhelming share of U.S. adults (91%) say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use (60%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (31%). Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) say marijuana should not be legal for use by adults. The new survey, conducted by Pew Research Center from April 5-11, 2021, comes as congressional Democrats consider legislation that would decriminalize marijuana nationally. Views of marijuana legalization have changed very little since 2019. From 2000 to 2019, the share of Americans saying marijuana should be legal more than doubled.

A new announcement categorising flowers or buds of the cannabis plant as "controlled herbs" is a temporary measure to curb the proliferation of recreational cannabis use in Thailand while the deliberation of the bill on cannabis and hemp continues to drag on, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said. This latest announcement is only one of the many small legal measures being used to control the recreational use of cannabis that has increased rapidly following the decriminalisation of cannabis in June. The problem of the increasing recreational use of cannabis continues while Thailand waits for the cannabis and hemp bill -- an all-in-one legal mechanism to ensure better control of cannabis use in the country and limit it to medicinal purposes -- to be passed into law.

Varios centenares de personas desafiaron a las altas temperaturas en Buenos Aires en una concentración para pedir una ley que legalice el consumo de marihuana en todos sus usos en Argentina. Durante la concentración, que terminó con una marcha hasta el Congreso, se recogieron firmas para presentar un proyecto de ley al Parlamento que despenalice el consumo de la marihuana recreativa y legalice el autocultivo de plantas de cannabis en los hogares particulares. Según un portavoz de la organización Flores de Libertad, una de las organizadoras de la marcha, el proyecto de ley crearía un registro de autocultivadores y un consejo consultivo que se encargaría de regular el tipo de cultivo permitido así como se formaría en los beneficios medicinales del cannabis al personal sanitario.

A pesar de que la legalización del cannabis medicinal está avanzada en la región, todavía hay muchas trabas que impiden su producción y comercialización. Así lo reveló el estudio realizado por Alfredo Pascual y publicado por el Marijuana Business Daily International, titulado ‘Cannabis en América Latina: regulaciones y oportunidades’. El estudio revisa el estado del marco legal del cannabis en Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, México, Paraguay, Perú y Uruguay. Por ahora Argentina, Chile, Colombia, México, Paraguay y Uruguay ya tienen regulada la ley para el cannabis medicinal, mientras que Perú tiene implementada una ley, pero no hay acceso a ningún producto. (Véase también: Hay 386 licencias para producción y transformación de cannabis en Colombia)