Global Ganja Report

Attorney General Jeff Sessions' newly announced Religious Liberty Task Force has progressives fearing the worst. But might it open political space to argue for a right to sacramental use of cannabis?

A parliamentary initiative has been launched to legalize medical marijuana cultivation in fabled hashish producer Lebanon, amid growing proposals for a general legalization of cannabis. But many growers in the Bekaa Valley are watching warily, fearing they will be left behind as foreign capital flows in for a legal industry.

The Oklahoma Board of Health has issued new rules to oversee the state's medical marijuana program, and advocates are relieved that the ban on smokable herbaceous cannabis has been removed. However, concerns remain about other restrictions that could make it essentially impossible for cannabis business to function in the state.

Israel's Knesset overwhelmingly passed a cannabis decriminalization measure—sponsored by the ruling conservative government. This fruit of a long campaign by activists is, however, tentative. The law is set to expire in three years, pending a review of the policy's impacts.

Compassionate care—providing medical marijuana to the ill—was what first opened legal space for cannabis in California a generation ago. But the state's Adult Use of Marijuana Act only regulates commercial businesses—leaving caregivers in legal limbo.

The election of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador—known by his initials AMLO—as Mexico's next president is being hailed as historic, marking the first time a candidate of the left has had his victory honored. He is pledging a new, demilitarized approach to ending the endemic narco-violence. And his newly named interior minister is a vocal supporter of cannabis legalization. Will a day-lightened cannabis sector provide a way out of Mexico's long crisis?

In another sign of turning tides, a prestigious British think-tank once beloved of Margaret Thatcher has called on the government to legalize cannabis. The breakthrough report finds that a legal cannabis industry could raise £1 billion per year in tax revenues for the United Kingdom, while undercutting the black market.

With Canada now joining Uruguay as the second country to legalize cannabis at the national level, industry eyes are scanning the world map for which could be the likely third. Latin America may provide the candidate, as even UN experts now urge the region's governments to consider legalization as a way out of the endemic narco-violence. But pressure for legal cannabis is fast mounting in several European countries as well. Legalization may soon be on the legislative agenda in Australia, while New Zealand has promised to put the questions before the voters.