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Global Commission on Drug Policy

Landmark Report Released in Advance of  2012 World AIDS Conference in Washington, DC
 
Global Commission Calls for Drug Decriminalization and Expansion of Proven, Cost-Effective Solutions to Reduce HIV/AIDS – Including Sterile Syringe Access, Safer Injection Facilities, and Prescription Heroin Programs
 
While Some Countries Have Virtually Eliminated Drug-Related HIV Transmissions, Drug War Policies in U.S., Russia, Thailand and China Cause Millions of Needless Infections and AIDS Deaths
 
On June 26, the Global Commission on Drug Policy will release a groundbreaking report at a press conference in London followed by a worldwide teleconference. The report describes how the global War On Drugs is driving the HIV pandemic among people who use drugs and their sexual partners.
The report condemns the Drug War as a failure and recommends immediate, major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime to halt the spread of HIV infection and other drug war harms.


Medical marijuana patients in Connecticut now have the ability to purchase medical cannabis from a licensed dispensary after the Healing Corner and Arrow Alternative Care opened their doors Monday afternoon after nearly two years of waiting.
The centers, two of six in the state, opened their doors to long lines yesterday after finally receiving product from Theraplant, one of four state-licensed pot farms legally allowed to supply the dispensaries.

ThierryEhrmann/Flickr


So, the new Pope isn’t down with pot. What a shocker.
After riding an almost unprecedented wave of mainstream popularity, Pope Francis somehow surprised a whole lot of stoners last week by officially condemning cannabis use, as well as the rising tide of legalization, in a speech given to the International Drug Enforcement Conference.

At precisely 2:51 a.m. on Friday, June 20, the New York State Assembly passed the Compassionate Care Act, which (when the bill passes the senate, as it is widely expected to, when it is taken up around 10 a.m.) will make New York the 23rd state in the union where medical marijuana is legal…as long as you don’t smoke it. Seriously: Patients will need to use a vaporizer, pills or other extraction method. The use of joints, bongs and pipes–anything you light up–is strictly verboten.
Under the new law, physicians will have to go through a certification and registration process before they can prescribe the drug legally. Patients, likewise, will need to be certified by a doctor, and they will have to register with the Department of Health, which will provide an ID card proving one’s certification, but they will be free to carry up to 30 days supply of medical pot.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and a bud of marijuana that Minnesota medical marijuana patients won’t technically won’t be able to access .


Though qualifying Minnesota medical marijuana patients will only have the option of vaporizing and eating concentrated forms of marijuana, at least they’ll have access. Less than two months ago medical marijuana seemed dead, at least as far as this legislative session was concerned. But during a press conference this afternoon, Scott Dibble and Carly Melin announced that the Senate and House have come together on a medical marijuana compromise.


Yesterday, medical marijuana’s House supporters announced a big compromise they hope will be amenable to law enforcement and signed into law by pot unfriendly Gov. Mark Dayton.
The compromise, announced at a Capitol news conference by House Speaker Paul Thissen (D-Minneapolis), Majority Leader Erin Murphy (D-St. Paul), and Rep. Carly Melin (D-Minneapolis), “would create a medical cannabis clinical trial, allowing limited participation by children who are suffering and adults with severe illnesses,” a House DFL news release says. The bill gets it’s first hearing today, and could potentially pass before the end of the session.

An Iowa state senator has introduced a medical marijuana bill to the state legislature, but says advancing the bill any further would be a long shot.
Sen. Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City says he doesn’t have the bipartisan support in both the state House and Senate whatsoever for Senate File 79, which would allow for qualifying patients to cultivate and possess up to 2.5 ounces of herb at a time as well as create state-regulated medical cannabis dispensaries.

Despite medical cannabis being legalized in the state, the Illinois Department of Public Health clearly thinks medical marijuana users are still criminals. Proposed rules for the program unveiled yesterday by the department would require all patients to be fingerprinted and undergo a background check before they could use the plant.
Thankfully, these are just draft proposals and there will be plenty of time for public comment on these stupid, onerous restrictions.

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