Global Ganja Report

New York's most famous street musician, David Peel, passed away April 6 at the age of 73. Peel suffered a massive heart attack and went into cardiac arrest on March 31. He was being treated in the ICU unit at the VA Hospital in Manhattan. Friends gathered to pay respects to the singer, who lit up the Lower East Side with his humorous protest tunes since the late '60s.

The group High NY, "New York's Cannabis Community," hosted an event on "How to Apply Your Skills in the Cannabis Industry" at a Lower Manhattan venue the evening of March 22, featuring speakers with background in the biz from California, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Unlike these three polities, New York state has not legalized. But organizers took heart that on that very same day as their meet-up, chronic pain was added to the qualifying conditions under the Empire State's burgeoning if still limited medical marijuana program.

The number of drug-related offenses is "higher than any other heinous crime in Nepal and is increasing at an alarming rate," according a none-too-objective March 17 account in Kathmandu's The Himalayan newspaper. The article credulously regurgitates the claims of a new report from the country's Narcotics Control Bureau, breaking down crime figures since 2011. The total for drug offenses rises to around 1,800, while those for murder and rape remain in the hudreds, and abduction in the two-digit range. And what kinds of drugs are at issue here? We are luridly told that "cultivation of genetically selected strains have [sic] led to increase in cannabis harvests. As a result, cannabis cultivation is increasing even in the hilly areas, posing a grave threat to security, according to the report."

A military court in the Gaza Strip has sentenced two men to death after they were found guilty of drug dealing, the independent Palestinian media outlet Ma'an News Agency reported March 19. At a press conference in Gaza City, a representative of the Strip's Interior Ministry—controlled by the Hamas movement—said that the first "convict," an officer in the Palestinian Authority security service, was sentenced to death by firing squad for possession of 40 boxes of the synthetic opiate Tramadol. The second, also Palestinian and described as a "fugitive on the run," was sentenced to death by hanging after he was allegedly caught with a bag containing "a large quantity" of Tramadol, cannabis, and opium. Both are accused of bringing the substances in from across the border with Egypt.

Conservative enemies of Colombia's peace process are dealt some handsome propaganda assistance by the fact that as the long civil war with the FARC guerillas has wound down, coca leaf production in the country has been soaring. Fears were enflamed by a March 12 Wall Street Journal report quoting US State Department officials to the effect that Colombia now has an unprecedented 180,000 hectares under coca cultivation, with the supposed potential to produce an annual 700 tons cocaine. The figures, said to be officially released by the State Department in the coming days, are double those for 2013. (El Tiempo, March 13; Semana, March 4)

Canada's prince and princess of pot, activist-entrepreneurs Marc and Jodie Emery, have been charged with multiple trafficking-related counts, following the March 9 raids on their Cannabis Culture outlets in Vancouver, Toronto and Hamilton, Ont. CBC News reports that the duo face multiple charges including drug trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking and conspiracy. Jodie Emery reacted to the busts by calling out the Trudeau government for hypocrisy. She told Canada's Global News: "If this is legalization, then Justin Trudeau lied to the Canadian people. This is a new form of prohibition." Urging Candians to call Prime Minister Trudeau and "ask why we're seeing more people being harmed under our so-called legalization than we ever saw under [ex-PM] Stephen Harper's anti-marijuana poicies."

Police carried out raids on several Cannabis Culture outlets across Canada March 9, one day after the dispensary chain's founders, Marc and Jodie Emery, were arrested. As of press time, five Cannabis Culture locations have been raided in Toronto, and one in Hamilton, Ont., as well as the flagship location in Vancouver, BC. Canada's self-described "Prince of Pot" and his wife were taken into custody at Toronto's Pearson International Airport as they were about to depart for the cannabis expo Spannabis in Barcelona, the Vancouver Sun reports.

Israel's cabinet on March 4 approved a proposed measure to decriminalize recreational use of cannabis, allowing it to go to a vote in the country's parliament, the Knesset. If it passes there, as is expected, first-time cannabis offenders will face a fine of 1,000 shekels ($270), but criminal charges will only be brought on a fourth offense. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who led the reform effort, said that "the government's approval is an important step on the way to implement the new policy, which will emphasize public information and treatment instead of criminal enforcement."