• Colorado lawmakers question proposed marijuana business rules

    The Denver Post (US)
    Thursday, March 21, 2013

    pot-plantation-coloradoColorado lawmakers yanked and tugged at the threads of the state's proposals for regulating recreational marijuana, as one legislator hinted to his colleagues that pulling too hard could unravel the whole thing. At its second meeting, the legislature's joint marijuana committee returned again to the question of how to structure the marijuana stores that Colorado voters authorized in November.

  • Portland groups push to legalize pot possession in the city

    Send a message to the state
    Bangor Daily News (US)
    Wednesday, March 22, 2013

    A coalition of political groups and activists say marijuana possession should be legalized in Maine’s largest city, in part because they say the drug is significantly safer than alcohol. The effort comes on the heels of the introduction of a bill in the state Legislature by Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, that would legalize, regulate and tax pot possession across Maine. Tom MacMillan, chairman of the Portland Green Independent Committee, said his organization and other like-minded groups need to get 1,500 signatures of city residents.

  • The next marijuana legalization fight? Copenhagen vs. the rest of Denmark

    The city wants to wrest the soft drugs trade away from criminal gangs, but the national government may not let it proceed
    The Atlantic Citylab (US)
    Wednesday, March 20, 2013

    The city of Copenhagen wants to legalize cannabis and, if possible, get supplies of the drug from the United States. Following a Europe-wide trend, Denmark’s capital has been planning a three-year experiment that would aim to wrest the city’s soft drugs trade away from criminal gangs and place it under direct municipal control. But while city officials overwhelmingly support the move, the Danish national government may not let them proceed. Last year the national government rejected more tentative plans that Copenhagen city councillors had approved by 39 votes to 9.

  • State chief consultant Mark Kleiman knows in, outs of pot legalization

    The state’s new pot consultants were introduced as the best available team by far for helping with the historic task of creating a legal pot system untested on the planet
    The Seattle Times (US)
    Tuesday, March 19, 2013

    mark-kleimanWashington state’s chief pot consultant remains a bit mysterious, but Mark Kleiman's views on legalizing pot are no mystery. He lays them out in “Marijuana Legalization,” a 2012 book he wrote with three of his team members. Alison Holcomb, the law’s author, said Kleiman’s credentials could ease federal concerns about Washington’s system evolving into an industry that tries to create addictions and market to young people. “I’m glad Kleiman and his colleagues are heading up the consulting group,” she said. (See also: Washington touts credentials of new pot consultant)

  • France catches up with khat users

    This traditional east African stimulant is illegal in France, but customs seizures are on a par with cocaine
    The Guardian Weekly (UK)
    Tuesday, March 19, 2013

    According to figures released by the French Customs, seizures of khat are soaring, up from 1.8 tonnes in 2011 to 4.5 tonnes in 2012, putting it on a par with cocaine (4.6 tonnes) but still far behind cannabis (24 tonnes). The rising interception rate does not mean consumption in France is increasing. Half of last month's haul was found in the freight zone of Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. "France is a transit country," says Sébastien Tiran, general-secretary at the CDG Customs headquarters. The Netherlands ban has driven prices in Paris sharply upwards.

  • UCLA expert’s team to advise state on new pot rules

    The Seattle Times (US)
    Monday, March 18, 2013

    Washington has tentatively chosen professor Mark Kleiman at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to be its official marijuana consultant. His firm Botec Analysis is based in Cambridge, Mass., and has evaluated government programs and provided consulting relating to drug use, crime and public health. Losing bidders for the contract can protest the award. Kleiman has written several books on drug policy, including "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know." Reformers have had a "love/hate" relationship with Kleiman over the years.

  • A case for use of resources

    Judge shares views on drugs
    The Nation (Barbados)
    Sunday, March 17, 2013

    Barbados High Court Judge Randall Worrell shocked Barbadians when he suggested laws here should be reviewed to decriminalize drug use and possession for personal use. Justice Worrell said this is the approach being taken in other parts of the world to combat the pervasive problem. He argued too that alternatives to incarceration should also be implemented for low-level and non-violent drug related crimes, intimating that this would ease congestion in the court system. The judge said these were some of the things Barbados has to look at if this country is going to set up a drug treatment court.

  • Support for marijuana legalization drags among state’s congressional delegation

    Washington’s congressional delegation should follow the lead of its constituents and fight for the state’s voter approved law to legalize marijuana
    Editorial
    The Seattle Times (US)
    Saturday, March 16, 2013

    seattle-times2Washington voters acted boldly last November to begin reforming our nation’s failed policy on marijuana. It was an act of leadership, in stark contrast to the inertia that has perpetuated the failed war on drugs for the past 42 years. But the state’s most important allies in this political fight — its 12-member congressional delegation — have remained mostly silent. They appear to have missed the memo sent by 56 percent of voters: Washington voters want legalized marijuana.

  • Life after cannabis prohibition: The city announces its ambitions

    The Copenhagen Model will see the production, sale and consumption of cannabis legalised, but many questions remain
    The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
    Friday, March 15, 2013

    jensen-conferenceThe tide is turning against the criminalisation of cannabis. Copenhagen wants to join the movement with a three-year trial to decriminalise the drug. But while city officials envisage Copenhagen undertaking one of the world’s most ambitious decriminalisation projects – both production and sale would be legalised – questions remain about what shape the so-called 'Copenhagen Model' would take. Around 150 attendees gathered in the City Hall to hear the City Council’s plan. One of the primary goals of the trial is to take the cannabis trade out of the hands of criminals. (See also: Stop criminalising pot smokers, demonstrators say)

  • Marijuana regulation heads to Colorado Capitol

    The Denver Post (US)
    Friday, March 15, 2013

    colorado-marijuanaAn ad-hoc committee of 10 House and Senate members started work reviewing 165 pages of recommended regulations from a task force that worked for more than three months to suggest rules for the newly legal drug. The suggested rules cover the entire product cycle of pot—from how marijuana should be grown and labeled to how to tax the drug and spend the proceeds. The 10 lawmakers on the House-Senate pot committee will ultimately suggest a bill for the full Legislature.

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