Global

Czech Republic Moves To Legalize Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 26, 2011 Global, Medical

The Czech Ministry of Health has said it will take marijuana off the list of banned substances and for the first time allow it to be prescribed as medicine by doctors.

“By the end of this year we will submit to Parliament an amended law on addictive substances which will move marihuana from the list of banned substances to the list of those which can be prescribed,” Deputy Health Minister Martin Plíšek said, reports Chris Johnstone at CzechPosition.com.

The promised policy change comes after increasing evidence of marijuana’s beneficial effects for those suffering from cancer, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses, CzechPosition reports. More and more Czechs are growing cannabis and resorting to home remedies due to the existing ban on its prescription, according to the site.

‘An Exceptional Victory’: NYPD Marijuana Policy Change

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 26, 2011 Global, News

Notes From The Psychedelic Salon

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director, Drug Policy Alliance: “It’s evidence that collectively, activists and community leaders and academics and elected officals can really transform a policy. “

Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, spoke with the Village Voice (owned by the same parent company as Toke of the Town) after the stunning news that the NYPD has suddenly reversed course and announced that it will follow the law and stop arresting New Yorkers for low level marijuana possession that is not in public view.

“At first, I was suspicious,” Nadelmann said. “Is this really what it says it is? And when I read it closely, it looks like it really is a change in policy. That [Commissioner] Kelly is telling the police to stop arresting people when marijuana pops up in somebody’s pocket in a search. And that’s a big change.”

Nadelmann called the NYPD policy change — in which the department agrees to finally, actually follow New York state’s marijuana decriminalization law, passed 34 years ago in 1977 — “an exceptional victory.”

“It’s evidence that collectively, activists and community leaders and academics and elected officials can really transform a policy,” Nadelmann said.

Bulgarian Farmers Switch From Tomatoes To Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2011 Global, Growing

Fresh Plaza

Cannabis has proven to be a tempting crop for low-income pensioners in Bulgaria

Farmers in southwest Bulgaria have decided to put aside traditional crops such as tomatoes for something more profitable — cannabis. The only problem is, marijuana is still very illegal in this impoverished eastern European nation.

But that’s the very reason weed is more profitable than tomatoes or corn. Black market profits are hard to turn down if you’re on a fixed income, perhaps retired and elderly, and your meager pension doesn’t cover the rising cost of living, reports Fresh Plaza.

According to Terra.com.pe, Bulgaria, one of the poorest countries in the European Union, has very low pensions, making the temptation to enter the world of cannabis cultivation very strong. Marijuana brings 15 euros a gram on the Bulgarian black market, which beats the hell out of tomatoes.

Man Caught With Marijuana… At Police Station

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 12, 2011 Global, News

Skyscraper City

The Argao police precinct station in Cebu, Philippines: Not a good place to bring your stash

An Australian man was arrested when marijuana was found in his possession while he visited two female friends jailed at the Argao police precinct in Cebu, Philippines Saturday night.

Police said crushed, dried marijuana wrapped with tinfoil was recovered from Gary Frank Brough, who went to the Argao precinct around 9 p.m. to visit his two friends, who were being detained on theft charges, reports Jucell Marie P. Cuyos of the Inquirer News.

Brough wasn’t allowed to visit the two women since visiting hours are only from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., but police claim he “insisted on entering.”

Bummer of a Summer: Weather Halves B.C.’s Pot Crop

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 9, 2011 Global, Growing

RCMP

RCMP officers on Vancouver Island bust an outdoor marijuana grow operation

Wet, cold weather in British Columbia this summer has cut the western Canadian province’s marijuana harvest in half, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Officers have observed “significantly smaller” marijuana plants from aerial and ground searches, according to RCMP spokesman Cpl. Darren Lagan, reports Katie DeRosa at the Victoria Times Colonist. Lagan said the plants were smaller this year because of poor weather at the beginning of the growing season.

Drug Cartels Rapidly Gaining Ground In U.S.: Justice Department

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 8, 2011 Global, News

LEAP

Terry Nelson, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: “It is really no surprise to me that our prohibition policy isn’t helping to achieve any reduction in drug trafficking”

A newly released report from the U.S. Department of Justice shows that Mexican drug cartels are rapidly gaining ground inside the United States, despite extensive efforts by the government to crack down on trafficking.

In light of the findings, a group of Border Patrol agents, police officers and judges is saying it is time to legalize and regulate drugs in order to defund the cartels that make so much money from the illicit drug market.

“As someone who has fought on the front lines of the failed ‘war on drugs’ for decades it is really no surprise to me that our prohibition policy isn’t helping to achieve any reduction in drug trafficking,” said Terry Nelson, a board member for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and a retired U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent.

“We should have learned this lesson decades ago with alcohol prohibition, but let’s hope that the data in this new government report helps more members of Congress and Obama administration officials to realize that their ‘drug war’ strategy is an abysmal failure and that it’s time for a new direction,” Nelson said.

Vietnamese Drug Centers: Forced Labor, Human Rights Violations

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 7, 2011 Global, News

Julian Abram Wainwright/Vinaland

Recovering drug users share buckets of water for a communal bath at a drug rehabilitation center in Vietnam

Vietnam subjects patients at so-called “drug rehabilitation centers” to abuse and forced labor, according to an international human rights group which called for the facilities to be shut down.

Human Rights Watch, based in New York, on Wednesday called on international donors to check the programs they fund inside the drug rehab centers for possible human rights violations, reports Mike Ives at Forbes.com.

The United States and Australian governments, the United Nations, the World Bank and other international donors may “indirectly facilitate human rights abuses” by paying for drug dependency and HIV treatments for addicts inside the centers, according to the group.

Woman, 61, Arrested Trying To Reclaim Weed At Police Station

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 31, 2011 Global, News

Photo: Petoskey News

A 61-year-old New Zealand housewife who lost a bag of cannabis was arrested when she showed up to reclaim it as “lost property” from the local police station.

The bag, containing 19 separate grams of marijuana wrapped in tinfoil, a cannabis pipe and a cellphone, was found at a ferry terminal in Picton on August 16, reports AFP.

After the person who discovered the bag of weed turned it over to police in the South Island town, the cellphone rang and a male caller asked about the marijuana’s whereabouts. The officers informed him it was at the Picton police station.

Australian State Cracks Down On Drugs In Police Force

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 24, 2011 Global, News

Phot: news.com.au

One out of every three police officers in New South Wales, Australia will be tested for illegal drugs over the coming year.

The NSW Police Force’s Professional Standards Command has more than doubled the number of random drug tests, from about 2,000 to 5,000 for this fiscal year, reports 702 ABC Sydney.

The decision was taken after two senior officers and a constable were recently caught snorting cocaine, according to Assistant Commissioner Paul Carey.

“In July there were five recall targeted tests on people who we had reasonably good intelligence to say that they may have been using drugs,” Assistant Commissioner Carey said.

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