Global Ganja Report

The Supreme Court of Brazil ruled June 25 to decriminalize possession of cannabis for personal use. The judges are yet to rule on the maximum quantity that may be considered for "personal use," and are yet to determine when the decision will take effect. The judges also ruled to order allocation of funds from the National Anti-Drug Fund to youth educational campaigns on the harms of drug use.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on May 28 signed into law the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act (CfPPA), codifying the personal use of cannabis by adults. The new law removes cannabis from the federal Drugs & Drug Trafficking Act and recognizes the rights of adults to possess and grow personal-use quantities of cannabis in private.

In the ultimate imprimatur of mainstream acceptance, the 10th annual Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo was held June 5-6 in Manhattan’s Javits Convention Center, the Big Apple’s premier venue for trade shows and industry confabs. And the event had the open participation of New York city and state government agencies, as well as capitalist enterprises from around the country and the planet.

The attempted coup d'etat in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may or may not have been assisted by the CIA, but one of the Americans arrested in the affair is named as a "cannabis entrepreneur" —pointing to the possibility of legal cannabis playing the same destructive role in Central Africa that bananas have played in Central America. Yet while corporate power sees a lucrative new cash crop, lives (and especially Black lives) are still being ruined by cannabis prohibition in the United States. In Episode 228 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg argues that the old anarchist slogan "Neither your war nor your peace" can be updated as "Neither your prohibition nor your legalization!"

Israel is an emerging player in the international cannabis market, and the industry is embraced by pillars of the country’s political establishment. But every aspect of Israeli society as been impacted by the horrific events of last October 7, and the ensuing war. The cannabis sector has been no exception.

Legalization in states across the country has led to a reassessment of the word "marijuana." Is it a dated term with racist roots? Many advocates seem to think so. I'm not one of them. Now, Cannabis vs Marijuana: Language, Landscape and Context, a new book by David Paleschuck, dives into the debate. It's a polemic with just one point of view on the cannabis vs. marijuana subject. In the intro, he writes:

The Canadian province of British Columbia changed its drug policy dramatically in January 2023 in an effort to address its dire opioid crisis. New Democratic Party provincial leaders decriminalized possession and public use of drugs including fentanyl and heroin. But now, after pressure from law enforcement and a backlash from the opposition Conservatives, BC is reversing course, and making public use of drugs illegal again. Personal possession will remain decriminalized, for now.