Category: Politics

Colombia: Cannabis users protest presidential decree banning possession

The Editor

The likes of Canada may be moving forward but Colombia is moving – even further – backwards. Cannabis users in Bogota protested in a ‘smoke-athon’ over the weekend after new President Ivan Duque signed a degree banning personal drug possession and ordering police to confiscate all quantities of the drug. For the past two decades it has been legal to carry small amounts of cannabis for personal use. Stop and search will be ramped up and those caught will be fined, but not sent to prison. A protester giving a…

Read More

Ex-Met Police Chief Bernard Hogan-Howe Calls For Legalisation Review

The Editor

Former Scotland Yard chief Bernard Hogan-Howe has called on the Government to set up a two-year review to examine whether Britain should legalise cannabis. Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Lord Hogan-Howe proposes that a panel of experts should examine “the accumulating evidence on legalisation… with open minds”. “This could include whether they feel the evidence suggests cannabis should be safely legalised,” he writes. “It is hard to justify criminalising a substance less harmful than products we can buy in a shop and at some level has medical benefits.” The…

Read More

Legalisation in Canada: Stores run out of cannabis on first day

The Editor

Cannabis stores in Canada ran out of stock after the first day of legalisation, underlying the popularity of the move and the challenges ahead for the industry to match supply to demand. One store owner claimed they had, of all the times, somehow ran out of weed at 4:20. In Quebec, customers waited for hours in lines but many were sent home without being served; even if they did get in, they found a limited supply, leaving some to comment that the black market was back in business. But the…

Read More

Why cannabis medicine should be available to people with autism

The Editor

Dan Jose from the Cheese Board Social Cannabis Club has backed calls for cannabis medicine to be made available for people with autism. Autism charity Thinking Autism has said that cannabis medicine should be available for “autism-related conditions, such as anxiety, irritability and heightened stress response”. Despite the Government’s statement that “the new law will not limit the types of conditions that can be considered for treatment”, it has since been suggested in the media that it will be limited to treating epilepsy, chronic pain and chemo-induced nausea. Thinking Autism’s…

Read More

Report: Cannabis medicine will only be prescribed for three conditions

The Editor

Legal cannabis medicine will only be prescribed to help treat three conditions, according to the Telegraph, contradicting the Government’s statement that “the new law will not limit the types of conditions that can be considered for treatment”. The newspaper reports that it “understands formal NHS England guidelines, due to be released before 1 November, will advise specialist doctors on prescribing cannabis for epilepsy, chronic pain and nausea caused by chemotherapy. “Although new legislation technically allows cannabis to be taken for any condition, doctors are expected to strictly follow the guidelines,…

Read More