• Cannabis cafes could set up shop in Berlin

    Deutsche Welle (Germany)
    Monday, September 16, 2013

    monika-herrmannLegally buying a few grams of marijuana might soon become reality in Berlin. Kreuzberg district's new mayor, Monika Herrmann, has plans to open Germany's first cannabis coffee shop. She sees pot legalization as a means to tackle the growing drug problem in Kreuzberg's Görlitzer Park, which has developed into one of the city's central drug-dealing hubs. "If we want to gain control of the dealers and their products, we must manage the distribution," the Green-party politician said. (See also: Greens push weed legalization in park)

  • Legal cannabis market 'would be worth £1.25bn a year to government'

    Report sets out potential cost savings and tax take from a regulated cannabis market in England and Wales
    The Observer (UK)
    Sunday, September 15, 2013

    Legalising and taxing cannabis could be worth as much as £1.25bn a year to the government, a study suggests. The report Licensing and regulation of the cannabis market in England and Wales: towards a cost-benefit analysis, quantifies the revenue to be gained from the regulation and taxation of the cannabis market in England and Wales. It estimates that reduced enforcement costs, such as police, court and prison time and community sentences, could save £300m or more alone, with the remaining three-quarters of the net benefit come from tax revenue.

  • Lebanese government gives "blessed" hashish a break

    This year it seems the government has been reluctant about destroying hashish crops
    Al Akhbar (Egypt)
    Saturday, September 14, 2013

    The minister of interior Marwan Charbel promised to find solutions for cannabis farmers in Lebanon, including finding alternative crops. Talk about alternative crops has been around since the Taif Accord, which ended the civil war in Lebanon more than two decades ago. “The government had allocated 35 billion Lebanese pounds annually to aid the farmers, as part of a five-year project for alternative crops to hashish. Unfortunately, none of this has been put into practice.” Charbel finds the continued talk about alternative crops irritating, saying that it seems this will remain forever a pipe dream and spoke about legalizing the cultivation of hashish.

  • The city of Utrecht wants to convince mentally ill marijuana users to smoke better pot

    This fall, the city will distribute a "special cannabis variant" to a select group of mentally ill addicts
    The Atlantic Citylab (US)
    Friday, September 13, 2013

    Thanks in part to the Netherlands' policy of marijuana decriminalization, there are people living in the Dutch city of Utrecht whose addiction to cannabis prevents them from getting effective treatment for mental illness. According to a September 10 statement from Utrecht Mayor Wolfsen, "There is a group of about eighty people with a chronic psychotic disorder who barely respond to their treatment. A possible explanation for this is their severe dependence [on] cannabis."

  • Legal marijuana: US defends decision not to challenge two states' laws

    The Obama administration's stance on Colorado and Washington's marijuana laws is not an abdication of responsibility to uphold federal narcotics laws
    Christian Science Monitor (US)
    Tuesday, September 10, 2013

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    Deputy Attorney General James Cole told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that federal prosecutors and agents are prepared to focus aggressive efforts on interstate and national enforcement of marijuana trafficking laws. “We are not giving immunity. We are not giving a free pass. We are not abdicating our responsibility,” Mr. Cole testified. (Statement of James M. Cole)

  • Uruguay Marijuana Polls Good News for Regional Proponents

    Geoffrey Ramsey
    InSight Crime
    Tuesday, 10 September, 2013

    Uruguay-legalizationWhile public opinion remains largely opposed to marijuana regulation in Uruguay, a new poll shows support for the bill is growing, especially among likely voters for the ruling FA coalition, which could be good news for countries hoping to follow Uruguay's drug policy example. On September 2, leading Uruguayan pollster Cifra published the results of a new survey on marijuana regulation. The polling firm found that 61 percent of the country was opposed to the measure, a five-point drop since it was first proposed by President Jose Mujica in July 2012.

  • Will Berlin soon have its first coffee shop?

    HCLU Drugreporter
    Thursday, September 12, 2013

    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.

  • High time CARICOM discuss legalising marijuana – Gonsalves

    “As a consequence of the US wielding that big stick over our head, our politicians are in fear”
    Caribbean360 (Barbados)
    Tuesday, September 10, 2013

    Ralph GonsalvesPrime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has written to the chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping calling for a discussion on the medicinal and other uses of marijuana. In his letter Gonsalves said it is high time that CARICOM addresses regionally “this matter in a sensible focus not hysterical manner”. He said that the marijuana plant has a bundle of proven and potentially beneficial uses and while it is true that its use and abuse and the consequential criminalisation of its cultivation, possession and supply have impacted on the health, welfare and security of the people. Gonsalves in his letter made a plea for “a reasoned debate” led by CARICOM political and civic leadership in the context of the legislation of marijuana.

  • Senate Hearings Reveal Marijuana Businesses May Get Banking

    Smell the Truth
    Tuesday, 10 September, 2013

    CannabisSativaToday, the United States Senate did something for the first time in history. It held a hearing on how the federal government could draw a roadmap toward the decriminalization of recreational marijuana across the nation.

  • John McCain: ‘Maybe we should legalize’ pot

    John McCain told an Arizona town hall he's open to legalizing pot
    Eric Pfeiffer
    Yahoo! News (US)
    Friday, 06 September, 2013

    McCainWeedDrug war hawk John McCain is turning pot dove. McCain appears open to making a dramatic shift on marijuana policy, saying during a town-hall meeting in Arizona that he's open to potentially legalizing weed.

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