Global Ganja Report

The Balkan country of Albania, trying to live down its pariah status as Europe's top cannabis producer, has cracked down hard in recent years, sparking instances of armed resistance from peasant growers. But despite repeated declarations that the country is "marijuana-free," the issue won't go away—and is coming to the fore once again as Albania seeks to join the European Union. The latest to lecture Albanian leaders is US ambassador Donald Lu, who this month warned that the country's criminal networks remain intact.

The wildfires devastating Northern California are obviously taking their toll on this year's cannabis harvest. And this in the critical countdown to legalization, which takes effect in Golden State in January. This even won coverage in the New York Times Oct. 13. The paper cited Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Association, saying that at least seven cannabis farms had been destroyed, and that he expected the number to "increase significantly" as people return to their homes.

A cannabis "shatter" production lab in England's North East, said to be the first of its kind in the post-industrial region, was busted Oct. 12 in a paramilitary-style raid by the Northumbria Police. Local media show a squad of cops in full body armor breaking down the door and smashing the windows of a local property with buzz-saws, battering rams and pick-axes. Two arrests were made in the raid on the Croft Estate housing project in the town of Gateshead, just across the River Tyne from the historic city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. An unspecified number of plants as well as butane and other equipment were seized.

Both the absurdity of the war on drugs and the depravity of the current administration in Washington are illustrated by the maddening case of Alvin Queen, an internationally acclaimed jazz drummer who was denied entry to the US due to a minor drug arrest when he was still a teen—despite the fact that he was born in the country!

As Canada prepares to legalize cannabis next year, the country has seen several recent conferences and expositions on how industry and society will manage the transition. The latest, the Grow Up Conference and Expo, opens Oct. 6 at the Niagara Falls Scotiabank Convention Centre in Ontario, and will feature over 100 speakers from a variety of specialties, including doctors and lawyers—with a focus on cultivation.

The dilemma now faced by several US states concerning whether "medical marijuana" need include actual herbaceous cannabis is about to hit the South American nation of Peru. Law 982/2016 is advancing through the country's Congress, and is headed for an imminent floor vote. The push for the new law was launched after a police raid in Lima earlier this year on a collective known as Buscando Esperanza (Seeking Hope)—made up mostly of mothers who were producing cannabis oils for their offspring suffering from cancer, epilepsy and the like. The bill cleared the congressional Defense Committee, that concerned with internal security, in mid-September.

Following a favorable court ruling earlier this year, cannabis advocates and growers are making a big push for a legal industry in South Africa. A first regional industry meeting was held Sept. 20 at Cato Ridge outside the port city of Durban, bringing together producers under the banner of the Cannabis Development Council of South Africa.

The networking group CannaGather held its fifth confab at lower Manhattan's Galvanize venue Sept. 28, bringing together some 200 entrepreneurs, investors, press and activists from throughout the New York metropolitan area. Inspired by the New York tech industry meet-ups of the dot-com boom in the late '90s, CannaGather hopes to similarly connect people in a burgeoning industry and help spur its growth.