La regulación del mercado de cannabis hoy no habilita la venta a turistas en Uruguay, pero el gobierno de Luis Lacalle Pou viene trabajando en los últimos meses para activar esta opción. Mientras unos sostienen que desde 2014 ya existe un turismo vinculado a la marihuana ilegal, otros plantean que fomentar el consumo no es el objetivo de un cambio normativo. Eso sí, nadie en el gobierno quiere hablar o presentar el paso que se dará a corto plazo como “turismo cannábico”. Porque en el gobierno entienden que la reglamentación de regulación y control del cannabis presenta una “inequidad de base” al permitir el acceso al cannabis solo a ciudadanos uruguayos y extranjeros residentes. (Véase también: Uruguay: el Gobierno evalúa vender marihuana a los turistas)

Uruguay fue pionero en la regulación de la producción y venta de cannabis. La legalización de esa actividad, a través de las vías previstas, marcó un ejemplo a nivel mundial y numerosos países se han fijado en el espejo uruguayo para emprender un camino similar. Sin embargo, ciertos factores derivados de una mayor punitividad hacen que esa realidad sea hoy bastante diferente. La advertencia corresponde a la Asociación de Grow Shops y Comercios Afines, integrada por 25 empresas, tiendas de cultivo, distribuidoras y fabricantes de sustratos y productos para ese cultivo. Claudia de Mello, una de las integrantes de ese colectivo, marcó en el Parlamento un descenso en esa actividad. No solo por aspectos económicos, sino por el "aumento del miedo".

Depuis sa maison de Ketama, à 1 700 mètres d’altitude, Abdellatif Adebibe surplombe la vallée où les embruns d’iode venus de la Méditerranée se mêlent aux senteurs des cèdres. « Nous sommes ici dans le temple du kif »,présente le cultivateur de 70 ans, président de l’Association pour le développement du Rif central. A l’instar du laboratoire Pharma 5, qui, dans une étude publiée par le média marocain Le Desk, met en avant la qualité de la beldiya, sa moindre teneur en THC, son odeur et sa saveur uniques… Un label « made in Rif » ? « Made in Ketama »,préfère Abdellatif Adebibe, qui, lui, défend une « appellation bio, appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), équitable »dans la « zone historique du kif ».

Au pied du mont Tidghine, plus haut sommet du massif du Rif, dans le nord du Maroc, le village d’Azila est couvert de plantations de cannabis, prêt à être récolté. Mais les temps sont durs pour les cultivateurs locaux, dont l’activité, tolérée bien qu’officiellement interdite, pâtit de la concurrence du chanvre produit en Europe et de « lenteurs » dans la mise en œuvre d’une loi adoptée en 2021 légalisant le cannabis thérapeutique. « On reste attachés à cette plante et pourtant elle ne nous rapporte plus rien. Plus personne n’en veut ! », se désole Souad*, cultivatrice de chanvre à Azila, dans la commune de Ketama. « On est loin des années fastueuses. On vivote dans des conditions difficiles ».(Voir aussi: Maroc : les nouveaux rois du Rif)

L’année 2023 sera peut-être celle de sa première récolte légale de cannabis. Après des années dans la semi-clandestinité, Aziz a décidé de se ranger « du côté de la loi ». Ce cultivateur du Rif, région montagneuse du nord du Maroc qui abrite l’une des plus grandes productions de la planète, entend tourner le dos aux narcotrafiquants pour vendre son « kif » aux industriels lancés dans la fabrication de produits issus du cannabis. « Deux Américains sont venus dans le village il y a quelques jours,raconte-t-il. Ils veulent construire une usine dans la région et auront besoin de grandes quantités. Ils sont intéressés par nos plantes. Nous n’avons pas encore parlé du prix. »(Lire aussi:Maroc : Les Douanes rappellent les conditions d’acheminement licite du cannabis)

El dictamen para regular el consumo de la marihuana en México fue aprobado en lo general por las comisiones unidas de Justicia, Salud y Estudios Legislativos del Senado de la República. Con 26 votos a favor, siete en contra y ocho abstenciones, el documento fue aprobado, lo que no significa que la marihuana ya pueda ser utilizada de manera lúdica, médica o industrial, pues se prevé que la siguiente semana se analicen los puntos particulares del dictamen y posteriormente se envíe al pleno de la Cámara Alta para su votación. El proyecto propone, entre otros temas, que las personas puedan poseer hasta 28 gramos de marihuana, a diferencia de los cinco gramos que actualmente están permitidos. (Véase también: Colectivo rechaza proyecto del Senado para regular la mariguana)

It’s a leaf, it’s sold as a dye, and it’s used as a drug: It’s kratom, and it’s all the rage in the Czech Republic. Kratom is among the dozens of psychoactive substances emerging on Europe's recreational drugs scene every year. Some, like kratom, are fairly new to Europe but have been used in other parts of the world for hundreds of years. Others, so-called designer drugs, are concocted by recreational drugmakers to circumvent drug laws — hence their moniker, “legal highs.” They're drugs that fly under the radar, open to abuse but which don't (yet) fall under the purview of international drugs laws. And they create a cat-and-mouse game between policymakers and drug designers.

Amsterdam’s cannabis cafes are often intertwined with serious crime and play a serious role in money laundering, the capital’s mayor Femke Halsema has told councillors, ahead of Wednesday’s debate on refusing entry to tourists. Closing coffee shops which are involved in criminal activities is both complicated and time consuming, the mayor is quoted as saying by the Parool. But by banning the sale of soft drugs to tourists, the cannabis market will shrink and become less interesting for organised crime. This makes a ban on access for tourists is an unavoidable, temporary move in efforts to get the soft drugs market under control, the mayor told councillors, referring to police report De narcostand van Nederland, which was published earlier this year.

Barcelona’s 200 cannabis clubs face closure after the supreme court shut a legal loophole that has seen the city become Spain’s marijuana capital. It is the latest in a series of setbacks for the asociaciónes, as they are popularly known. In 2017, the court overruled a law passed by the Catalan parliament which said “private consumption of cannabis by adults … is part of the exercise of the fundamental right to free personal development and freedom of conscience”. Since then the clubs have operated under a Barcelona city bylaw that regulated their use, but this too has now been overturned, with the judges ruling that the city authorities were not competent to legislate on matters governed by the state.

“Si sacas hierba del club te la guardas dentro de los calzoncillos; la policía suele estar en la puerta esperando para identificarte“. Es la regla de oro que uno de los socios de uno de los clubs de cannabis del Eixample de Barcelona explica a otro cliente. La Guardia Urbana ha declarado una guerra contra estas asociaciones de consumidores que han proliferado exponencialmente en la ciudad.A los consumidores locales se les suma un auténtico ejército de turistas que llegan a una ciudad que ven como exponente de la máxima tolerancia con el consumo de esta droga. La batalla legal y policial contra estos clubs se viene librando desde hace meses.

El modelo de los clubes sociales de cannabis, consolidado en Barcelona durante la última década, podría tener los días contados. La Justicia ha tumbado la normativa aprobada por el Ayuntamiento en 2016 que regulaba los más de 200 locales de este tipo en la ciudad. Con esta decisión, confirmada por el Tribunal Supremo, ha desaparecido el último paraguas legal que les quedaba a estos espacios. Tanto el consistorio como estas asociaciones asumen ahora que lo siguiente serán los precintos. "La mayoría de las asociaciones asume que tarde o temprano les precintarán el local", lamenta Eric Asensio, portavoz de la Federación de Asociaciones Cannábicas de Catalunya (CatFAC).

A basic legislation proposal for introducing a regulated cannabis market in Czechia should be finished by the end of March, the country’s National Drug Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil said after a meeting of experts. The proposal should lay the foundations for the rules of handing licenses to producers, distributors and sellers, as well as to the formation of so-called cannabis clubs and the cultivation of cannabis. The idea is to "create three principles of regulation". This should cover licensing, cannabis clubs and self-growing. The so-called substantive plan should be in place by the end of the first quarter of 2023. The proposal should then be discussed by coalition politicians and the government. Work would then continue on drafting specific paragraphs.

Things haven’t been this good in the illicit cannabis industry in British Columbia in many years. Factors such as increased wholesale prices on the black market, a low level of enforcement, and too many challenges for legal players from all levels of government are helping to encourage people to not transition into the legal market. As BC works to create a thriving legal cannabis industry alongside what is arguably one of the most robust illicit cannabis industries on the planet, the appeal of staying in the black market is strong. Even as many former black market growers and retailers do successfully make the transition to the legal industry, many others continue operating as they have for years. (See also: StatsCan: Legal pot spending beat black market for first time in Q2)

A coalition of political parties in the German capital agreed to push for partial decriminalization of cannabis. The initial effects will be limited. Berlin's Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party agreed to seek a "scientifically monitored pilot project for the controlled distribution of cannabis to adults." The initiative could be a step toward getting marijuana decriminalized. In the past attempts by city districts to legalize pot foundered on the Federal Intoxicants Law, which bans cannabis. The city, which is also one of Germany's 16 federal states, has better chances for success. (See also: Neuer Senat will Cannabis aus Apotheken - nicht aus Coffee-Shops)

Die rot-rot-grüne Koalition will ein Modellprojekt zur kontrollierten Abgabe von Cannabis auf den Weg bringen. Ein entsprechender Antrag solle im September an das zuständige Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (BfArM) gehen, sagte Catherina Pieroth, Sprecherin für Gesundheits- und Drogenpolitik der Grünen-Fraktion im Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus. Das Projekt solle zwei Jahre laufen und wissenschaftlich begleitet werden. Damit werde eine Vereinbarung aus dem Koalitionsvertrag umgesetzt, heißt es weiter. Geplant ist, dass eine noch nicht näher benannte Zahl von Teilnehmern legal Cannabisprodukte erwerben kann. Sie müssen sich im Vorfeld melden, Angaben über ihren Konsum und ihr Konsumverhalten machen. Zwei bis drei Abgabestellen solle es geben.

Kreuzberg and Berlin in general are going through an extremely messy fight over how best to control the weed trade. It’s a fight where police raids and dealer violence are turning parts of the area upside down, without delivering much in the way of results. In an attempt to supplant the dealers, the Green-controlled local borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg wants to set up a weed-selling coffee shop by the park. But the city as a whole remains against the idea.

The University of Bern cannot conduct a study on the effects of the regulated sale of cannabis in pharmacies on behalf of the city’s authorities. In a written reply the Federal Office of Public Health says the legal framework does not exist to authorise such a scientific project as “current drugs legislation does not allow the use of cannabis for non-medical reasons”. In May 2017, researchers from the university’s Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine and the Clinical Trials Unit filed a request with the health office for an authorisation to carry out a scientific study on the effects of the regulated sale of cannabis for recreational purposes via pharmacies. It also planned to study the illegal cannabis market in the Swiss capital. (Bundesrat Berset blockiert Cannabis-Politik der Städte)

Bern's city government announcedit had commissioned the university’s Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) to research the effects of selling cannabis in pharmacies. Under the study, cannabis would be put on sale in participating pharmacies in the city, with the ISPM monitoring 1,000 registered users of the service, who must be over 18, living in Bern and already using cannabis. However given possessing cannabis is technically illegal in Switzerland – even if many cantons turn a blind eye – the project must be agreed by the federal government before it can go ahead.

Le Conseil fédéral veut dorénavant autoriser les essais pilotes avec cannabis. Les résultats de la consultation semblent lui être favorables. UDC mis à part, un large consensus réunit les partis et les organisations de prévention des addictions. Ils espèrent que ces essais seront instructifs pour la gestion de cette substance à l'avenir. C'est le refus d'autorisation d'une étude qui a motivé le processus de changement de loi. Plusieurs villes et cantons ont voulu que les effets de la vente de cannabis légal sur les consommateurs soient étudiés scientifiquement. L'Office fédéral de la santé publique (OFSP) a rejeté la demande, en indiquant que les bases légales faisaient défaut.

In recent years, the international debate on drug policy reform has intensified, and with it has come a productive exchange of information between academics, activists and advocates on the diverse models and approaches in different countries. Portugal’s decriminalization model is the subject of numerous reports and articles, the legalization of cannabis in a number of U.S. states and Uruguay is heavily studied. Heroin-Assisted Treatment (HAT) in Switzerland is often discussed, and the Czech Republic’s progressive drug policy has been much heralded. On the outside looking in is Spain, a country with a curious mix of cannabis clubs, decriminalization of drug possession for personal use, innovative harm reduction policies, drug checking, and more. It also occupies an interesting geographical position as a transit hub for drugs entering Europe from the Americas and North Africa. Yet in mainstream drug policy discussions, little is known of the Spanish approach to drug policy, with the possible exception of cannabis clubs.

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