In the United States and beyond, drug research ignores most people who use drugs. While the large majority of people who use drugs (PWUD) do not suffer from substance use disorders (anywhere from 80-90 percent), research in the field predominantly focuses on the minority experience of harmful use. In part, this is an issue of the needs and urgency surrounding severe substance use disorders. At the same time, it is also an issue of funding. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), which funds around 80 percent of all drug research around the world, has the stated goal of funding research on “drug abuse and addiction.” The question of what drug research is “fundable” and/or “publishable” in this context incentivizes researchers to continue to do more research on the harms of drugs.

El Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos expresó su "beneplácito" al presidente de Colombia, Iván Duque, por la publicación del proyecto de decreto para reanudar la aspersión aérea de cultivos de coca en 2020. El comunicado del Departamento de Estado agrega que "la decisión de emplear fumigación aérea es soberana del Gobierno colombiano. La publicación de este proyecto de decreto es un paso crítico hacia la integración de la erradicación aérea de coca en la estrategia integral antidrogas de Colombia". Por último, recalca que "Estados Unidos apoya los esfuerzos del gobierno colombiano para lograr nuestro objetivo conjunto de reducir a la mitad el cultivo de coca y la producción de cocaína para fines de 2023".

Cuando San Francisco se convirtió en la primera gran urbe de EE.UU. en decretar una orden de confinamiento por COVID-19, en un primer momento cerró los dispensarios de marihuana. Apenas unas horas más tarde rectificó. El cannabis resultaba esencial y los dispensarios podían seguir abiertos. Esta misma guía ha sido adoptada por Los Ángeles, Nueva York, los estados de Illinois y Colorado, y tantas otras Administraciones del país que han impuesto restricciones al comercio para hacer frente a la pandemia: los dispensarios de marihuana, como los supermercados y las farmacias, deben seguir abiertos.

El cultivo masivo de cannabis en domicilios o recintos cerrados similares supone una nueva amenaza para el problema del cambio climático. Así lo indica un estudio llevado a cabo en Estados Unidos en el que se ha calculado la gran cantidad de energía -con la correspondiente emisión de gases de efecto invernadero en su generación- que se consume en los cada vez más frecuentes cultivos de cannabis en viviendas particulares, garajes, pequeños invernaderos y otros recintos cerrados.  Los resultados de este estudio sobre "las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero en la producción 'indoor' de cannabis en Estados Unidos" han sido publicados (marzo de 2021) en la revista Nature Sustainability.

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 ha sido el centro de atención en lo que respecta a la violencia relacionada con drogas en América Latina. Si bien este ‘enfoque mexicano’ aún prevalece, es en el Triángulo del Norte de Centroamérica – Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador – donde actualmente se ven tasas mucho más altas de violencia y un incremento en la actividad de las organizaciones dedicadas al tráfico de drogas, una clara ilustración del ‘efecto globo’ que México experimentase después de la implementación del Plan Colombia. En su conjunto, los países del Triángulo del Norte son ahora una de las regiones más violentas del planeta.

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Después de pillar un globo llega el gran bajón. Esto vale para el consumo de estupefacientes y para las inversiones en temáticas de moda. Así ha ocurrido con los fondos que invierten en cannabis. Esta industria causó furor entre 2019 y 2020 y atrajo mucho dinero de Wall Street pero en los tres últimos años el globo se han pinchado y los vehículos especializados han perdido un 85% de su valor. Algunos hedge funds incluso han tenido que echar el cierre. A pesar de las previsiones iniciales de una floreciente industria de la marihuana, la realidad ha sido más prosaica. De todas las empresas que entraron en esta industria, muchas no sobrevivieron. La competencia fue tremenda y el mercado no era tan grande.

There is ample evidence that irresponsibleoutdoor cultivation can also be environmentally destructive, leading some to argue that indoor cultivation is better for the environment because it ostensibly uses less land (thanks to higher yields) and less water (thanks to less evaporation). But in reality, if best practices are followed, the opposite is true. Moreover, the vastly lower startup and operating costs for outdoor farms also lessen the steep inequities that nonwhite owners of businesses face in obtaining financing. Indoor growers insist that their methods are essential in order to avoid the weather risks tolerated by other farmers, achieve uniformly attractive products, boost potency, maximize profits, and enhance security. There are strong counterarguments in each case.

El consumo recreativo de marihuana será permitido para los adultos en Illinois a partir del 1 de enero de 2020, según una ley promulgada por el gobernador del estado, JB Pritzker, quien destacó el proceso legislativo seguido para legalizar esta sustancia. "Somos el primer estado de la nación en legalizar completamente el uso del cannabis a través de un proceso legislativo bipartidista", sin necesidad de un plebiscito, declaró el gobernador. La nueva ley permitirá borrar los antecedentes penales de personas procesadas por tenencia y consumo de cannabis en el estado, algo que Pritzker considera "un paso equitativo y de justicia".

Cannabis regulators in New York approved a package of regulations that laid the groundwork for an expansion of the state’s emerging cannabis industry. The rules, approved by the Cannabis Control Board, outline licensing and operation procedures for different types of businesses in the industry, including dispensaries and delivery services. The state legalized marijuana for adults age 21 and up in March 2021. No state besides California draws as much business and consumer interest in cannabis as New York, experts say. And regulators expect applications for thousands of new businesses. The new rules establish requirements for the licensing of eight types of businesses: plant nurseries, cultivators, processors, cooperatives, distributors, dispensaries, delivery services and microbusinesses.

Nearly two years after Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said his office would not stand in the way of a safe consumption site (SCS) to help cut the city’s record overdose levels, the fate of Safehouse, which would be America’s first officially sanctioned SCS, is now in the hands of a federal judge. On September 5, for the second time in as many weeks, US Attorney Bill McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania argued in Philadelphia’s Federal Courthouse for the judge to rule in favor of an injunction filed by McSwain’s office to prevent Safehouse from opening in the overdose-ravaged neighborhood of Kensington.

Last month, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) continued its attacks on kratom, a natural plant used by millions of Americans for an improved quality of life and pain reduction. According to the FDA, kratom should be banned for its opioid-like qualities, its potential deadliness, and its link to 23 salmonella poisonings across the country. Let’s break down all of these falsehoods. First, regulation is the better approach than banning. Kratom users won’t go away if it’s made illegal; the plant has been imported for years because of its popularity and safe use in Asia.

"The war on drugs has failed," said a recent report compiled by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which comprised a former UN secretary-general, former presidents of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, a former US Secretary of State and a host of public intellectuals, human rights activists and politicians.

New York’s plan to legalize marijuana this year collapsed, dashing hopes for a potential billion-dollar industry that supporters said would create jobs in minority communities and end decades of racially disproportionate policing. Democratic lawmakers had been in a headlong race to finalize an agreement before the end of the legislative session this week. But persistent disagreement about how to regulate the industry, as well as hesitation from moderate lawmakers, proved insurmountable. A recent poll showed that 55 percent of voters supported legalization. But the external pressure could not resolve an intraparty battle between state officials over who should control the estimated $1.7 billion in sales the recreational market could generate each year.

Los fiscales generales de 33 estados pidieron al Congreso que apruebe una propuesta de ley para abrir las puertas del sistema bancario de Estados Unidos a la industria de la marihuana legal. La mayoría de los estadunidenses viven en entidades donde la marihuana es un producto legal de alguna manera. Pero gran parte de los bancos no quieren tener nada que ver con el dinero generado por la industria del cannabis por temor a que podría exponerlos a algún problema legal por parte del gobierno federal, que todavía considera a la marihuana como ilegal. “Es sencillo: no incorporar una industria de ocho mil 300 millones de dólares a nuestro sistema bancario está dañando nuestra seguridad pública y economía”.

Following legalization, the rate of adolescent marijuana use in Colorado has fallen to its lowest level in nearly a decade, according to new federal survey data. State-level numbers from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that a little more than 9 percent of Colorado teens age 12 to 17 used marijuana monthly in 2015 and 2016, a statistically significant drop from the prior period. That's the lowest rate of monthly marijuana use in the state since 2007 and 2008. And it's not just marijuana: Rates of teen alcohol, tobacco and heroin use are down sharply in the state, as well.

The one thing Bay Street’s top cannabis bankers are all in agreement about is how difficult it has become for the pot sector to raise money over the past six months, be it through debt or equity. That trend might continue for the next little while, as investors retreat to safer havens, and wait for companies to rejig their management teams, repair their balance sheets and generate profits — something that has been sorely lacking in the volatile growth industry. According to Financial Post Data, the number of cannabis deals on Bay Street plunged 33 per cent in 2019, versus a year ago. Of the eight biggest debt and equity raises in 2019, seven took place in the first half of the year. Investment firms raised a total of $3.6 billion for the cannabis sector in 2019, 45 per cent less than a year prior.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Investment, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Dermon Spence has indicated that there could be headway in sight for the difficulties with banking for the local cannabis industry. Jamaica's legal cannabis industry continues to be severely hampered as banks refuse to handle ganja money, the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has acknowledged. With the strong lobby by the Jamaican Government and the changing environment in the United States for cannabis banking, there were some positive developments in sight. The country's banking industry is tied to that of the US through correspondent banking arrangements. Local banks are cautious and are “unwilling to transact business with individuals and companies operating in the legal cannabis industry”

Six months after cannabis was legalized in Canada, many of the people in search of a financial windfall appear ready to turn their attention elsewhere. “We’re very bullish on the globe, on the U.S. -- not so much on Canada,” Loren DeFalco, partner at CB1 Capital, a New York based cannabis-focused investment advisory company, said at a cannabis investors’ conference in Toronto. His sentiments were echoed, in whole or in part, by other industry insiders. Reasons for the pessimism around Canada included advertising restrictions making it difficult to build a popular brand, consumers being unsure where to find trustworthy knowledge about cannabis and the slow rollout of retail distribution in Ontario and B.C., which has left many with no easy access to a physical cannabis store.

The global story about cannabis — the most-used recreational drug in the world — is about as fuzzy as your body feels after taking your first hit. While some places, such as states in the US, have legalized the drug, it is strictly prohibited in others. Almost 200 million people smoke pot worldwide according to the 2019 World Drug Report, and that number is rising. Whether this is a good or bad thing seems somewhat hard to decipher with inconsistent global regulations on the drug, conflicting research studies and little concrete evidence of its long-term effects. But how can we decide whether to condemn or support the devil's lettuce when our own governments can't seem to figure it out?