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New bill to legalize cannabis introduced in Congress

Posted on March 26th, 2013 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

CapitolCongressman Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced legislation last month, House Resolution 499, which would effectively end the federal prohibition on marijuana and allow states to set their own policies. The Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013 would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, transfer the Drug Enforcement Administration's authority to regulate the herb to a newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, require commercial producers to purchase a permit, and ensure that federal law distinguishes between individuals who grow for personal use and those involved in commercial sale and distribution. (NORML Action Alert)

Advocates petition DC Circuit to review rescheduling case

Posted on March 23rd, 2013 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , .

medical marijuanaMedical marijuana patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) filed a petition with the federal court of appeals March 22 in a widely watched case that seeks to reclassify cannabis for medical use. Plaintiffs in the case, ASA v. Drug Enforcement Administration, are requesting a rehearing before the original panel, as well as seeking full (en banc) review by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. On Jan. 22, the DC Circuit granted plaintiffs standing—the right to sue the federal government to reclassify cannabis—but, in a 2-1 ruling, denied the appeal on the merits by setting what ASA calls a "virtually-impossible-to-meet standard" for assessing medical efficacy. (ASA, March 22)

Mixed signals from UN on Drug War

Posted on March 17th, 2013 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , .

earthHelen Clark, head of the UN Development Program, speaking ahead of a March 14 presentation of the UNDP's 2013 Human Development Report, offered a surprise critique of the global war on drugs, saying Latin American leaders should develop new policies. "I've been a health minister in my past and there's no doubt that the health position would be to treat the issue of drugs as primarily a health and social issue rather than a criminalized issue," Clark told Reuters. "Once you criminalize, you put very big stakes around. Of course, our world has proceeded on the basis that criminalization is the approach."

South Africa: eight police arrested in dragging death

Posted on March 1st, 2013 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , .

Eight police officers were arrested in South Africa March 1 after the death of a man they apparently tied to the back of a police van and dragged along a road in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg. Video footage showing the treatment of Mido Macia, a 27-year-old taxi driver and immigrant from Mozambique, went viral on the web, and was published by South African newspaper the Daily Sun. It shows how Macia's hands were tied to the rear of a police van behind his head before it moves off. Two hours later he was found dead in a cell, said the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). A postmortem gave the cause of death as head injuries and internal bleeding.

Cannabis cannon discovered in Mexicali

Posted on March 1st, 2013 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

MexicoPolice in the border city of Mexicali on Feb. 27 announced the discovery of a powerful improvised cannon used to hurl packets of marijuana across the border fence into California. Police told Mexico's Televisa network the device consisted of a plastic pipe and a metal tank that used compressed air from the engine of an old car. The apparatus fired cannabis-packed cylinders weighing up to 13 kilos, police said. It was confiscated after US officers informed Mexican police that they had found a large number of drug packages that appeared to have been fired over the border. (AP, Feb. 27)

Federal medical marijuana bills introduced

Posted on February 26th, 2013 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

medical marijuanaMore than a dozen members of Congress co-introduced legislation Feb. 14 that would reclassify cannabis for medical use and provide federal defendants the right to use state law compliance as evidence in medical marijuana trials, a right they're currently denied. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) authored H.R. 689, the "States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act," which in addition to rescheduling cannabis will allow states to establish production and distribution laws without interference by the federal government, and will remove current obstacles to research. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) authored H.R. 710, the "Truth in Trials Act," to overturn the prohibition on medical marijuana evidence in federal court. 

The Emerald Triangle enters the post-CAMP era

Posted on February 12th, 2013 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

A market glut and paranoia about criminal cartels getting into the act coincide with the end of the CAMP program. Can Northern California's cannabis industry remake itself along ecological and community-rooted lines?

With the 2012 fall harvest season, Northern California's legendary cannabis-growing Emerald Triangle—centered around the counties of Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity—is at a turning point. And as the old cliché goes, the Chinese character for crisis is made up of the characters for danger and opportunity.

The current juncture is ripe with both.

Michigan high court guts state dispensary system

Posted on February 12th, 2013 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

cannabisIn a decision that may shutter most of the state's medical marijuana dispensaries, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled 4-1 Feb. 8 that the private sale of medical marijuana is illegal. The court granted an injunction enjoining the defendants' business, Compassionate Apothecary, from selling medical marijuana on the grounds that such sales constitute a public nuisance.

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