Global Ganja Report

Nineteen officers of Colombia's National Police force have been arrested this week in Medellín, the latest busts in an ongoing sweep of corrupt officers. Another 27 were arrested along with the officers, accused of being their handlers for criminal bosses. The targetted officers, associated with the downtown Candelaria police station, are accused of collaborating with Los Urabeños narco-paramilitary gang. Prosecutors say the officers were paid to turn a blind eye to criminal activity in the plazas of downtown Medellín, and to provide tip-offs on planned raids. The arrests come under the National Police force's new "Transparency Plan." National Police commander Rodolfo Palomino tweeted:  "They deserve to be treated like Judas, public officials of any institution that are thrown into the maw of corruption." Last month, 25 National Police agents were arrested in the crackdown nationwide. (Colombia Reports, Dec. 4; Colomba Reports, Nov. 20)

US representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), along with ten bipartisan co-sponsors introduced, the Veterans Equal Access Act (VEAA) Nov. 20, to allow our country's veterans to become medical marijuana patients in states where it's legal. The VEAA would allow Veterans Affairs (VA) physicians to recommend medical marijuana to their patients, a right enjoyed by physicians outside of the VA system. "Post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury are just as damaging and harmful as any injuries that are visible from the outside," said Blumenauer, the bill's author. "Sometimes even more so because of the devastating effect they can have on a veteran's family. We should be allowing these wounded warriors access to the medicine that will help them survive and thrive, including medical marijuana, not treating them like criminals and forcing them into the shadows. It's shameful."

On Nov. 20, the anniversary of Mexico's 1910 revolution, tens of thousands of protesters filled the streets of downtown Mexico City in a massive demonstration of public anger over government corruption and the abduction of 43 college students at Iguala in southern Guerrero state. The marchers converged from three directions on the capital's enormous central plaza, the Zócalo, where President Enrique Peña Nieto was burned in effigy and clashes erupted. Some protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at police in the plaza. Similar clashes were reported near Mexico City's airport. The march was part of a national mobilization. Three caravans, led by family members of the missing students, travelled throughout the country before uniting in the capital for the march on the Zócalo. In southern Chiapas state, the caravan met with leaders of the Zapatista rebel movement, which issued a statement in support of the protesters. At an earlier march on the Zócalo Nov. 9, protesters managed to burn down the door of the National Palace.  A general strike has been called across Mexico.

Following the passage of cannabis legalization measures in Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia on election day, the chief of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Nov. 12 issued his requisite scolding. UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov told reporters, "I don't see how [the new laws] can be compatible with existing conventions." He added that he plans to address the issue with the US State Department and other UN agencies. He admitted that the legalization measures are part of a global trend that the UNODC is monitoring. (Jurist, Reuters, Nov. 12)

The latest government stats for marijuana arrests show a 9% dip from the previous year. There were 693,481 pot arrests in 2013—88% for possession; 12% for sales and manufacturing. The overall arrest figure dropped just 1%. There were 749,825 pot arrests in 2012, 757,969 in 2011 and 853,638 in 2010. Of the 1.5 million drug arrests in 2013, nearly half (46%) were for cannabis. Drug arrests accounted for 13% of all arrests (11.3 million). Other leading offenses are property crime (1.5 million), larceny (1.2 million) and DUI (1.1 million).

A harrowing report on National Public Radio Nov. 9 points to the possibility that the crackdown on favela gangs in the prelude to this year's contentious Brazil World Cup may have actually been a police extermination campaign of favela youth. On June 11—one day before the World Cup opened—two officers of the Military Police picked up three Black teenagers in Rio de Janeiro's Zona Norte. The three hadn't committed any crime, although they did have a history of petty offenses. The officers drove them up to the wooded hills of the Morro do Sumaré area, above the city. One was shot in the head and killed. One was shot in the leg and the back and left for dead. Another escaped. We know what happened because the officers left their patrol car cameras on, and the videos appeared on Brazil's Globo TV.  One officer taunts the youths: "We haven't even started beating you yet and you are already crying? Stop crying! You are crying too much! Be a man!" The officers are then heard saying "Gotta kill the three of them." And finally: "Two less. If we do this every week, we can reduce their number. We can reach the goal." The "goal" was apparently a crime-reduction target ahead of the World Cup.

In the Nov. 4 elections, voters in Washington DC approved Initiative 71, a legalization measure allowing residents to grow up to six plants at home and possess up to two ounces. The victory portends a showdown with Congress, as the Republicans will now control both houses. Oregon approved Measure 91, a legalization measure giving regulatory control to the state liquor control agency and allowing Oregon citizens to grow up to four plants. We continue to await word on a legalization measure in Alaska. A medical marijuana measure in Florida was defeated. Guam became the first US territory to pass a medical marijuana measure. (Reuters, NPR, Smell The Truth)

Uruguay started registering cannabis growers' clubs at the end of October. Under the plan, licensed clubs of up to 45 members will be allowed to grow a maximum of 99 plants annually, with  each club member permitted to produce up to 480 grams per year. This is an advance on the regulation approved in August, allowing personal cultivation of up to six plants. (BBC News, Oct. 31) And the private sector may get on board next. The government's Institute for Control and Regulation of Cannabis (IRCCA) reports that 22 private companies—10 of them foreign-based—have expressed interest in producing or distributing cannabis in the small South American nation. (TeleSUR, Aug. 28)