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Browsing: Global

Israel’s Terminally Ill To Cops: Keep Hands Off Medical Marijuana

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By on Global, Medical, News

Photo: Reuters
A patient sits in a wheelchair as a Tikkun Olam worker in Tel Aviv helps him smoke cannabis from a bong.

​Dozens of disabled and terminally ill Israelis protested outside a Tel Aviv medical marijuana clinic on Sunday, responding to a recent police raid of the clinic.

The protest came four days after police raided a storefront dispensary run by the group Tikkun Olam, the nonprofit where patients came to get medicinal cannabis. During the raid, police arrested two managers and held them for questioning for several hours, supposedly on suspicion of “drug trafficking,” reports Ben Hartman at The Jerusalem Post.
Police actions against the storefront and its patients mainly harm gravely ill persons seeking medical treatment, said Shai Meir, spokesman for Tikkun Olam, Israel’s largest supplier of medical marijuana.
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All Drugs Should Be Legalized, Says Former U.K. Drug Czar

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By on Global, News

Photo: Guardian.co.uk
Former defense secretary Bob Ainsworth described the War On Drugs as “nothing short of a disaster” and called on the British government to look at other options

​All illicit substances, including heroin and cocaine, should be legalized, according to a former United Kingdom drugs minister who on Thursday became the most senior politician to push for a dramatic change in the strategy for dealing with drug enforcement in Britain.

Former Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth said that it is better for addicts to receive their fixes on prescription rather than allowing international criminal gangs to make billions in profits for supplying them, reports Nigel Morris at The Independent.
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EU Rules Dutch Can Bar Foreigners From Buying Marijuana

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By on Dispensaries, Global, News

Photo: The World In Photos
What do you do if you have a thriving cannabis tourism industry pumping lots of money into the economy? Shut it down, if you’re the Dutch.

​The Netherlands is poised to shut down its thriving cannabis tourism industry which has been an economic boon to the country for 34 years. European Union judges have ruled that Dutch authorities are not violating European single market laws by barring foreigners from buying the cannabis and hashish that are sold in the country’s famous marijuana “coffee shops.”

The restrictions, aimed at discouraging “drug tourism” from Belgium, Germany, and other places, have so far been implemented only in border towns but will soon be extended across the Netherlands, including Amsterdam, popular with British pot tourists, reports Bruno Waterfield at The Telegraph.
The EU ruling was requested by the Dutch supreme court, the Council oif State, after Marc Josemans, who owns Easy Going Coffee Shop in Maastricht, sued after being forced to close for breaking the “no foreigners” rule.
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Marijuana Case Dismissed Against Four Men After $40K Trial

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By on Global, News

Photo: Akl Seshnz
The victorious ‘Waiheke Four’ after all charges were dismissed for possession of cannabis and a bong

​After a trial lasting nearly a year and which cost taxpayers about $40,000, marijuana charges against four New Zealand men were dismissed last week in Auckland District Court.

The case took a total of 11 months, required five court appearances, three legal aid lawyers, one interpreter, and two police witnesses traveling to and from Waiheke Island, according to NORML New Zealand.
The four men, dubbed the “Waiheke Four” by supporters, were arrested on New Year’s Eve last year sitting at a public picnic table on a beach on Waiheke Island. On the table and nearby, police found a bong and nine grams of cannabis.
“There was no evidence linking any of the men to the cannabis and bong, yet all four were arrested, charged and prosecuted in court,” said Stephen McIntyre, president of NORML New Zealand.
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Germany: Cannabis Decrim Petition Open For Signatures

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By on Global, Legislation

Graphic: German Hemp Association

​Citizens of Germany are now able to weigh in on cannabis decriminalization with an official petition.
After first being rejected by the public petitions committee of the Bundestag (the German legislative body comparable to Parliament), an online petition calling for the nationwide decriminalization of cannabis, originally launched in late October, is finally open for signatures.
Petition initiator Georg Wurth, who is also a spokesman for the German Hemp Association, cites a survey conducted earlier this year that found 54 percent of the population support the decriminalization of marijuana.
“There is a popular majority that criticizes the current harsh attitude towards cannabis users and would like a more liberal approach,” Wurth said.
Wurth urged supporters to sign the petition, which will be the last of its kind until the end of the election term in 2013.
“This is no drill; this is serious!” Wurth said.
The petition (in German, of course), now open for signatures, can be found by clicking here.
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Men Charged After Trying To Steal 9,000 Pot Plants From Police

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By on Global, Growing, News

Photo: Edmonton State Police/Edmonton Journal

​Three Australian men caught as they allegedly attempted to steal 9,000 marijuana plants from the police have been charged with theft.

Police wouldn’t confirm what was stored at the police logistics facility for security reasons, but the Herald Sun reports that the building contained marijuana plants confiscated in Victoria’s biggest drug bust.
The men were arrested after police claim they were caught breaking into the building about 10:15 p.m. on December 3.
The trio was apprehended during the break-in, and nothing was taken from the premises.
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German Police Seize Marijuana Christmas Tree

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By on Global, News

Graphic: Reefer Smoke

​A six-foot marijuana plant decorated as a Christmas tree was confiscated from the home of “an old hippie,” who is now facing a drug possession charge, German police said Wednesday.

In a press release entitled “All you need is love, or how a hippie celebrates Christmas,” police in the western city of Koblenz said they found the big cannabis plant in the living room of the suspect, reports AFP.
“A hippie celebrates Christmas too, just differently,” read the release. “The two-meter-tall marijuana plant had been put in a Christmas tree stand and decorated with a string of lights.” 
“When asked, the hashish fan told the perplexed officers that he had intended to add more decorations to the ‘tree’ and place the presents under it, according to tradition.”
Narcotics detectives stumbled on the unconventional Christmas tree while searching the home of an “old 68er,” a reference to the groups of young students and workers who participated in political protests which swept across Germany in 1968, reports The Local.
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Glamor Model Charged With Meth: It Was Fake Snow

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By on Global, News

Photo: Star Now
Erin Alberino, pictured above, was arrested for methamphetamine — which she says turned out to be fake snow

​A New Zealand glamor model who was charged with possessing half a million dollars’ worth of methamphetamine said test results show the substance was harmless fake snow.

Erin Alberino, who is facing serious drug charges for the white powdery substance, said she had received results from Environmental Science and Research showing that the white powder was snow she bought from The $2 Shop, reports Bevan Hurley at the N.Z. Herald.
“The ESR confirmed that the substance was not methamphetamine, and that it was not an illegal drug of any kind,” confirmed Alberino’s lawyer, Fergus Steedman.
Alberino is on strict bail conditions at her parents’ home until her next court appearance on December 14.
“I would prefer to wait until after court but the results have come back as Instant Grow Snow, not methamphetamine,” Alberino said.
The model was arrested after a raid on a suspected “meth lab” in Feilding, New Zealand, last month. She was charged with possession of methamphetamine for supply, possessing cannabis, and permitting a vehicle to be used in the commission of a drug offense.
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Fight To Legalize Cannabis In African Nation Lands In High Court

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By on Dispensaries, Global, Growing

Photo: OurWeed
Swazi marijuana is one of the few pure Sativa strains left in the world.

​A challenge to the marijuana laws of the southern African nation Swaziland is going all the way to the High Court. Dr. Ben Diamini wants cannabis legalized, and he has also called upon the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade to grant him a 10-year exclusive license to grow “dagga,” as the herb is called locallly.

Dr. Diamini pointed out that in the past 5,000 years, no one has died of cannabis anywhere in the world. He wants to High Court to help him get an order allowing him to operate a cannabis processing factory and set up a marketing company, with all dagga growers in Swaziland as suppliers, reports Mtheto Lungu at Africa News. He said that his factory will then solicit orders from local and international pharmacies.
Diamini said he would involve international research institutions to conduct research on processed and raw cannabis.
Holding a doctorate in education and a bachelor of science degree with a major in chemistry, Diamini said cannabis is not a drug and is not addictive. He said it is neither intoxicating nor poisonous.
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AC/DC Drummer Pleads Guilty To Marijuana Possession

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By on Global, News

Photo: Streaming Oldies
Phil Rudd, 56, drummer for AC/DC, was convicted and fined for possessing 27 grams of cannabis.

​AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was convicted of marijuana charges in his hometown of Tauranga, New Zealand, earlier this week after being caught with just under an ounce of cannabis.

Rudd, 56, was fined only $250 plus $132.89 court costs, but the “drug conviction” could make it problematic to travel on AC/DC’s world tours, reports RTT News.
Police said had discovered the marijuana in the drummer’s boat, the Barchetta, at the North Island’s Tauranga Bridge Marina on October 7, according to the website SunLive.
Law enforcement officials claimed they found 25 grams of cannabis on the dock and another two grams on the boat.
Rudd’s attorney Craig Tuck requested a minimum sentence to limit the effect on the heavy metal drummer’s career, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.
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