Global Ganja Report

Amnesty International has urged Singaporean authorities to immediately halt the execution of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, scheduled for Oct. 8. The Malaysian national has been on death row since 2017 for importing 51.84 grams of diamorphine (heroin) into Singapore. Condemning the practice of mandatory death penalties for drug-related offenses as well as "multiple layers of unfairness" in Pranthaman’s case, Amnesty deemed the case emblematic of the Singaporean justice system's violations of international legal standards.

Global executions rose dramatically in 2024, reaching 1,518 recorded deaths across 15 countries—the highest figure since 2015—Amnesty International said April 8 as it released its annual report on the use of the death penalty. The 48-page report, "Death Sentences and Executions 2024," found that Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia were responsible for 91% of known executions, with Iran alone accounting for nearly two-thirds.

In the big — and, in nearly half of US states now, successful — drive to legalize cannabis, two major arguments have been brought to bear. First, that public oversight of a legal industry will assure transparency and standards for quality. And secondly, that a taxed industry will be a boon to state and local economies.

But now a disturbing new study from an industry advocacy group in California indicates that the legal cannabis sector faces a challenge in the proliferation of ostensibly legal but in fact unregulated psychoactive “hemp” products.

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.

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:

Industrial-scale illicit cannabis grow operations are being raided by police in Southern Oregon. Licit-market prices are totally depressed in Oregon, yet the illicit market continues to be evidently lucrative. What explains this contradiction, and what can be done?

It's pretty surreal that even as a legal cannabis industry emerges on a global scale, there are still countries that impose outrageously draconian sentences for the herb—up to and including the death penalty.

The egregious case of a man sentenced to death for smuggling two pounds of cannabis into the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore has focused global attention on the disturbing reality.

Among the ambiguous areas in the state medical marijuana laws from coast to coast is the status of cannabis and its derivatives as veterinary medications. Now, a new non-profit has been launched to advocate for legal standards and clarity on the question.