Search Results: parliament (51)

The Weed Blog

The Czech Republic’s lower house of Parliament has approved legislation to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. The bill still needs to be approved by the upper house to become law.

Politicians agreed that marijuana would initially be imported, and later grown locally by registered farms, reports RT.com.
Patients would need a doctor’s prescription to get cannabis at pharmacies, reports The Associated Press. Marijuana will not be covered by health insurance, and patients will not be allowed to grow it at home.
“The point of the proposal is to make medical marijuana accessible to patients that need it and that already use it today, even when it is against the law,” Pavel Bern, one of a group of deputies who wrote the bill, told Reuters.

Fox News

Law Would Make Uruguay First Government In World To Legally Supply Marijuana 
The president of Uruguay on Wednesday submitted a proposal to Parliament to legalize marijuana under government-controlled regulation and sale, making it the first country in the world where the state would sell marijuana directly to its citizens. The proposal, signed by Uruguayan President José Mujica, is part of a package of measures aimed at fighting crime and requires parliamentary approval before being enacted.
Despite Uruguay being one of the safest countries in Latin America, it has faced an increase in crime from drug gangs due to its position on a drug transit route to Europe via West Africa. The aim of the measure is to combat the rising insecurity in Uruguay by removing the profits of marijuana sales from drug gangs, separating the marijuana market from those for other illegal drugs, and avoiding marijuana users’ exposure to drug dealers who also sell coca paste and cocaine. Additionally, the revenues from marijuana sales will be invested into treatment for “problem” drug users.

Czarek Sokolowski/Associated Press
A demonstrator smokes marijuana in front of Poland’s Parliament as part of a protest to legalize cannabis

​A prominent politician and several other activists have smoked marijuana in front of the Polish Parliament as part of their campaign to legalize cannabis in the Eastern European country.

With police looking on, Janusz Palikot, the head of the left-wing Palikot’s Movement, took a few tokes from a joint under falling snow on Friday to make his point, reports the Associated Press
Dozens more gathered around a platform where they smoked cannabis and chanted “Grow It, Smoke It, Legalize It.”
At the center of the rally was a banner showing a green marijuana leaf and the word “Legalize.” The smell of burning cannabis was heavy in the chilly air during the demonstration, which took place across the street from the Sejm, the lower house of Parliament.
Palikot had last month promised to smoke marijuana inside the Parliament building, but backed down after threats of arrest and merely lit some cannabis-scented incense.
Palikot was later threatened with a year in jail for even talking about smoking a joint inside Parliament.

Alaskan Activism

​Germany’s socialist Left party is calling an expert hearing on “legalizing cannabis through the introduction of cannabis clubs” in the German Parliament on Wednesday, January 25, but the idea has reportedly been met with “widespread rejection” from mainstream politicians.

The Left party is proposing that Germans be allowed to open cannabis clubs where members can grow marijuana, reports PanArmenian.net. They also recommend that consumers be allowed to possess up to 30 grams of pot for personal use, double the current limit in Germany.
The proposal was written by Frank Tempel, former director of an anti-drug group that worked with police in the eastern German state of Thuringia, reports The Local. Tempel, who is now the Left party’s advisor on drug policy, said there needs to be a sea change in Germany’s attitude to marijuana.

AFP
MP Janusz Palikot, the leader of a new left-wing party in Poland, launched a drive on Friday to legalize marijuana in the Eastern European country

​The leader of an up-and-coming new left-wing political party in Poland threatened to light up a joint in Parliament on Friday — but ended up just burning what he said was cannabis-scented incense after being reported to prosecutors.

The prosecutors have opened an investigation into whether MP Janusz Palikot broke a Polish law against “promoting or advertising” drugs with his threat to smoke cannabis in Parliament, according to news agency PAP. That’s a crime that could carry a prison sentence of up to a year, reports Vanessa Gera of the Associated Press.

Kacper Pempel/Reuters
MP Janusz Palikot of Palikot’s Movement Party wants to test Poland’s new cannabis decriminalization law — by smoking a joint in Parliament

A Polish lawmaker plans to test his country’s new marijuana decriminalization law — by firing up a joint in Parliament.


MP Janusz Palikot has announced he plans to share a joint in the Parliament building on Friday as part of a campaign to legalize marijuana in Poland.

The ultra-liberal Palikot’s Movement Party will be using civil disobedience to test laws introduced in December that gave prosecutors a choice on whether to charge individuals who are found to be in possession of “soft drugs” for personal use, reports TheNews.pl.

The state’s growing regions can be dangerous.

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Download WeedWeek’s free 2016 election guide here.

Two women were arrested for detaining four brothers on a California pot farm and forcing them to work for six months. In Colorado, 14 Chinese nationals were arrested at an illegal grow. Authorities are investigating whether they were “labor trafficked.”

In SFWeekly, I recommended that the industry adopt an abuse-free product certification to curtail worker exploitation.

It currently sells a powerful opiate.

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek

The Intercept reports that Insys Therapeutics, the company that donated $500,000 to oppose REC in Arizona, is about to release a synthetic THC spray to relieve side effects associated with chemotherapy that would compete directly with MED. It’s been more widely noted that Insys’ only current product is an opioid spray. Insys noted in a 2007 SEC filing that legalization is a threat to its business.

Forbes surveys a list of cannabis-involved pharmaceutical companies that are takeover targets. Insys is among them.

The Washington Post learned that Maryland state lawmaker Del. Dr. Dan K. Morhaim, a vocal supporter of legalizing MED, is affiliated with a company applying for a state MED license. Morhaim, who’s also a physician, said he has no equity in the company, and had cleared his involvement with the legislature’s ethics advisor.

Maryland has promised to begin awarding the coveted licenses next month. The evaluation process cost about $2 million , almost five times the original estimate.

More rigorous product testing is coming to Oregon this fall, but so far  no testing lab licenses  have been issued. MED dispensaries  can open in Hawaii  but none are ready.

Tech billionaire Sean Parker doubled his contribution to California’s REC initiative to $2.25 million.

Long Beach, Calif. won a lawsuit that will allow it to maintain its dispensary ban. Voters will have a chance to overturn the city’s ban in November. It’s complicated.

High Times says Brexit could set back legalization in the U.K.

Italian lawmakers will consider full legalizationGreece may legalize MED. A new bill in Ireland would legalize MED.

Legal pot probably isn’t as big a draw for Colorado tourists as had once been thought. Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger makes a technical argument that Washington State should have licensed more dispensaries.

Edibles company Bhang Chocolate lost a $1.875 million breach of contract suit to investor Mentor Capital.

HelloMD, a site that allows patients to obtain doctors’ recommendations online, has a questions and answers site that TechCrunch compares to “ Quora for cannabis.”

Canadian company Canopy Growth, plans to start selling MED in German pharmacies.

Weed is among the highest grossing products on the “ dark web,” online marketplaces that are difficult for law enforcement to track.

Investment in cannabis start-ups is on the rise. Instagram “ purged” a few big brands’ accounts.

The Atlantic talks to a few female cannabis entrepreneurs.

Canna Law Blog has a post on the eight pitfalls awaiting the industry in California.

Dispensary chain Terrapin Care Station acquired Denver Relief’s central Denver store.

The Italian Parliament is gathering today to discuss a proposal for marijuana legalization. If passed, the bill on the table — similar to the proposal Colorado voters passed in 2012 — would allow the cultivation, possession and use of marijuana. Italian citizens over the age of eighteen would be allowed to grow as many as five plants for personal use, have up to fifteen grams of marijuana in their homes and possess a maximum of five grams in public. It would also authorize “cannabis clubs,” where up to fifty people could gather and smoke together.

Cannabis would be taxed at a rate of 5 percent; the government would issue licenses allowing the cultivation of marijuana with the intention for it to be sold for recreational purposes. The tax would be used to fund Italy’s effort to crack down on illegal drug trafficking.

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