Global Ganja Report

Israel's cabinet on March 4 approved a proposed measure to decriminalize recreational use of cannabis, allowing it to go to a vote in the country's parliament, the Knesset. If it passes there, as is expected, first-time cannabis offenders will face a fine of 1,000 shekels ($270), but criminal charges will only be brought on a fourth offense. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who led the reform effort, said that "the government's approval is an important step on the way to implement the new policy, which will emphasize public information and treatment instead of criminal enforcement."

Seven Baltimore police officers were arrested by federal agents March 1 on racketeering charges. The officers are accused of conducting illegal stops, stealing money and drugs from suspects, swearing false affidavits, submitting false incident reports and participating in overtime fraud. One of the officers was also charged in a separate drug conspiracy indictment, involving a heroin distribution ring. The charges are the latest blow to Baltimore's already scandal-mired police force.

An unprecedented—and completely unexpected—campaign for medical marijuana in Peru has been paradoxically sparked by a police raid on a collective n Lima last month. What local media accounts luridly called a "clandestine laboratory" in the capital's San Miguel district was busted by National Police in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 8, and five kilos of cannabis confiscated along with equipment. Turns out it was the hash-oil facility of a collective known as Buscando Esperanza (Seeking Hope)—made up mostly of mothers who were producing the oil for their offspring suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and the like. One of the moms, Ana Álvarez, has now emerged as Peru's national voice of medical marijuana.

Rep. Tom Garrett (R-VA) on Feb. 27 announced the introduction of legislation aimed at decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level. The ambitiously named "Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017" would actually take cannabis off the federal controlled substances list—leaving regulation up to the states, and essentually giving the herb the same status as alcohol and tobacco. The bill revives an effort frst launched in the Senate by Bernie Sanders in 2015.

High Times magazine's Las Vegas Cannabis Cup, scheduled to open March 4 on Moapa Pauite tribal land outside the Sin City, has been threatened by the federal Justice Department. A letter to tribal authorities warning against the event comes as the Trump administration is making noises about a more intolerant approach to the cannabis economy. Cup organizers now say no actual cannabis will be allowed at the confab, local KTNV reports. But the event itself is still on—a trade show, capped by a concert headlining rapper Ludcaris to celebrate the passage of Question 2, Nevada's legalization initiative.

A Colombian cartel operative who established Central America's remote and lawless Miskito Coast as a major cocaine transfer point, building a mini-empire in the region of jungle, savanna and offshore cays, has since Feb. 7 been cooling his heels in Managua's notorious El Chipote prison, according to a Feb. 26 report in Nicaraguan daily La Prensa. Although his capture was confirmed by his attorney, Nicaraguan authorities failed to announce the arrest of the country's most-wanted crime lord, Amauri Carmona Morelos AKA Alberto Ruiz Cano.

Countries both sides of the Mediterranean are stepping up joint operations against hashish flowing into Europe from North Africa. Spanish authorities on Feb. 17 boasted the dismantling of two smuggling networks that were bringing Moroccan hashish into the port of Málaga. In a two-day operation, Spain's Civil Guard arrested 50 people and confiscated a helicopter, cars, boats, cash and weapons, as well as 3.7 metric tons of hashish. Moroccan authorities cooperated in the investigation, according to a report on Morocco World News.

As Burma's opium wars continue despite the country's democratic opening, actvists are using the new political space to advocate for a more tolerant policy on poppy cultivation. At a Feb. 16 panel in Rangoon, the Drug Policy Advocacy Group (DPAG) issued a call for a reform of Burma’s drug laws, The Irrawady newspaper reports. "The 1993 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law focuses on punishment. But what then, after a drug user is given imprisonment?" asked DPAG coordinator Dr. Nang Pann Ei Kham. "The 1993 law is out of date, and what's more, is that it has not been a successful law [in terms of] drug elimination."