Global Ganja Report

The Amsterdam city council, backed by the tourist board and local campaigners, is opposing a new law proposed by the Dutch government that would ban foreigners from frequenting the city's cannabis-serving coffee shops by 2012. "If tourists are denied access to coffee shops, illegal sales and drug dealing on the streets of Amsterdam will increase," warned Mayor Eberhard van der Laan. "Amsterdam does not want to facilitate soft drug use by tourists, but to help those who wish to use drugs to do so as responsibly as possible."

The Dutch government on May 27 said it will start barring tourists from buying cannabis at coffee shops by the end of the year. Backed by the far-right party of anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders, the coalition government that came into power last year announced plans to restrict "drug tourism" as part of a nationwide "anti-crime" program. Under the new rules, only Dutch residents will be able to sign up as members of cannabis shops. "In order to tackle the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking, the open-door policy of coffee shops will end," the Dutch health and justice ministers wrote in a letter to the country's parliament. (Reuters, May 27)

Dr. Jean Colombera, Green party deputy in Luxembourg, has launched a campaign to legalize cannabis in the European statelet after discovering that it can be used to treat tumors. Colombera, a well-known supporter of medicinal cannabis, said that his research team can demonstrate that an extract from a non-psychoactive variety grown in Luxembourg helps to dissolve brain tumor cells.

The new Dutch government, which took office last month, has unveiled a policy to limit the sale of cannabis to Netherlands residents. "No tourist attractions. We don't like that," the new security minister, Ivo Opstelten, told public broadcaster NOS. "The heart of the problem is crime and disturbances surrounding the sale. We have to go back to what it was meant for: local use for those who would like it."

Some 30,000 Dutch households have started receiving cannabis-scented scratchcards in an effort to uncover illegal plantations. Authorities in Rotterdam and The Hague say they are distributing the cards to help citizens recognize what cannabis plants smell like. The cards also include a telephone number to report suspected cannabis growing. (BBC News, Nov. 11)

Children are being trafficked into the UK to work in so-called "cannabis factories," according to a new police report. The "factories" are typically located in private houses, but sometimes in agricultural and commercial properties. A study for the Association of Chief Police Officers has found children are being used to tend crops, to illegally divert electricity for the factories, and to break into rival sites.

Viktor Ivanov, head of Russia's Federal Drug Control Service, speaking before the State Duma June 30, said Moscow should re-criminalize drug use, confiscate land used for cannabis cultivation, and close the Central Asian border in order to combat trafficking.

A new drug made from cannabis has been licensed in the UK. Sativex, a tincture of extracts from the plant, is sprayed under the tongue up to 12 times a day, as a treatment for the stiffness and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. The Home Office has rated it as having zero abuse potential. Britain is the first country to give the drug full regulatory approval, although Canada gave Sativex a limited license to treat neuropathic pain in 2005. It is made from plants grown at a secret location in southern England by GW Pharmaceuticals, whose shares have risen 60% in the last six months in anticipation of the new product.