Marijuana Law Reform Beyond America’s Borders

While America’s public support for domestic prohibition of marijuana appears increasingly waning, quantifying the types of marijuana law reforms internationally could constitute a full time job for the eager.

This day’s news alone from overseas about cannabis law reforms strongly suggests that the contagion to end pot prohibition is hardly an America-only phenomena:

Israel – The country’s deputy health minister announced today that medical cannabis will be made available for retail access via commercial pharmacies.

Italy – Cannabis law reform group in Italy claims 250 out of 945 members of Italian Parliament support ending pot prohibition, which is a little more than twenty-five percent of the country’s elected policymakers. Drafted by the Intergrupo Parlamentare Cannabis Legale, the legislation would allow anyone over the age of 18 to cultivate as many as five plants at home. Italians could also team up to form a “cannabis social club,” with each having a maximum of 50 people growing as many as 250 plants.

Surveys in Italy indicate that nearly eighty percent of citizens support the country adopting marijuana laws similar to American states Colorado and Washington.

United Kingdom – A twenty-five year old economics student in the United Kingdom has forced the hand of parliament to debate the issue of marijuana legalization by submitting a petition with over one hundred thousand signatures.

Australia’s Queensland – Joining New South Wales, the Australian state of Queensland took steps to formalize a system by which qualified medical patients can access cannabis products via a series of research trials.

Portugal – California’s Press Enterprise’s editorial board reminds all that the week marks the fourteenth anniversary of the first nation, Portugal, to entirely decriminalize drug use and possession, which is serving as a ‘harm reduction’ model for numerous countries.

End Criminal Sanctions For Growing And Possessing Cannabis, British Study Says

Possessing and cultivating personal use amounts of cannabis should no longer be a criminal offense, according to the recommendations of a six-year study released last week by a coalition of leading British drug policy experts, treatment specialists, and law enforcement.

The study, commissioned by the UK Drug Policy Commission, argues that decriminalizing minor cannabis offenses will reduce police and prosecutorial costs without adversely impacting levels of illicit drug use. The UK Drug Policy Commission is an independent charity “that provides objective analysis of the evidence concerning drug policies and practice.”

According to the study, criminal penalties for cannabis “could be replaced with simple civil penalties, such as a fine, perhaps a referral to a drug awareness session run by a public health body, or if there was a demonstrable need, to a drug treatment program. … These changes could potentially result in less demand on police and criminal justice time and resources. Given the experience of other countries, our assessment is that we do not believe this would materially alter the levels of use, while allowing resources to be spent on more cost-effective measures to reduce harm associated with drug use. … We would expect the net effect to be positive.”

Although the study’s authors do not recommend the removal of “criminal penalties for the major production or supply offenses of most [illicit] drugs,” they acknowledge that such non-criminal approaches ought to be considered for cannabis, concluding: “[F]or the most ubiquitous drug, cannabis, it is worth considering whether there are alternative approaches which might be more effective at reducing harm. For example, there is an argument that amending the law relating to the growing of it, at least for personal use, might go some way to undermining the commercialization of production, with associated involvement of organized crime. … Perhaps the most expedient course to take here would be to re-examine sentence levels and sentencing practice to ensure that those growing below a certain low volume of plants face no – or only minimal – sanctions.”

The Drug Policy Commission’s final report is the first major, independent review of British drug policy since a 1999 report commissioned by the Police Foundation, which similarly recommended decriminalizing cannabis. Following the publication of that report, British lawmakers in 2004 temporarily downgraded cannabis from a Class B to a Class C ‘soft’ drug. Lawmakers reclassified cannabis as a Class B illicit substance in early 2009. Nevertheless, British police typically issue warnings to minor cannabis offenders in lieu of making criminal arrests.

Full text of the UK Drug Policy Commission’s final report is available online here.

Hope For Industrial Hemp? Group Of Senators Seeking Legislative Sanity

According to Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill, a group of bipartisan Senators, led by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (D), have filed legislation seeking to exempt industrial hemp (which, in effect, is very low potent cannabis) from the Controlled Substances Act (which, concerning cannabis specifically, is largely directed at prohibiting recreational and therapeutic use of the herb).

Update: You can help advocate for this bill’s passage here.

One of the most indefensible aspects of modern Cannabis Prohibition is the federal government’s continued opposition to allowing American farmers and consumers benefit from a domestic industrial hemp industry, when, ridiculously, other free market and democratic countries who also maintain user prohibitions on cannabis—countries like the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and notably Canada—allow their farmers to legally cultivate industrial cannabis. This inherently places American farmers and agriculture at a competitive disadvantage and American consumers paying higher costs for imported raw and finished hemp products.

Senator Wyden tells The Hill:

“I firmly believe that American farmers should not be denied an opportunity to grow and sell a legitimate crop simply because it  resembles an illegal one,” Wyden said. “Raising this issue has sparked  a growing awareness of exactly how ridiculous the U.S.’s ban on  industrial hemp is. I’m confident that if grassroots support continues to grow and Members of Congress continue to hear from voters then common sense hemp legislation can move through Congress in the near  
future.”

Read more here.

To learn everything you need to know about hemp and efforts to reform America’s antiquated industrial hemp laws, please check out our hempen friends:

VoteHemp.org

TheHIA.org

United Kingdom Approves Marijuana Spray As Medicine

[Editor’s note: This post is excerpted from this today’s forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To have NORML’s media advisories delivered straight to your in-box, sign up for NORML’s free e-zine here.]

British health regulators have approved the sale and marketing of Sativex, an oral spray consisting of natural cannabis extracts (primarily the plant cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol aka CBD) as a treatment for symptoms of multiple sclerosis. (MS)

The spray, which has been legally available to patients in Canada since 2005, went on sale in Britain on Monday. The drug will be marketed in the United Kingdom by the Bayer Corporation which estimates that Sativex will cost the country’s state-run National Health Service roughly £11, or about $16, a day for each patient.

Commenting on the drug’s regulatory approval, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “The approval of Sativex in the UK is newsworthy though hardly surprising, as the scientific evidence in support of marijuana’s medical safety and utility has been available for decades. However, the bigger question still remains. That is: ‘How can the US government continue to promote a policy that calls for the arrest and prosecution of patients who use a substance that fourteen states and much of the rest of the western world now acknowledges as a safe and legitimate medicine?’”

In clinical trials, Sativex has been demonstrated to reduce MS-associated spasticity, pain, and incontinence. Long-term investigational trials indicate that consistent use of the cannabis-based medicine may also slow the progression of the disease.

Surveys from the UK and elsewhere indicate that MS patients often report using cannabis therapeutically, with one study reporting that some four out of ten patients with the disease find relief from marijuana.

GW Pharmaceuticals, makers of the Sativex, is expected later this year to seek separate regulatory approval for the spray in Spain, France, Germany, and Italy.

In 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized recruitment for the first-ever North American clinical trial of Sativex for cancer pain treatment. A Phase III trial is anticipated to begin the US later this year.

Upcoming Marijuana March Reaches Goal Of 300 Cities Worldwide

NORML hails the passage of another milestone for the Global Marijuana March with Georgetown, Guyana and Ryebrook, NY, as the 299th and 300th cities convening a march, rally, forum or benefit for the reform of cannabis laws on the weekends of Saturday May 1st and May 8th. NORML and numerous other reform groups called for more cities this year to participate so that organizers could meet and surpass their stated goal of more than 200 cities.

Worldwide action is necessary for any outright legalization, since cannabis is largely prohibited globally by a United Nations treaty known as the Single Convention, enacted in 1962 through the efforts of top anti-cannabis zealot Harry Anslinger, the original instigator of U.S. cannabis prohibition in 1937. The U.S. Justice Dept. has cited the UN treaty as one of its principle arguments against medical cannabis rhetorically and Supreme Court cases.

Local NORML chapters are responsible for almost 40 of the protests in the U.S., New Zealand NORML is doing several cities; Norway “NORMAL” is not only marching in Oslo– they’re doing an international website at www.globalmarijuanamarch.com.

NORML welcomes the participation of pro-reform advocates of all stripes. Of course, we’d like you to join NORML, but this is an ecumenical effort to legalize cannabis once and for all. The important thing is to get more cities to participate before next weekend.

There’s still a few more days to call 212-677-7180 or email cnw@cures-not-wars.org to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.

The Global Marijuana March has events planned in almost every time zone on six continents, including most of the capitols of Europe and South America. Many cities are already signing up for May 7, 2011.

NORML congratulates Cures-not-Wars and worldwide participants for organizing no less than a global march in favor of ending the expensive and failed prohibition of cannabis for responsible adult use. Contact your local and regional media outlets to make sure they cover this global day of protest as a major media event because this many citizens, in over 300 cities worldwide protesting their own governments is by definition a major media event.

Call 212-677-7180 or check the city-by-city listing to get specific information about your region’s march and/or to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.

Is your city on this huge list?

Abbotsford
Aberdeen
Albany
Albuquerque
Alicante
Alva
Amherst
Amsterdam
Anchorage
Ann Arbor

Arcadia
Athens
Atlanta
Auckland
Aurillac
Austin
Bakersfield
Bangor University
Barcelona
Basel
Belfast
Bellingham
Belmar
Belo Horizonte
Benton Harbor
Berlin
Bermuda
Berne
Bilbao
Binghamton

Birmingham
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Boulder
Bozeman
Braga
Brasilia
Bridgeton
Brighton

Bristol
Brussels
Budapest
Buenos Aires
Buffalo
Bullhead City
Burlington
Cadiz
Calgary
Cali

Canfield
Cardiff
Cebu City
Champaign-Urbana
Charleston
Charlotte
Charlottesville
Chelyabinsk
Chicago
Chico

Chisinau
Christchurch
Cincinnati
Clemson
Cleveland
Coimbra
Colorado Springs
Columbia
Columbia Falls
Columbus

Comodoro Rivadavia
Concord
Constanta
Copenhagen
Cordoba
Cork
Corpus Christi
Corvallis
Dallas
Denver

Des Moines
Detroit
Dinuba
Dnepropetrovsk
Dover
Duluth
Dunedin
Durban
Edmonton
Elkins

Enid
Eugene
Fayetteville
Flagstaff
Flint
Florianopolis
Fontana
Frankfurt
Fresno
Ft. Bragg

Ft. Collins
Ft. Erie
Ft. Lauderdale
Ft. Meyers
Gainesville
Garberville
Georgetown
Glasgow
Grand Junction
Grand Rapids

Great Falls
Green Bay
Greenville
Hachita
Halifax
Hamilton
Hammond
Hartford
Helena
Helsinki

Hilo
Holland
Homer
Independence
Indianapolis
Istanbul
Jacksonville
Jakarta
Jerusalem
João Pessoa

Johannesburg
Kalamazoo
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kansas City
Katmandu
Kiev
Kokomo
Lake Isabella
La Laguna
Lansing

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Vegas
Lawton
Leek
Lefkosia-Nicosia
Leicester
Lethbridge
Lexington
Lima
Lincoln

Lisboa
Little Rock
London
Longview
Los Angeles
Lyon
Madison
Madrid
Manchester
Manila

Mar del Plata
McAllen
Medford
Medicine Hat
Memphis
Mérida
Mexico City
Miami
Miamitown
Milwaukee

Minneapolis
Missoula
Montevideo
Monterey
Montreal
Montrose
Moscow
Nashville
Nelson
Netanya

Newark
New Brunswick
New Orleans
New York
Nimbin
Nottingham
Odessa
Ogden
Oklahoma City
Olympia

Omaha
Orange
Orlando
Osaka
Oslo
Ottawa
Paducah
Paia
Palm Springs
Paris

Parker
Penticton
Peoria
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pineville
Pittsburg
Pittsburgh
Portland
Portland

Porto
Porto Alegre
Port of Spain
Potsdam
Prague
Pretoria
Prince George
Pueblo
Quincy
Raleigh

Red Deer
Redding
Regina
Rice Lake
Richmond
Riverside
Rome
Rosario
Rostock
Ryebrook

Sacramento
Salem
Salt Lake City
Salvador
San Diego
San Francisco
San Juan
Santa Barbara
Sao Paulo
Sapporo

Sarasota
Sarnia
Saskatoon
Savannah
Seattle
Sevilla
Simferopol
Sofia
South Bend
Southhampton

Spokane
Spokane Valley
Springfield
Stavanger
Steamboat Springs
St. Louis
St. Petersburg
Stuttgart
Susanville
Tacoma

Tampa
Tampere
Taos
Ternopil
Thessaloniki
Thunder Bay
Tokyo
Toledo
Topeka
Toronto

Traverse City
Tucson
Tulsa
Turku
Ukiah
Uniontown
Ushuaia
Valencia
Vancouver
Vero Beach

Vienna
Vigo
Vilnius
Virginia Beach
Visalia
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Waco
Warsaw
Warwick
Washington, D.C.

Wellington
West Kelowna
Whitehall
Wichita
Wilmington
Wilmington
Woodstock
Worland
Yakima
Zaragoza

NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves addresses over 100,000 at Seattle Hempfest

Call 212-677-7180 or email cnw@cures-not-wars.org to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.