Panama approves medical marijuana law —Costa Rica next?

Posted on September 2nd, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , .

Central AmericaPanama's national legislature approved a medical marijuana law—a first for the nations of the Central American isthmus. Advocates in neighboring Costa Rica are taking heart, and redoubling efforts to make their country the next. But cultural conservatives are pledging resistance in both countries.

Happy Munkey smoke out at Immersive Van Gogh

Posted on August 19th, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , .

HappyMunkeyNew York City's Happy Munkey "cannabis lifestyle purveyor" held two after-hours affairs this month at the East River waterfront venue hosting the popular Immersive Van Gogh exhibit. The twin soirées were seen as marking the arrival of an open presence for cannabis in the Big Apple's vaunted cultural life.

Coming soon: Taliban hash?

Posted on August 16th, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , .

AfghanistanHaving funded their long insurgency with opium and hashish, the Taliban are poised to establish a “narco-state” in Afghanistan. The multi-billion dollar 20-year US effort to suppress cultivation of illicit crops in the county failed as dramatically as its war against the Taliban. Exports of Taliban-tainted smack and hash are already reaching Europe, and may reach US shores.

Pressure rising on Hmong cannabis growers in California's far north

Posted on August 3rd, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , .

CaliforniaA disturbing escalation is reported in California’s far-north Siskiyou County, where Hmong immigrants from Laos have been getting in on the cannabis economy—sparking a xenophobic backlash. Conservative politicians are making hay of the tensions, while the local Hmong are starting to stand up and protest.

Cannabis stocks paradoxically fall on Schumer legalization plan

Posted on July 21st, 2021 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , .

capitolIt's been a week since Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer of New York, joined by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), unveiled much-anticipated draft legislation to legalize cannabis at the federal level, calling it a "long overdue" move "to right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs." The proposed Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act would remove the plant from the Controlled Substances Act, and allow states to craft their own cannabis policies as they do with alcohol. It would also create a federal regulatory framework and impose an excise tax for cannabis products. It includes measures that would expunge prior convictions and allow those serving time for applicable crimes to petition for resentencing.

Mexico: high court decrees cannabis decrim — but will it roll back drug war?

Posted on June 29th, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , .

MexicoTwo years and counting after Mexico’s Supreme Court ordered the country’s Congress to legalize cannabis, the high court justices ran out of patience with the legislative paralysis and issued a new ruling — this one removing penalties for personal use by judicial decree.

But there is no provision for commercial production, and the decree calls for tight federal regulation even of personal possession and cultivation. Will this move prove to be at least a beginning in the daunting challenge of ending Mexico’s long and bloody narco-nightmare?

Rhode Island senate approves legalization bill

Posted on June 22nd, 2021 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

RhodeWith little time remaining in the regular legislative session, the Rhode Island Senate has approved a bill to legalize the possession, purchase and cultivation of cannabis for personal use for adults 21 and older. S 568 would establish a Cannabis Control Commission to regulate the legal market, tax adult-use sales at 20%, and establish a social equity program to support communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization.

Morocco gets legal cannabis sector

Posted on June 19th, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

MoroccoMorocco, long the world's largest illicit producer, is finally getting a legalized commercial cannabis industry, thanks to a law actually introduced by the current otherwise conservative government. The new law is designed to daylight traditional small growers in the marginalized Rif Mountains.

But the program is geared toward the export market and explicitly bars "recreational" use. It remains to be seen whether there will be a meaningful relaxation of increasingly militarized cannabis enforcement.

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