Global Ganja Report

The Manhattan US Attorney's office announced March 8 that it will not prosecute the NYPD officer who killed unarmed teen Ramarley Graham—almost four years to the day after he was slain by undercover officers who had chased him into his own apartment in The Bronx. No gun was found—just a small a bag of cannabis, which he was apparently trying to flush down the john. "After conducting a thorough and independent investigation, the US Attorney's Office has determined that there is insufficient evidence to meet the high burden of proof required for a federal criminal civil rights prosecution" of police officer Richard Haste, said a statement from Preet Bharara, federal prosecutor for New York's Southern District. "Accordingly, this office's investigation into Mr. Graham's death has been closed."

Colombia's Prosecutor General Alejandro Ordoñez on Feb. 29 formally opened an investigation into Gen. Rodolfo Palomino, the country's recently resigned National Police chief, over his alleged involvement in a gay prostitution ring being run within the force. The so-called "Comunidad del Anillo" (Community of the Ring) was exposed by a number of former cadets at the General Santander Police Academy in Bogotá, who said top police officials and congressmen used the sexual services of cadets. Both Palomino and vice-minister of the Interior Carlos Ferro Solanilla resigned last month as the Prosecutor General announced the impending investigation. One police captain who came forward claims he was drugged and raped by members of the ring.

Philly Voice reports that the Pennsylvania ACLU is planning to appeal following a decision last month by a federal court that a citizen has no First Amendment right to record police activity without a specific, critical reason for doing so. In the Feb. 19 decision, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled in Fields vs. City of Philadelphia that absent "any state purpose of being critical of the government," your freedom of speech is not applicable when recording the activities of police officers.

With the harvest season just weeks away, tensions are high in Burma's opium-producing Kachin state following a series of clashes between opium-growing peasants and a local citizen anti-drug movement. Pat Jasan, a patrol established two years ago by the Kachin Baptist Church, has been in repeated confrontations over the past weeks at Kachin's Waingmaw township. The most recent, on Feb. 25, resulted in at least 20 Pat Jasan followers wounded in gunfire and grenade blasts. The vigilantes were apparently set upon by a heavily-armed force while clearing poppy fields.

A mass shut-down of cannabis dispensaries in Big Sky Country is feared after a Feb. 25 ruling of the Montana Supreme Court. In a 6-1 decision, the high court upheld provisions of the state's restrictive medical marijuana law passed in 2011, finding them a "rational response" of the dramatic increase in users. The provisions limit providers to no more than three patients each, and impose other restrictions, incuding a ban on advertising. In one victory for the state's burgeoning cannabis industry, a provision that banned providers from receiving compensation was struck down. But the ruling was harshly assailed by the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, which brought the legal challenge. 

Judge Michael Phelan of the Vancouver Federal Court ruled Feb. 24 that medical marijuana patients have a constitutional right to grow their own cannabis, striking down a ban introduced by Canada's previous Conservative government under the 2013 "Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations." The case, brought by a group of British Columbia residents led by Neil Allard, invoked the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the right to not be deprived of life, liberty, security of the person "except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice." Judge Phelan agreed with the plaintiffs that "the access restrictions have not been proven to be in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice" and therefore infringed upon their constitutional rights. As the decision was announced, Kirk Tousaw, attorney representing the patients, tweeted: "Win!"

Australian police on Feb. 15 announced the seizure of 720 liters of liquid methamphetamine with an estimated street value of A$1 billion (about US$700 million)—hidden in gel bra inserts. The laundered bra shipment, which also included art supplies similarly used to hide the meth, were found in a storage unit in Sydney. Four were charged: three men from Hong Kong and a Chinese national. The joint operation involved the Federal Police, New South Wales police and Australian Border Force. "This has resulted in 3.6m individual hits of ice being taken off our streets," boasted NSW Justice Minister Michael Keenan. Officials said the operation began in December when Border Force examined a shipping container that had arrived from Hong Kong.

Pressure is increasing on Mexico to free imprisoned community activist Nestora Salgado since the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a ruling earlier this month that her imprisonment is illegal. The International Human Rights Clinic at Seattle University Law School had been pursuing her case before the Geneva-based panel for about two years. In the decision—reached in December, but only released Feb. 2—the five-member panel called her arrest arbitrary, and called on Mexico to immediately free and compensate her for the violation of her human rights. The panel found that she was arrested for her leadership of a local "community police" group, which is protected under Mexican law. Additionally, the panel charges that she was denied contact with her lawyers and family for almost year, and has been denied adequate medical care and access to clean water in prison. Finally, the finding charged that she was improperly arrested by the military, and her US passport was ignored. "In the first place, there is no doubt that the arrest and detention without charges is illegal and thus arbitrary," reads the finding. "Furthermore, the military arresting civilians for presumed crimes when national security is not at risk is worrying."