Cannabis Hemp News

I thought this was an interesting read http://www.weedworld...s-boost-tourism In a bid to boost tourism and to stamp out the problems associated with black market Cannabis trading in the region, The Marianas Islands has passed a bill through parliament legalising cannabis. The group of islands in the pacific between, Japan, Philippines and Indonesia, which is the northern most section of a larger group of islands called Micronesia, has passed the bill, despite pressure from the U.S. which provides $10 million dollars in aid to the islands. This is because the Marianas Islands fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Despite the U.S. threatening to withdraw their financia…

Richard Branson and Ian Blair debate drug decriminalisation Is decriminalisation the best way to deal with drugs? Richard Branson argues in favour of helping rather than punishing addicts, but Ian Blair thinks enforcement must go on ... Interview by Emine Saner guardian.co.uk, Friday 16 March 2012 21.00 GMT Article history http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2012/3/16/1331919774741/Richard-Branson-left-and--007.jpg Richard Branson (left) and Ian Blair debate the idea of decriminalising drugs. Photograph: David Levene It is more than 40 years since the war on drugs was declared. Ian Blair, former commissioner of the Metropolitan Po…

"CANNABIS is kidstakes when it comes to the overall health damage drugs do" according to Wayne Hall, a substance abuse specialist at the University of Queensland's Centre for Clinical Research. Professor Hall’s new paper on the global pattern of drug consumption written with Louisa Degenhardt from the Burnet Institute, attracted media attention during the week for its finding that cannabis is the world’s most widely used illicit drug. On the basis of UN figures they argue between 125 and 203 million people across the planet used cannabis in 2009. This compared to a maximum of 21 million injecting drug users. The reason for its popularity, they argue in the new editi…

An interesting article about a book called The New Jim Crow. Has anyone read this book? The argument that drug laws are about racial division has been punted around for a long time, but apparently this book actually gathers the statistics to back the claim. After giving a speech on it the author received a 2min standing ovation and reading the book inspired on state representative to write legislation addressing the issue. While it may not be so much a race as a class issue here in oz, as the tide turns against the reasons for prohibition and exposes the underlying discrimination, books like this give me hope that more people will join the cause. The question I ask is …

Dutch move to ban sale of strong hashish cannabis The Netherlands moved to ban the sale of potent hashish cannabis on Thursday, eroding 40 years of liberal drug policy, over fears that the proceeds were flowing to organised crime gangs. A parliamentary proposal to prohibit the sale of hashish resin in the Netherlands' famous coffee shops had the backing of both parties in the Liberal-Christian Democrat coalition. The sale of marijuana, the dried bud and leaves of the cannabis plant, will not be affected. "Almost all of the hash that is sold in Dutch coffee shops is smuggled into the Netherlands by international criminal gangs from countries like Afghanistan, Morocco…

A movement is afoot in the Bluegrass State of Kentucky to bring medical marijuana to patients who desperately need it. The Marijuana Policy Projectrecently sent an email to all of their Kentucky supporters – of which I am one – alerting them to these new developments and urging action. Kentucky is the newest entry in the growing list of states considering medical marijuana legislation. Sen. Perry Clark (D-Louisville) has introduced SB 129, a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients with debilitating illnesses and reschedule marijuana under state law. There are some technical problems with the language in the bill vis-à-vis federal law, but those is…