The Hague has followed Amsterdam and decided not to take part in the experiment with regulated marijuana cultivation, saying the plan is unworkable. ‘We consider the conditions are not sufficiently practical,’ mayor Pauline Krikke said. The decision is based on conversations with licenced coffee shop owners in the city. ‘Their lack of support is a clear signal,’ Krikke said in a briefing to councillors. The experiment with regulated growing is supposed to remove the gray area between the sale of marijuana in council-licenced coffee shops and the illegal cultivation and supply. There are many problems with the proposals; the Dutch local authorities association VNG said that it will be difficult to find 10 councils which want to take part. (See also: The Hague also pulls out of regulated cannabis experiment)

The city of Copenhagen wants to legalize cannabis and, if possible, get supplies of the drug from the United States. Following a Europe-wide trend, Denmark’s capital has been planning a three-year experiment that would aim to wrest the city’s soft drugs trade away from criminal gangs and place it under direct municipal control. But while city officials overwhelmingly support the move, the Danish national government may not let them proceed. Last year the national government rejected more tentative plans that Copenhagen city councillors had approved by 39 votes to 9.

First Copenhagen, now Berlin. As a new wave of debate on Cannabis legalization sweeps across Northern Europe, the German capital has become the next city where pro- and anti-cannabis liberalization forces are going head to head. The Green Party's Monika Herrmann, who became mayor of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough, announced that she wants to set up a coffeeshop selling cannabis. Using the word coffeeshop, perhaps shows up the current limits of the legalization lexicon, as Herrmann insists that what she has in mind will be nothing like the social hubs selling coffee and grass that Amsterdam is known for.

Coffee shops in Tilburg and Breda may be able to take part in the experiment with regulated marijuana as early as October, ministers have agreed. The full trial will not take place until 2024 but ministers have now agreed to a ‘run-up’ involving the two southern cities because they are almost ready to go.The aim of the run-up is to ‘practice with all the processes and systems’, health minister Ernst Kuipers said. The minister told MPs that the initial period would last for six months and that he then hoped other cities would come on board. (See also: Amsterdam now wants to sign up to regulated marijuana experiment)

The Dutch government’s long-awaited legal cannabis experiment will kick off in Tilburg and Breda on December 15 when two licenced growers start supplying the cities’ cannabis cafes, or coffee shops. Health minister Ernst Kuipers said three growers would take part in the first phase of the project, but one will not be ready in time, he told MPs in a briefing. The two cities’ cannabis cafes will be able to continue buying from their current illegal sources in this first phase but that situation will end after six weeks. Then only licenced growers will supply the stores, offering a wide range of different products. In total, 10 producers have been licenced to grow marijuana and produce hashish for the 10 cities taking part. Amsterdam has also applied for coffee shops in the capital’s district of Oost to be included in the project.

The mayor of Breda has asked if his region can be treated as a part of Germany, in order to go ahead with a trial of regulated cannabis growing. Speaking at a PCN cannabis association symposium in Eindhoven, Paul Depla said the Netherlands was in danger of losing all enthusiasm for a trial and being overtaken by other parts of Europe. ‘If we just keep talking while the others go ahead, we should just stop the discussion,’ he said. ‘Treat us as German state and let us go ahead with legalisation! ‘We have been talking about regulating cannabis since 2008, in 2017 the government finally made a start, and if we keep up this tempo, by 2028 the rest of Europe will have regulated cannabis and the Netherlands will still be talking about a new law.

A Vancouver physician is prescribing fentanyl to patients with opioid-use disorder in the latest effort by the medical community to curb overdose deaths caused by a toxic supply of illicit drugs. The pilot project began in July with eight patients who sought treatment for illicit-drug use but have not benefited from existing oral or injectable substitution therapies such as methadone, buprenorphine (Suboxone) or hydromorphone. Each patient gets a fentanyl patch – commonly used to treat chronic pain for conditions such as cancer – that is applied to the skin and changed every two days by a nurse. To address misuse, the patches are signed and dated, and a transparent film is applied to prevent tampering.

Dozens of people have fatally overdosed on heroin in the gutters, laneways and front gardens of Richmond. Not a single person has ever died in a safe-injecting space anywhere in the world. Yet the Victorian Labor government and Coalition opposition ignore growing calls to expedite something that not only prevents death, but puts addicts on a pathway to recovery. Experts in addiction and public health want a trial. Although some citizens are concerned by a safe injecting room, more and more residents and business owners, distressed by seeing ill and dead people and by being burgled, support a trial. Academic studies and official inquiries recommend a trial. The Coroner's Court wants one. And now the Police Association is adding its voice.

Inspiriert von Berlin haben Hamburg und Münster vor wenigen Monaten beschlossen zu überprüfen, ob man nicht einen ähnlichen Antrag formulieren könne. In Bremen setzt sich der neue Bürgermeister Carsten Sieling (SPD) seit seinem Amtsantritt für die Eröffnung von Coffeeshops ein, auch der Düsseldorfer Stadtrat will es versuchen. Strafrechtsprofessoren, Polizisten und Jugendrichter plädieren dafür, Cannabis legal zu verkaufen und die Drogenpolitik an die moderne Gesellschaft anzupassen.

One of the nation's leading ganja advocates, Ras Iyah V, has welcomed Prime Minister Andrew Holness' announcement that the pilot project for the Alternative Development Programme (ADP), which will provide an avenue for small farmers to benefit from the ganja industry, is scheduled to start by March this year. But with less than two months to go, and what he says has been no word from the government, Iyah V said stakeholders are concerned that the pilot projects slated for Accompong, St Elizabeth and Orange Hill in Westmoreland will not be executed in a timely manner.

The city of Copenhagen should be growing its own weed, said its mayor. According to Social Democrat Frank Jensen, the Danish capital can only get a grip on its huge trade in Cannabis if the state itself muscles in and displaces the pushers. Aware that a municipal government peddling its own grass might sound a little crunchy, Jensen is emphasizing the proposal's seriousness. "This isn’t a hippie proposal," he told newspaper Berlingske. "It's being discussed by people in suits and ties." (Editorial: Legalize marijuana on a trial basis)

Düsseldorf will als erste deutsche Stadt Verkauf und Konsum von Cannabis legalisieren. Dem Körper ist es egal, wie die Droge erworben wurde, meint Gesundheitsdezernent Andreas Meyer-Falcke. Aufklärung, Prävention und der Jugendschutz müssten im Mittelpunkt des Projekts stehen. Der entscheidende Impuls zu einer präventiven Neuausrichtung der städtischen Drogenpolitik kommt aus dem Düsseldorfer Stadtrat. Der Rats-Fachausschuss für Gesundheit und Soziales hat die Verwaltung beauftragt, beim Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (BfArM) eine Ausnahmegenehmigung zum Betrieb von lizenzierten Abgabestellen von Cannabisprodukten in Düsseldorf zu beantragen.

Despite opposition from federal drug regulators, the Berlin Senatis reportedly pushing ahead with a pilot project to sell cannabis legally in pharmacies. The city-state government plans to fight the regulator's objections in court. The news was broken by tabloidBZ,but Senatsources have confirmed the report to Berliner Zeitung. The controlled sale of cannabis is part of the coalition agreement between the SPD, Die Grüne and Die Linke. "The aim is to encourage consumers to use less risky and reduced amounts," a government spokesperson told the paper. The project envisages offering cannabis for sale in Berlin pharmacies to a limited number of customers. Buyers would be required to keep a diary of their use.

Görlitzer Park in Berlin-Kreuzberg is the latest hot topic in the local media, due to ongoing problems that come with the massive scale of drug dealing and drug use there. Residents are no longer prepared to accept the situation as it stands. Politicians are trying to defuse the situation by making some unusual decisions. It is hoped that regulated provision of cannabis in a coffee shop at Görlitzer Park will improve the situation.

The Zurich city council and the university of Zurich announced that the sale of cannabis products from pharmacies and social clubs under controlled conditions would only start in the first half of next year. The Federal Office of Public Health had not yet given its final approval to the project, Zuri Can - Cannabis with Responsibility, due to the "complexity of the project with its different reference points". Without this approval, however, those responsible for the study are not allowed to start growing hemp. And because no cannabis can be cultivated during the winter months, the start of sales is now postponed to the first half of 2023.

The three-and-a-half year pilot scheme, announced on Tuesday, takes advantage of a change in the law that was approved by parliament last year. This allows cities to conduct scientific studies on the effects of the cannabis market and of the recreational use of the drug. The ‘Züri Can - Cannabis with Responsibility’ study will start in the autumn of 2022, making different products available, each with a different THC/CBD content. Local manufacturers must have a production permit from the Federal Office of Public Health, ensuring quality standards. Consumers of cannabis products will also be limited to protect health, public safety and minors. (See also (in German): Was ist «Züri Can» und wer kann daran teilnehmen?)