Global Ganja Report

Egyptian activist attorney Nasser Amin is challenging a law that calls for writers to be imprisoned for words that violate the country's "morals." The challenge comes in the trial of novelist Ahmed Naji, who could face two years in prison and a fine of nearly $1,300 for his work The Use of Life—because of its explicit sex scene and numerous references to hashish use. Amin argues that the law violates the Egyptian constitution, which only permits such punishment for published materials that are defamatory or encourage violence or discrimination.

Will the Bluegrass State beat the Golden State as the next to follow in the happy footsteps of Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska by legalizing cannabis for recreational as well as medical use? WHAS11 in Louisville reported Dec. 11 that state Sen. Perry B. Clark (D-Louisville) pre-filed an act to legalize and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to how the state handles alcohol. The bill would repeal Kentucky's prohibition on cannabis cultivation, possession and sale. Instated in its place would be a "regulatory framework designed to promote public safety and responsible cannabis consumption by persons over 21 years of age."

San Francisco's Examiner reports Dec. 14 that city authorities, in anticipation that California voters will legalize recreational cannabis use next year, are assembling a body to propose regulations for the industry. The newly created Cannabis State Legalization Task Force. The body will advise the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Last week, the board's Rules Committee selected 11 people to serve on the body, with three more seats still to be filled. One of the appointees is Erich Pearson, founder of SPARC, one of San Francisco's biggest dispensaries. "We need to determine how many cannabis users we are going to have in San Francisco and how many stores that's going to take to distribute that cannabis once it's legal," he told the Examiner.

Pakistan's Anti-Narcotic Force (ANF) on Nov. 20 announced the latest in a string of of mega-scale hashish busts in recent months. A 4.2-ton haul was reported from a "desolate site" near the mountain village of Tehsil Gulistan, in Qilla Abdullah district of Balochistan province. Authorities said the mega-stash had been deposited along with a smaller quantity of heroin in a hidden spot behind bushes for traffickers to collect for export. (Pakistan Today)

Trying to live down its reputation as Europe's top pot producer, Albania two months ago officially declared itself "marijuana-free," with Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri boasting that 99.2% of cannabis plants seen on aerial maps had been destroyed. That made for a total of 690,000 plants covering 44 hectares (109 acres), Tahiri said. After a series of paramilitary-style raids on the fertile valley towns where cannabis cultivation had become the economic mainstay, the remaining growers have reportedly been pushed up into inaccessible mountain areas. (SkyNews, Sept. 16)

Portugal's Public Security Police (PSP) announced Nov. 19 the seizure of 128,000 "individual doses" of hashish in a Lisbon raid, which also saw one arrest. The operation coincided with Spanish police seizing 1.5 tons of hashish in a joint cross-border maritime raid. Portugal's National Republican Guard (GNR) seized the boat at the fishing village of Isla Cristina after it was intercepted and boarded by the Spanish Coast Guard off Andalusia. It was apparently bound for Portugal when it was intercepted. (Portugal News)

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, in an interview with BBC Mundo Nov. 13, said he was ready to issue a decree legalizing medical marijuana, and would act within a matter of days. "It is now scientifically proven that marijuana has a variety of medicinal attributes," he said. "There is great demand, and there are companies in Canada and the United States that are utilizing marijuana for a variety of therapeutic and medicinal treatments." He said the decree would provide a regulatory framework for production, distribution and commercialization of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

Another massive marijuana raid is reported from Peru's high Andean region of Áncash, which is quickly emerging as the country's key cannabis cultivation zone. Newspaper Primera Página reports that the National Police force's new and unsubtly named "Green Squad" discovered a field with 1,463 plants in the hamlet of San Miguel Chico, Caraz district. The crop was burned in the field. A photo in Correo newspaper of the police operation shows cannabis plants interspersed with corn stalks, so it is fairly clear that legal crops were also burned in the raid. The Huaylas Provincial Prosecutor's office has issued an arrest order for the landowner.