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.

Business and advocates both play a key role in furthering marijuana legalization, but finding the ideal balance is proving difficult. That was particularly evident with Ohio’s ill-fated legalization measure, which seemed to shove aside the wants and needs of traditional advocates and marijuana supporters in favor of big businesses and investors. The issue resurfaced again last week when a former Marijuana Policy Project official pegged the industry’s growing influence on legalization efforts as a reason for his departure from the influential organization. (Netflix Co-Founder Mitch Lowe: Who’s Driving the $60 Billion Cannabis Market Revolution?)

The reform enacted by the Maltese government in 2021 Act No. LXVI to establish the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis and to amend various laws relating to certain cannabis activities, included strong provisions to safeguard public health, human rights, respect for personal freedoms and autonomy. Nonetheless, parts of the new law in Malta, including the de facto implementation of the law, continue to reflect discriminatory practices of the past and replicates injustices and suffering for people who consume cannabis. Unfortunately, the law has totally ignored the negative effects caused by criminalisation and continues to promote a stigmatised approach. (See also: Cannabis lobby slams 'regressive' Labour manifesto)

Canada’s federal government is currently working to pass a bill that would provide pardons for people convicted of minor cannabis possession. With a federal election around the corner, it may be too little, too late. As a result of mounting pressure, Canada’s federal government is now struggling to pass this bill before politicians leave the capital for the summer break. If the bill does not pass, it is unlikely to do so before a national election this fall, leaving tens of thousands of lives hanging in the balance. What Canadian legalization lacks are the important measures needed to repair the damage caused by almost a century of prohibition.

Many African states that persecuted citizens for cannabis related offences for years are now promoting legal cannabis production. Over the past five years 10 countries have passed laws to legalise production for medical and scientific purposes. These include Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Ghana, Eswatini, Rwanda and Morocco. South Africa has also legalised the private growing of cannabis plants by adults for their own personal consumption. The cannabis policy liberalisation in Africa has been brought about by two main factors. One is the lobbying by local activists. Cannabis use is still criminalised in most African countries. The other factor is the emergence of the global legal cannabis industry projected to grow to nearly US$200 billion by 2028.

A leading drugs policy expert believes members of Malta’s planned cannabis associations should be allowed to consume cannabis on site rather than being restricted to only doing so at home. “It was an issue that came up in several of our meetings these past two days, and the social role of associations should be promoted as going beyond a place where members get cannabis to take home,” said Martin Jelsma, Programme Director for Drugs and Democracy at the Netherlands-based Transnational Institute. As it stands, the law will not allow members to smoke cannabis on the premises of planned cannabis associations. Jelsma also had strong words of criticism for Maltese authorities' handling of CBD cannabis flow, branding it "absurd".

Significant policy shifts have led to an unprecedented boom in medical cannabis markets, while a growing number of countries are moving towards the legal regulation of adult non-medical use. This trend is likely to bring a range of benefits. Yet there are growing concerns over the many for-profit cannabis companies from the global North that are aggressively competing to capture the licit spaces now opening in the multibillion-dollar global cannabis market. This threatens to push small-scale traditional farmers from the global South out of the emerging legal markets.

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Las últimas semanas han sido críticas para la regulación del cannabis en nuestro país. Hasta hace unos días, sabíamos que el Congreso de la Unión tenía como el 30 de octubre como fecha límite para regular el mercado de cannabis y así cumplir con el mandato que le dio la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación después de la creación de jurisprudencia en la materia.Sin embargo, esto no sucedió y, a solicitud de extensión del Congreso, la Corte alargó el periodo de gracia hasta el término del siguiente periodo de sesiones, es decir, el 30 de abril. ¿Cómo es que un Congreso que tiene decenas de iniciativas disponibles para nutrir el dictamen, que ha organizado incontables foros y ha recibido insumos valiosísimos de sociedad civil, no logra cumplir con su trabajo en tiempo y forma?

A pesar de que la minuta enviada por la Cámara de Diputados para la regularización del cannabis contiene inconstitucionalidades y elimina los beneficios a las comunidades indígenas, y pone por delante a las trasnacionales, Morena y sus aliados en la Comisión de Justicia del Senado la aprobaron en fast track. Julio Menchaca, presidente de esa comisión y senador de Morena, reconoció que en el dictamen "señalamos antinomias, disposiciones inconstitucionaless y una modificación sustancial a un trabajo serio que hizo el Senado... pero la Cámara de Diputados modificó la minuta que le envió el Senado, y pese a ello pido que se apruebe, porque la Corte nos ha dado tres prórrogas y no podemos caer en una simulación...".

Congressional Democratic leaders filed a marijuana legalization bill last week aimed at remedying the injustices of the drug war. But my experience as a regulator overseeing the implementation of Massachusetts’s effort to end marijuana prohibition tells me that without stronger measures, their plans will fall short of that worthy goal. In every state that has attempted to equitably legalize cannabis, big corporations quickly took over the market while those who were arrested and imprisoned under prohibition got next to nothing. We need to reverse this outcome at the federal level. But as federal lawmakers grapple with the complexities of beginning to repair the harms of the unjust war on drugs, it is critical that they study the experiences of states that have already attempted this.

In a first-of-its-kind hearing, a key congressional committee met to discuss how to finally put an end to federal cannabis prohibition. Titled Marijuana Laws in America: Racial Justice and the Need for Reform, it was the latest indication of just how far Congress has come on cannabis reform after decades of intransigence. Americans now broadly support cannabis legalization, with a majority of both Democrats and Republicans in favor. The bipartisan agreement was on display at a House Judiciary subcommittee meeting, where members of both parties expressed frustration at the current state of the country’s cannabis laws. But while lawmakers seemed to agree on the need for reform, the hearing also highlighted tensions between competing visions of what reform should look like.

El alcalde de Chichihualco, Ismael Cástulo Guzmán, advirtió que en los pueblos de la Sierra Madre del Sur habrá hambruna debido a la baja del precio de la goma de opio y que sólo en su municipio resultarán afectados unos 15 mil campesinos. Es lamentable lo que está pasando en la sierra porque se pensaba que la amapola (de la que se extrae goma de opio) dejaba dinero, pero ahora trajo pobreza y desgracia. El Centro de Derechos Humanos Tlachinollan y el Frente Unido de Policías Comunitarias del Estado de Guerrero (Fupceg) propusieron legalizar la mariguana. Abel Barrera Hernández, director de Tlachinollan, afirmó que legalizar podría ayudar a paliar los problemas en la región de la Montaña, entre ellos la violencia intercomunitaria, que las autoridades han dejado de lado.

A flourishing dagga industry is high on the agenda of new Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane, especially in the Pondoland area, where locals have been farming the wisdom herb for a long time. If he has his way, Mabuyane says he intends to formalise the cultivation and trade in dagga which he says would have immense economic benefits for the people in the province. Mabuyane said those who had been growing dagga illegally for years would have to be embraced. “My attitude is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but [we] must affirm those people who have been in the industry formally or informally, and set up cooperatives, formalise them and make them understand that they must work within the law so that we maximise opportunities out of this,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and two other Democratic senators said that they will push to pass this year sweeping legislation that would end the federal prohibition on marijuana. That reform also would provide restorative justice for people who have been convicted of pot-related crimes, the senators said in a joint statement. “The War on Drugs has been a war on people — particularly people of color,” said a statement issued by Schumer, of New York, and Sens. Cory Booker, of New Jersey, and Ron Wyden, of Oregon. “Ending the federal marijuana prohibition is necessary to right the wrongs of this failed war and end decades of harm inflicted on communities of color across the country.” (See also: Democratic Senate leaders announce steps to federally legalize marijuana in 2021)

La secretaria de Gobernación, Olga Sánchez Cordero, consideró ante la bancada de Morena en el Senado, que la despenalización del cannabis favorecerá a los campesinos mexicanos, puesto que dejarán de estar sometidos por el crimen organizado; propone que se les permita la siembra y venta de la planta. La titular de Segob recordó que el Congreso de la Unión tiene hasta el 30 de abril para derogar o modificar los artículos declarados inconstitucionales de la Ley General de Salud, por lo que planteó situaciones que se deben resolver, como los permisos de siembra y cosecha, si la venta será pública o privada, qué modelo regulará las ventas y si se requiere de un ente público que regule o ya existe uno a quien se le pueda encomendar esta tarea.

Legalising cannabis can have major benefits for all citizens. If carried out correctly, everyone will benefit from less crime and stronger rule of law. Legalising the drug will especially help protect young people and may even lower their consumption of the drug. It is also a way of raising taxes for the state, instead of fuelling criminal organisations, which currently control the illegal market. These benefits are increasingly recognised by the public. Crucial to seeing these benefits come about, is the way legalising cannabis is done and how the drug is priced once it is made legal. These are the findings from researchI’ve carried out with colleagues in France. (Read also: Millions use cannabis, but figures for how many become dependent aren't reliable)

El estado de Nueva York acaba de legalizar por ley la marihuana y con ello se une a los 16 estados que permiten el consumo recreacional, la venta y distribución de la yerba entre adultos en Estados Unidos. La legalización regulariza la extensa industria del cannabis en el estado que, se anticipa, generará 3.500 millones de dólares (2.940 millones de euros) anuales en actividad económica y unos 350 millones (294 millones de euros) en ingresos fiscales que aliviarán las arcas estatales en la decaída era del covid. Parte del dinero se destinará a programas sociales para las comunidades negras e hispanas. La nueva legislación legaliza el uso recreativo de la marihuana a partir de los 21 años y, como no podría ser de otro modo, incluye programas de equidad social.

México dio un paso más en la legalización de la marihuana con la propuesta para la creación de una empresa pública que tendrá el monopolio de la comercialización de la planta. El coordinador de Morena en la Cámara de Diputados, Mario Delgado, presentó una propuesta que incluye la creación de una empresa estatal dedicada a la compra y venta de marihuana así como la posibilidad de que los mexicanos cultiven hasta seis plantas en su casa. El líder de Morena propuso que la empresa pública se llame Cannsalud y, según el proyecto, estará encargada de comprar la marihuana a los productores y vendérsela a los dueños de las franquicias para que estos hagan lo mismo de cara al público. (Véase también: Las claves de la propuesta de Morena | Estatizar la mariguana: pros y contras)

Integrantes del colectivo Mariguana Liberación realizaron se manifestaron en el Senado para exigir a legisladores acepten y presenten ante las comisiones dictaminadores su proyecto que proponen para regular la yerba. En un ambiente de música y baile, los consumidores fumaron mariguana de manera colectiva afuera del recinto. Alfonso Jesús García Pérez, asesor jurídico de este colectivo, afirmó que el dictamen de la comisión de justicia sobre cannabis incumple el marco legal internacional y se pronunció por una producción campesina de la mariguana en sociedad con el gobierno, en policultivos. El activista cannábico dijo que los atendieron legisladores para proponer un parlamento abierto que les ha negado la comisión de justicia y de salud.

Entrepreneurs eager to enter the marijuana business are calling on the Government of Trinidad & Tobago to bring legislation which will allow them to do so without fear of being arrested. The Cannabis Control Bill, aimed at legitimising marijuana retail businesses in Trinidad and Tobago, has been a topic of discussion since the amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act in December 2019. The amendments allowed for the possession of up to 30 grammes of marijuana and growing four female plants for every adult in a home. The bill was sent to a joint select committee (JSC) led by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi in 2019, which was initially due to report to Parliament in February last year, but there have been some setbacks.