Europe

Germany passes legislation allowing production and consumption of cannabis

Posted on February 27th, 2024 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , .

leafGermany’s parliament, the Bundestag, passed a bill Feb. 23 legalizing the regulated production and  consumption of cannabis. The legislation was brought by the federal government, led by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the center-right Free Democratic Party (FDP), and the ecologist Greens party. In a roll-call vote, 407 MPs supported the law, 226 opposed it, and four abstained. The legislation faced opposition from the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and affiliated Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) as well as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). 

The Curaleaf controversies: Russian-lubricated sleaze in US cannabis industry

Kremlin
Small producers have long been wary of the cannabis industry coming under domination by multi-state operators with the worst practices of corporate America. But the revelations of Russian oligarch money in the coffers of leading MSO Curaleaf appear to vindicate even the most cynical observers. These follow a slew of controversies concerning product safety and labor rights at the company.

Cannabis and climate change: challenge for an emerging crop

Planet WatchSome of the key cannabis cultivation zones around the world are also those feeling the earliest and harshest impacts of the impending global climate disaster. How can the global cannabis community respond?

Brittney Griner gets her day in court —amid geopolitical intrigue

Posted on June 30th, 2022 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

Brittney GrinerUS Olympic gold-medalist Brittney Griner, held in a Russian jail since February, is finally going before a judge. But the trial is looking more and more like a political show.

The odds for justice in Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian Russia are already slim—and especially, we may assume, for a dreadlocked African American icon of the international LGBTQ community. But the war in Ukraine and the geopolitical rivalry between Moscow and Washington are now explicitly at play in the case of Brittney Griner.

Brittney Griner: celebrity cannabis bust to become Putin's geopolitical pawn?

Posted on March 10th, 2022 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , .

Brittney GrinerUS basketball star, Olympic gold-medalist and LGBTQ icon Brittney Griner was popped at the Moscow airport, supposedly in possession of cannabis oil. She faces up to 10 years—and given the anti-cannabis, anti-gay and anti-American atmosphere in Russia, things are not looking good for her. Will she be used as a bargaining chip to exact concessions from the US in the war for Ukraine?

Cannabis & counterculture in Ukraine: threatened by Russian aggression

Posted on February 21st, 2022 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

UkraineUkraine has been suddenly thrust upon the center of the world stage, as Russia pours forces over the border in defiance of the West. In the atmosphere of militarization, space for cannabis and alternative culture is likely to close in both countries—but at least such space had been, slowly and tentatively, opening in Ukraine. Russia, pursuing an aggressive drug-war police state at home, may now be poised to impose its cultural-conservative agenda and roll back the recent gains in its smaller neighbor.

Malta becomes first European country to legalize cannabis

Posted on December 19th, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , .

MaltaThe Mediterranean island nation of Malta has become the first European Union member state to legalize cannabis. It's a seemingly unlikely candidate, and the country's powerful conservative bloc is still trying last-minute maneuvers to prevent the law from taking effect. But if Malta can pull it off, is the rest of Europe far behind?

German company in talks for cannabis concession in Afghanistan

Posted on December 12th, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , .

AfghanistanThe widely denied media reports turned out to be true, even if not all the details were correct. Cannabis Now can confirm that the new regime in Afghanistan is in talks with a foreign company to establish legal cannabis production for the export market.

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