Browsing: Global
| “Excuse me while I light my spliff.” |
Happy birthday to the late, great Robert Nesta Marley. If he were alive, today would have been his 68th trip around the sun.
Marley, both a champion of civil rights in his homeland as well as cultural spokesperson for ganja use, was never shy about his beliefs as a Rastafarian and an herb smoker.
The Czech Republic is one step closer to having medical marijuana laws, though legal medical marijuana itself might be harder to come by.
A bill that allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients with certain conditions, including cancer, Parkinson’s and MS, was overwhelmingly passed by the Czech upper parliament Wednesday with 67 votes out of a possible 81.
| Peter Reynolds |
By James Collins
Peter Reynolds — of the United Kingdom cannabis law reform group CLEAR — is back in rare form once again, threatening to sue people. I know, that doesn’t sound like news. In fact, it can’t be news, because the root word in news is “new” — and Peter is a dog that just can’t get the hang of new tricks.
He has in the past threatened to sue just about everyone, from Alan Wyllie from Politics UK, to the publishers of this site, all the way to former members of CLEAR, including the fellow who set up their rather slick online presence.
Yes, the guy who set up the CLEAR web site is now part of the effort to expose Peter Reynolds. Peter is currently riding the coattails of a man who now despises him. How sad is that?
The latest outburst from Peter “The Redactor” Reynolds is uniquely hostile. He has newly threatened — amongst others — an autistic student, a man in a wheelchair, a successful businessman, and while I haven’t been privy to such a communication, I wouldn’t be surprised if he threatened David Cameron with legal action as well.
| Please Distribute |
| Bong County, Liberia is the center of that country’s marijuana cultivation scene (if I’m a-lyin’, I’m a-dyin’!) |
Police in Liberia claim “weak drug laws” are making it hard to crack down on marijuana farmers in that West African nation. Cannabis activity in Liberia is centered — and I promise I’m not making this up — in the nation’s central region of Bong County.
Many farmers in Liberia are reportedly turning to cannabis cultivation to make ends meet, reports the Monrovia Heritage. The Liberian trade in marijuana seems to be largely domestic, according to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which also says that many African countries, including Liberia, have “ideal growing climates” for the herb.
“I grow marijuana,” said Nathaniel Cico of central Liberia, reports Voice of America. “It is what I have been doing over the past year to sustain my family and myself. There are no jobs in the country. Things are very tough. How do people expect us to survive if things are very tough, no jobs?”
One-quarter of the world’s marijuana is grown in Africa, UNODC estimates. It reports that up to 13.5 percent of the adult population of the continent uses cannabis, much higher than the global average of between two and five percent.
| Cannabis Culture |
A court in Germany has ruled that seriously ill patients may grow their own cannabis for medicinal uses. However, the strict stipulations in the ruling could still prevent cultivation by some patients.
The December 7 ruling, which has not yet gone into effect, was made by a Federal Administrative Court in Münster, reports DW. Under the ruling, severely ill Germans — for whom no other therapies are available or effective, but who may receive a medical benefit from cannabis — may be allowed to grow medical marijuana at home.
Patients who wish to take part can apply to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) for permission to treat themselves with homegrown marijuana, with use monitored by a medical doctor.
| Beacon News |
New Plan Kowtows To Law Enforcement; Ignores Patients
Canada is changing the way citizens there can access marijuana for medical purposes, it was announced Sunday. The changes were made at the suggestion law enforcement officials, and seemingly without consulting medical professionals or patients at all.
“Current medical marihuana regulations have left the system open to abuse,” claimed Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq. “We have heard real concerns from law enforcement, fire officials, and municipalities about how people are hiding behind these rules to conduct illegal activity, and putting health and safety of Canadians at risk.
“These changes will make it far more difficult for people to game the system,” Aglukkaq claimed.
| U.S. Customs and Border Protection |
| Border Patrol agents said this was an unsuccessful attempt — but how many times had it worked before this attempt? |
More than 30 cans of marijuana totaling 85 pounds were fired via cannon from Mexico into Yuma, Arizona, Customs and Border Protection officials said on Tuesday.
The cans of cannabis were discovered near the Colorado River in Yuma on Friday, reports Lauren Steussy at NBC San Diego.
The discovery was “another unique but unsuccessful attempt” to smuggle drugs, according to Border Patrol agents.
| Mary Jane’s Garden |
Senior MPs in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, after a year-long study, on Monday called for the legalization of cannabis.
According to the Ministers, the U.K.’s current approach just isn’t working. The recommendation, called “shock verdict” by Kevin Schofield at The Sun, came in a report from Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee.
The move came after a year-long investigation which included witnesses such as comedian and former heroin addict Russell Brand, who called for simple drug possession to no longer be considered a crime.
| 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.