Lately, there have been clear signs of a shift in governments’ approaches to recreational cannabis. Uruguay in 2013 and Canada in 2018 – as well as a number of US states since 2012 – have moved to control cannabis through regulated markets from seed to sale rather than prohibition. More recently, the newly elected president of Mexico and the new coalition governments of Luxembourg and Malta also announced their intentions to regulate the recreational cannabis market. This is increasingly seen as a more promising way to protect people’s health and safety, and has changed the drug policy landscape and the terms of the debate.

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A tripartite agreement was signed to implement a cannabis pilot programme in Accompong, St Elizabeth, under the Cannabis Licensing Authority's (CLA) Alternative Development Programme. The agreement was signed by representatives of the CLA, Accompong Town Maroons, and Timeless Herbal Care. The Alternative Development Programme is being implemented as a strategy to transition traditional cannabis farmers from an illicit framework into the regulated environment, as a means of promoting sustainable economic development and poverty eradication. It is also aimed at providing access to quality-controlled cannabis for medicinal purposes, in keeping with government policy.

While in the Americas cannabis policy reform is taking off, Europe seems to be lagging behind. That is to say, in European nations at the level of national governments – where denial of the changing policy landscape and inertia to act upon calls for change reigns. At the local level, however, disenchantment with the current cannabis regime gives rise to new ideas. In several countries in Eu­rope, local and regional authorities are looking at regulation, either pressured by grassroots movements – in particular the Cannabis Social Clubs(CSCs) – or due to the involve­ment of criminal groups and public disorder.

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The first Swiss project on the legal sale of cannabis in pharmacies will start on September 15 in canton Basel City. Hemp users over 18 can now register to take part, with the number of participants limited to 370. Six cannabinoid products – four types of cannabis flowers and two types of hashish – will be sold in nine pharmacies selected by the authorities. The prices charged by the pharmacies will be around those charged on the black market for products with a THC content. A gram will therefore cost CHF8-CHF12 ($8.40-$12.60). The Federal Office of Public Health approved the pilot in April. It will be part of a project by the University of Basel, its psychiatric clinics and the cantonal health department. It is intended to help evaluate the effects of new regulations on the recreational use of cannabis and ultimately combat black market distribution.

Bremen wird also nach dem 2017 gescheiterten Vorstoß im Bundesrat (damals gemeinsam mit Thüringen) nun für die Landesebene prüfen, unter welchen Bedingungen ein Modellprojekt, in dem die kontrollierte Abgabe des Rauschmittels durch wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen flankiert wird, möglich ist. Auf Bundesebene soll sich der Senat für eine Reform des Strafgesetzes in puncto Drogen einsetzen. Was das Bremer Modellprojekt angeht muss die Regierung nun entscheiden, ob man sich Berlin anschließt, das derzeit nach einem abgelehnten Antrag auf ein eigenes Cannabis-Versuchsprojekt bei der zuständigen Bundesbehörde für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte Rechtsmittel prüft, oder einen eigenen Antrag stellt.

Des projets pilotes de distribution de cannabis devraient pouvoir être menés en la Suisse. Le Parlement maintient la pression après un premier niet fédéral. Une commission du Conseil des Etats a soutenu une initiative de son homologue du National. Le Conseil fédéral est prêt à revoir la réglementation. En novembre dernier, l'Office fédéral de la santé publique (OFSP) a refusé d'autoriser une étude scientifique de l'Université de Berne sur les effets de la régularisation de la vente de cannabis sur les consommateurs et sur le trafic de stupéfiants à Berne. D'autres villes comme Genève, Zurich, Bâle ou Bienne avaient manifesté leur intérêt pour cette expérience.

The Zurich city government and the Zurich University Hospital said that the Federal Office of Public Health approved the conditions for the organic production of two separate strains of cannabis. The project, Zuri Can - Cannabis with Responsibility, is intended to study the impact of regulated cannabis supply on the consumption and health of consumers. The project was delayed last October following objections by the health office. The sale of cannabis products from pharmacies and social clubs to control groups is now due to begin next August. A maximum of 2,100 participants can take part in the large-scale pilot project in Switzerland's biggest city. (See also: Zurich set to legalize cannabis In Swiss trial program)

City politicians in Copenhagen are in support of trialling a legalization of the sale of cannabis and will approach the government over the issue. “There’s a new government, so it makes sense for us in Copenhagen to again make clear our view that it is important for us that something is done about the hash market in Copenhagen,” said Socialist People’s Party councillor Klaus Mygind. City councillors say a trial would undermine criminal hash dealers and also make it easier to reach young people who are struggling with addiction. The idea is based on the establishment of five or six points of sale in the city, which would be staffed by specially trained advisors. 44 of the 55 representatives on the city council support the proposal.

Ahead of a City Council cannabis conference on Friday, Copenhagen officials say they are ready to make another push to legalise the substance. According to prepared documents from the council, the city is proposing a three-year trial, arguing that “the legal sale of cannabis will result in decreased gang criminality, more prevention and a better life for average cannabis users”. (See also: Danes importing pot advice from Pete Holmes)

While Copenhagen managed to convince the government to let them open a legal injection room to improve the living conditions of drug addicts, they have had less luck tackling the organised crime associated with the cannabis trade – the mayor wants to legalise cannabis, but the government has said ‘no’. So how does the city’s mayor, Frank Jensen (Socialdemo-kraterne), hope to tackle these issues? The Copenhagen Post interviewed him to find out.

After three spurned attempts to get a trial programme for legal cannabis off the ground, city officials in Copenhagen will try once again. Led by Mayor Frank Jensen, Copenhagen officials have thrice requested a trial programme that would legalize cannabis in the city, with sales handled by public authorities. Each time, including the most recent effort in 2014, the request has been rejected by the national government. But now the left-wing Red-Green Alliance and the libertarian-leaning Liberal Alliance (LA) think the time is ripe to try again, especially with an increasing number of Copenhagen shootings that are believed to be the result of rival gangs fighting for control of the illicit cannabis market. (See also: Copenhagen again pushing towards legalising cannabis)

Marijuana could soon be legalised in Copenhagen, after the city voted overwhelmingly in favour of a scheme that would see the drug sold through a network of state-run shops and cafes. The scheme, if approved by the Danish parliament at the start of next year, could make the city the first to fully legalise, rather than simply tolerate, marijuana consumption. "We are thinking of perhaps 30 to 40 public sales houses, where the people aren't interested in selling you more, they're interested in you," said Mikkel Warming, the Mayor in charge of Social Affairs at Copenhagen City Council

The Copenhagen City Council is pushing ahead with a proposal to decriminalise cannabis, and has set up a committee to investigate the best way to regulate the supply and distribution. The favoured option is for 30 or 40 cannabis shops controlled by the city in which adults may legally buy cannabis. By a margin of 39 votes to nine, the City Council decided to draw up a detailed outline of how the plan would work. Subsequently, the resulting proposal still has to be ratified by the Danish parliament, which has blocked similar movements in the past. But after the national elections in September 2011 the current parliament could support decriminalisation this time around.

Copenhagen's mayor, Frank Jensen, has asked for a three-year trial of legal marijuana in Copenhagen and he has a majority of City Hall on his side. A slim majority of Danes have said that they think that taking the idea of legal cannabis for a test drive in the capital is a good idea, according to a poll conducted by Rambøll for Jyllands-Posten newspaper: 52 percent of those responding said that legal hash was a good idea, while 42 percent rejected the plan. Support depended very much on the age and location of the respondent. Young people were strongly in favour, as were those who live in and around Copenhagen.

Councils have pleaded with the Dutch government to give them more autonomy in their experiments with legal cannabis production rather than imposing a ‘one size fits all’ solution. The new government plans to allow around 10 local authorities to regulate small-scale production in an attempt to take criminal gangs out of the supply chain. The coalition agreement has set a target of seeing ‘uniform experiments in the permitted cultivation of cannabis for recreational use’ introduced within six months. But local mayors who have expressed an interest in the scheme argue that a diverse approach has more chance of succeeding.

In Bristol, there were 49 drug related deaths in 2017/18 – the highest ever recorded. There are almost 5,000 heroin and crack users in the city and, despite Bristol’s well-regarded treatment services, there are 2,000 people who aren’t getting any help. In 2018, a feasibility study into whether a safe consumption room (SCR) could benefit Bristol was commissioned by the council, but it wasn’t published. The study found evidence that an SCR could help reduce Bristol’s high levels of the drug-related harms, particularly among heroin and crack users with complex needs who struggle to engage with current treatment. Currently the Home Office remains opposed, but drug policy experts have suggested local authorities would have the power to open them if there was agreement with police and other stakeholders.

En marge de la proposition de loi déposée à la chambre par le parti socialiste visant un modèle belge de réglementation du cannabis, le président Elio Di Rupo, bourgmestre de Mons, a soumis un texte à l'approbation du comité d'éthique en vue de créer un Cannabis Social Club (CSC) par "la seule voie légale possible", rapporte le quotidien La Dernière Heure. La création d'un CSC sur le territoire montois s'inscrit "dans le cadre d'une expérience médicale et scientifique avec un très fort contrôle gouvernemental et une réglementation stricte". L'expérience sera testée avec 200 participants encadrée par des acteurs de prévention, de la santé, des universités, du ministère de la santé, de l'agence fédérale des médicaments et des produits de Santé (AFMPS). (Lire aussi: Mons: le Cannabis Social Club illégal selon le Parquet)

El distrito berlinés de Friedrichhain-Kreuzberg pidió una autorización para crear dos locales para la venta legal de hachís y marihuana bajo control estatal. La petición fue dirigida por la alcaldesa de ese distrito, Monika Hermann, al Instituto Federal de Medicamentos y Productos Médicos que tiene tres meses para aceptarla o rechazarla. Ese instituto puede hacer excepciones a la ley que prohíbe la venta de drogas ilegales en caso de que haya un interés científico o comunitario.

Vancouver health officials will distribute new crack pipes to non-injection drug users this fall as part of a pilot project aimed at engaging crack cocaine smokers and reducing the transmission of disease such as hepatitis C, HIV and even respiratory illnesses. The program, part of Vancouver's harm reduction strategy, is expected to start in October and run for six months to a year. The intent is to connect health care workers with crack cocaine smokers to evaluate how many of the drug users are in the city and what equipment they need to lower their risk of catching diseases. A kit with a clean, unused pipe, mouthpiece, filter and condoms will be handed out to the participants.

City councillors in Düsseldorf, capital of Germany's most populous state, are following Berlin in planning a pilot project in which cannabis could be sold legally to adults. The move is the result of a joint push by the three parties which form the city's governing coalition, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Greens and Free Democratic Party (FDP), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Now civil servants in Düsseldorf must apply to the Federal Institute for Medicines (BfArM) for a license.