Global Ganja Report

A former cancer patient and the husband of an elderly woman with serious health problems told a district judge in Montana June 20 of their concerns about whether they can still obtain medical cannabis if a new law takes effect July 1 to ban commercial growing operations in the state. The testimony came in the first day of hearings in a lawsuit filed by the Montana Cannabis Industry Association and others asking Judge James Reynolds to issue an injunction to stop the law from taking effect. 

The Colorado Board of Health on June 15 adopted new rules for the state's small-scale medical marijuana providers, over the objections of cannabis advocates who say the rules are too harsh. The rules require that caregivers—medical marijuana providers who by law must serve five or fewer patients—do more than just provide cannabis. They must now do something extra, such as help patients with shopping, cooking or getting to doctors' appointments. Medical marijuana advocates fear the added responsibilities will severely limit the number of caregivers, which today stands at 16,000 by official figures. (Denver Post, June 15; Sensible Colorado)

A "peace caravan" which has spent a week travelling through Mexico to protest against drug-related violence and the "war on drugs," crossed the border into the US at Juárez-El Paso on June 11. Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, who led the National Citizen Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, appealed for a similar citizen mobilization in the United States.

A court in Kuching, Malaysian Borneo, sentenced a 23-year-old postman to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the rattan cane on May 31 for cultivation of cannabis in his house. Zubairi Ismail was also guilty of possessing 2.17 grams cannabis, for which he was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment. Judge Nixon Kennedy Kumbong ordered the jail sentenced to run consecutively. Ismail was given the maximum penalty for the first offense possible under Malaysia's Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952. Zubairi appeared calm but his mother wept when the judgement was delivered. (Borneo Post, May 31)

A new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy finds that the "global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world," and calls upon governments to explore the legalization of cannabis and other controlled substances. "Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately, that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem and that the war on drugs has not and cannot be won," the report states.

The Dutch government on May 27 said it will start barring tourists from buying cannabis at coffee shops by the end of the year. Backed by the far-right party of anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders, the coalition government that came into power last year announced plans to restrict "drug tourism" as part of a nationwide "anti-crime" program. Under the new rules, only Dutch residents will be able to sign up as members of cannabis shops. "In order to tackle the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking, the open-door policy of coffee shops will end," the Dutch health and justice ministers wrote in a letter to the country's parliament. (Reuters, May 27)

Three medical marijuana bills were introduced in Congress May 25 with support from patient advocates. The most significant of the three bills is one introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), which would reclassify marijuana from its current status as a dangerous drug with no medical value. Another bill, introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), will allow banks and other financial institutions to provide services to medical marijuana businesses without being subject to "suspicious activity" reporting requirements. The third bill, introduced by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), changes the federal tax code "to allow a deduction for expenses in connection with the trade or business of selling marijuana intended for patients for medical purposes pursuant to State law."

A coalition of advocacy groups and patients filed suit in the DC Circuit Court on May 23 to compel the Obama administration to answer a nine-year-old petition to reclassify medical marijuana. The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC) has never received an answer to its 2002 petition, despite a formal recommendation in 2006 from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the final arbiter in the rescheduling process.