Global Ganja Report

Long the main gateway to Europe for Moroccan hashish, Spain has over the past year emerged as one of the continent's main cannabis cultivation hubs, rivaling the Netherlands. Principal cultivation zones are Andalusia, Murcia, Catalonia, Aragon and especially Valencia—which the Guardia Civil describes as "a jungle of cannabis."

A British study discounts a link between occasional cannabis smoking or other light illicit drug use and the decline in mental functions that comes with middle age. The study, carried in the American Journal of Epidemiology, tested the mental function and memory of nearly 9,000 Britons at age 50 and found that those who had used illegal drugs as recently as in their 40s did just as well on the tests as peers who had never used drugs—or slightly better.

A federal judge on Jan. 4 granted an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) request to throw out a lawsuit filed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer seeking to strike down the state's voter-approved medical marijuana law. Filed in May, Brewer's suit argued that state officials could face federal prosecution for implementing the law—despite Arizona's then-US Attorney Dennis Burke stating publicly that the federal government has "no intention of targeting or going after people who are implementing or who are in compliance with state law." In throwing out the suit, US District Court Judge Susan R. Bolton said there is no genuine threat of imminent federal prosecution of state officials who carry out the law.

A new study postulates a link between states with legalized medical marijuana and a reduction in traffic-related fatalities. The study was conducted by D. Mark Anderson, a Montana State University economics professor, and Daniel Rees, of the University of Colorado Denver. In looking at state-level data from sources such as the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Anderson and Rees found that states with medical marijuana laws saw an average 9% decrease in traffic deaths. "We were pretty surprised that they went down," Rees told the Denver Post.

We recently reported claims that the DEA has granted unnamed private pharmaceutical companies license to grow cannabis for experimental purposes. Now, the Sacramento News & Review on Dec. 19 cites a report from the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients to the effect that the United States government holds a patent on the use of cannabinoids as "antioxidants and neuroprotectants"—specifically, the Department of Health & Human Services holds Patent #6630507, as documented at the US Patent & Trademark Office.

The Colorado Independent reported Dec. 8 that Colorado is joining Rhode Island and Washington state in petitioning the federal government to "change the schedule of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act." Colorado is required by state law to file its own such request before the end of the year. The Centennial State legalized medical marijuana in 2000 through voter approval of Amendment 20, which was itself later amended by three enabling laws. One such law passed last year, HB 10-1284, requires:

Medical marijuana advocates in San Diego have unveiled a proposed ballot measure to end the current municipal crackdown on dispensaries. The proposed initiative would set a 2.5% sales tax for the storefront dispensaries and prohibit them within 600 feet of schools and playgrounds, as well as laying out security and inspection requirements. "Our intent is to bring back safe access to medical cannabis for qualified patients," said Jessica McElfresh of the Patient Care Association of California, which helped draft the proposal. "Voters have almost always overwhelmingly supported medical marijuana responsible regulation." Proponents need to collect about 62,000 voter signatures to qualify the measure for the 2012 November ballot.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris urged state lawmakers in a Dec. 21 letter to clarify the Golden State's 1996 medical marijuana law, saying numerous holes in the statute have left law enforcement and legitimate patients in a state of uncertainty. In the letter to state legislature leaders, Harris said lawmakers need to make clear if the hundreds of storefront dispensaries and delivery services that sell cannabis—ostensibly for medical use—are legal, or if the only legal means of procuring the herb are patient collectives in which all members jointly grow their own supply.