Toke of the Town

Search Results: europe (121)

Where Is Marijuana Reform Heading? Seattle Forum Sept. 12

0
By on Culture, Legislation

Photo: ACLU-WA
Famed travel writer and TV host Rick Steves will be among the panelists at “Where Is Marijuana Reform Heading?”, a public forum in Seattle on September 12 sponsored by the WA ACLU.

Sure, it seems that the wind is at our backs. The tantalizing possibility of marijuana legalization looks more possible than it ever has before. But what comes next?

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington on September 12 will present a discussion on the history, current status, and future of marijuana-law reform in Washington and the United States.
The event will be Sunday, September 12, 2010, 7 pm – pm (doors open at 6:30 pm), at the Great Hall at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Avenue at Seneca Street. Enter on 8th Avenue. (Directions and Parking)
Local and national panelists include travel writer Rick Steves; Keith Stroup, founder of and legal counsel to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML); Washington state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles; Rob Kampia, co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP); and Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).

Read More

Here’s What Pot Freedom Feels Like: Report From Spain

0
By on Culture, Global

Photo: Bubbleman’s Hideout
Very strong privacy laws prevent Spanish police from entering your house — even if they can see weed. How cool is that?

​British citizen Andy was looking for weed freedom — and he believes he’s found it in Europe. But he’s not in Holland. Andy’s chosen abode is not yet known as a stoner mecca, but judging by his account, it may soon be.
For a fascinating look at the Spanish cannabis scene, let’s travel to Andalusia now with our host, who writes on the excellent website “Dope Smoker.”
~ Steve Elliott
…….
Freedom To Act Without Fear
By Andy
Dope Smoker
I am smoking a joint whilst sitting by my front window.
Actually, that’s right where I rolled it too, and people were walking by the house. Sometimes, I pass the joint out the window to a neighbor on the street.
Read More

Court Advisor Claims Dutch Cannabis Ban Justified For Tourists

0
By on Global, News

Photo: Briarpatch
It’s not going to be Easy Going for you if you want to buy hash at this coffee shop — unless you’re Dutch.

​The Netherlands can ban over-the counter sales of marijuana in Dutch “coffee shops” to nonresidents to end drug tourism from other countries, a senior advisor to the European Union high court said Thursday, reports The Associated Press.

The advisor, Yves Bot, senselessly claimed a Dutch city’s ban on foreign customers in the shops is a “lawful and necessary measure” to cut crime and keep the peace, reports Stephanie Bodoni at Bloomberg.
“As drug tourism represents a genuine and sufficiently serious threat to public order in Maastricht, the exclusion of non-residents from coffee shops” is a “necessary” way of protecting residents, Bot said.
Read More

Exclusive Interview: America’s Longest Serving Pot Prisoner

0
By on Culture, Products


Photo: Robert Platshorn
Robert Platshorn, the Black Tuna, brought a million pounds of Colombian gold to American shores.

​If you were an American pothead in the 1970s, you probably smoked some of Robert Platshorn’s weed. His organization brought in tons of fine Colombian when it was considered some of the best pot in the world. And that’s the reason Platshorn later became the longest serving marijuana prisoner in U.S. history, doing 29 years inside the federal prison system.

Much of the primo Colombian flooding the U.S. marijuana market in the late 70s could be traced back to the Black Tuna Gang, a major smuggling ring which once brought 500 tons of pot into the United States over a 16-month period.
I remember well the sweet, potent buds of Santa Marta Gold that were available in 1977 and 1978. Possessed of a soaring sativa high and mind-blowing expansion in the lungs, this ‘lombo weed became the gold standard of connoisseur pot to a generation of appreciative stoners. To this day, I think of Colombian weed every time I hear Rush or Blue Öyster Cult.
Read More

Berlin Ready To Relax Cannabis Laws

0
By on Global, Legislation

Photo: Berlin.de
The Hanf Hemp Museum in Berlin is a tourist destination for marijuana lovers. Now the city may become even more attractive to potheads.

​A new marijuana policy could make it legal for individuals to possess up to 15 grams (a little more than half an ounce) of pot in Berlin, the capital city of Germany. The rule would make Berlin among the most cannabis friendly cities in Europe.

Berliners have long enjoyed their city’s soft stance on marijuana, reports Spiegel Online. It’s not rare to see people hitting a joint in a city parka, or rolling one up in the back of a café.
But the German capital may take another step toward becoming one of the most pot-tolerant cities in the European Union. The city’s top health official, Katrin Lompscher, said she plans to raise the amount of marijuana and hashish one can legally possess to 15 grams.
Read More

UK: Liberal Democrats Plan To Legalize Cannabis

0
By on Global, Legislation

Photo: CanIdoit.org
Don’t ask me why they do it, but Brits traditionally mix their cannabis with tobacco. Hey: If they legalize before the U.S., maybe we could learn from them.

​Dutch-style cannabis cafes would be permitted in the United Kingdom under “secret” Liberal Democrat plans, reports James Slack at the Daily Mail.

A “leaked policy document” reportedly calls for the decriminalization of marijuana. The paper also suggests allowing possession of cannabis, “social supply” to adults and cultivation of the plants for personal use.
The document follows an internal party vote that commits the Liberal Democrats to making it “no longer a crime for the occupier or manager of premises to permit someone to use cannabis on those premises.”
Read More

Upcoming Marijuana March Reaches Goal Of 300 Cities

0
By on News

Graphic: Cures Not Wars

​The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is hailing the passage of another milestone for the Global Marijuana March, with Georgetown, Guyana and Ryebrook, N.Y., as the 299th and 300th cities holding a march, rally, forum or benefit on the weekends of Saturday, May 1 and May 8.

NORML and numerous other groups called for more cities this year to participate, so that organizers could meet and surpass their stated goal of more than 200 cities.
“Worldwide action is necessary for any outright legalization, since cannabis is largely prohibited globally by a United Nations treaty known as the Single Convention, enacted in 1962 through the efforts of top anti-cannabis zealot Harry Anslinger, the original instigator of U.S. cannabis prohibition in 1937,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML.
Read More

New Czech Drug Law Fuels Cannabis Confusion

0
By on Global, Legislation

Photo: Legalizace.cz
The Czech Republic no longer punishes the growing of five or fewer cannabis plants

​Surrounded by confusion regarding exactly what was taking place, the Czech Republic changed its laws on the possession and growing of drugs at the start of this year. The change was more of a far-reaching clarification than a fundamental overhaul, reports Chris Johnstone at Radio Praha.

The new law that came into effect January 1 was an attempt to clear up what had been a hazy legal situation. Under the old law, all types of drug possession and use were criminal offenses. The new law makes possession or cultivation of cannabis (and certain other drug plants) an “administrative offense,” subject to only a fine if small amounts are involved.
The “small amount” was also defined for the first time. For example, growing up to five cannabis plants still counts as a small amount, but more than five is over the limit and considered a criminal offense.
Read More

Study Says 4% Of Adults Use Pot; Cites ‘Major Health Concerns,’ But No Evidence

0
By on Culture, Global

www.freeclassicimages.com

​There are 166 million marijuana users in the world, representing 3.9 percent of Earth’s population between 15 and 64, according to a new study.

The herb is “most used among young people in rich countries,” led by the United States, Australia and New Zealand, followed by Europe, according to the paper, published in medical journal The Lancet on Friday, canada.com reports.
The study’s authors grudgingly admit that marijuana’s impact “is probably modest” compared with the burden from legal substances such as alcohol and tobacco. After all, these are scientists, and they do have to acknowledge those troublesome data.
But the scientists fall all over themselves rushing to warn that “cannabis has a long list of suspected adverse health effects,” dutifully toeing the line that “marijuana is dangerous,” while lacking any convincing evidence to prove that claim.
Read More

High Hemp Hopes Hammered By Federal Appeals Court

0
By on Culture, Growing, Legislation

Photo: www.treehugger.com
Industrial hemp contains almost no THC, and is useless for getting high. It is, however, extremely useful for food, fiber, and fuel.

​Two North Dakota farmers who say they should be allowed to grow industrial hemp won’t be allowed to do so anytime soon.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit by the farmers, who received North Dakota’s first state licenses to grow hemp nearly three years ago, reports James MacPherson of The Associated Press.
The men, Wayne Hauge and David Monson, never received required approval from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to grow the crop, which is considered a Schedule I drug under federal law.
The farmers sued the DEA, and their case has been before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for more than a year after U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland dismissed it.
Read More
1 … 10 11 12 13