Author: Hazel Norman

Bundestag Holds First Debate On German Legalization Measure

Written by Hazel Norman on October 23, 2023. Posted in Policy.

A long-awaited initial legalization measure debate was finally held in Germany’s Bundestag earlier this week after a reading scheduled for earlier in the week was delayed. The initial reading was scheduled for Monday, however, it was rescheduled for Wednesday due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The process behind the measure currently being considered by members of the Bundestag essentially started after the dust settled on the 2021 German election. A new governing coalition was elected during that year, commonly referred to as the Traffic Light Coalition, and members of the coalition made it abundantly clear that they wished to pass a national legalization measure.

For over a year, Germany’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach then worked behind the scenes to craft a measure for lawmakers to consider, incorporating feedback he reportedly received from the European Union. The European Union has consistently taken the position that national sales, such as what many lawmakers in Germany want, are prohibited in Europe.

Eventually, in October 2022, Minister Lauterbach finally provided public insight into some of the general provisions he planned to include in his measure. Below is Health Minister Lauterbach’s presentation in full (broadcast in German):

After the public presentation, Minister Lauterbach then further lobbied the European Union, and eventually formally introduced his legalization measure in Germany. It was approved by the Federal Cabinet and recently avoided being derailed by opponents in the Bundesrat.

It is widely expected that the measure will evolve from its current form, however, it’s unclear exactly how much evolution could occur.

Cannabis opponents in the Bundestag have tried to further the efforts of opponents in the Bundesrat by filing motions to prevent the legalization measure from proceeding, but as Minister Lauterbach pointed out on social media, opponents are short on viable alternatives:

Hier die Zusammenfassung der Cannabisdebatte. Was mir auffällt: von den Kritikern hatte kein einziger einen Gegenvorschlag. Es bliebe also alles beim alten. Mehr Konsum, toxische Ware, kaum Jugendschutz, Schwarzmarkt, Vorstrafen. Kurz: Weiter scheitern… https://t.co/WeEpnd7pSF

— Prof. Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) October 18, 2023

If the measure does proceed in its current form, it would legalize personal cultivation, possession, and use by adults of legal age. The measure would also permit noncommercial cannabis clubs to launch in Germany, similar to what is being launched in Malta, but it’s expected to be on a much larger scale compared to what is reportedly planned in Malta.

The measure now heads to the committee stage for further debate. The Bundestag’s Health Committee is scheduled to review the measure on November 6th. A final reading of the measure is currently scheduled for November 16th.

CBD Decree In Italy Is Temporarily Suspended

Written by Hazel Norman on October 16, 2023. Posted in Policy.

Regulating cannabidiol (CBD) products has proven to be a difficult task for most of the world, and Italy is no exception. An August decree in Italy would have classified CBD as a narcotic substance, however, this month a court in Italy temporarily suspended the change.

The suspension is reportedly in effect until October 24th. Local activists with the Sativa Hemp Association Italy had the following to say about the court decision (translated from Italian to English):

Today we celebrate an important success thanks to the unwavering commitment and constant work of the associations at the supply chain table and to the precious intervention of the ICI association which has dedicated itself to this appeal since 2020 and which we have supported by making available all the material relating to recent unjustified seizures to support the precautionary measure and therefore obtaining the immediate suspension of the decree. Together for an important victory.

Mattia Cusani, general secretary of the CSI Association confirmed this news, indicating that the suspension could undergo further developments depending on the interpretations and future applications of the decree.

A request for immediate suspension of the Ministerial Decree of 7 August 2023 was made through a precautionary application. This move was made necessary following inspections and seizures of goods in the CBD, with allegations of violation of the art. 73 of Presidential Decree 304/1990, linked to narcotic substances. The TAR accepted this request, pushing the effectiveness of the Ministerial Decree until the council chamber on 24 October 2023.

This represents just the beginning of a long struggle, but it demonstrates the importance of unity and commitment to protecting the legal cannabis industry.

Italy’s Ministry of Health is reportedly set to argue in favor of the decree when afforded the opportunity in court, and the situation is worth monitoring. To echo what local activists are saying in Italy, this is likely the start of a marathon versus the start of a sprint. Italy is not alone in that regard, and entrepreneurs will have to continue to do their best to navigate the shifting landscape.

How Long Have Humans Used Cannabis?

Written by Hazel Norman on October 15, 2023. Posted in Policy, Science.

The cannabis plant is arguably the most versatile plant on earth and humans have a long history of harnessing its properties for a myriad of purposes. That fact is at the heart of a recent paper published in the European Journal for Chemistry, as first reported by Marijuana Moment.

At the core of the research paper is the history of humankind’s contact with the cannabis plant and how humans have used parts of it as a source of fiber for things such as rope and clothing, for medical and wellness benefits, as part of religious practices, and for recreational use. Few, if any, other plants can boast such a wide array of uses.

“Along with rice, soy, barley, and millet, Cannabis is considered one of the five main grains by ancient people. The seeds found in Cannabis achenes, rich in proteins (such as albumin and edestin) and essential unsaturated fatty acids (such as linoleic and linolenic acids) served as food, input for other culinary purposes, and even soap production.” the paper’s authors stated.

Hemp-based nutrition products, including products designed for elite athletes, are very popular today, particularly protein products. During the 1900s the cannabis plant was subjected to a significant amount of negative propaganda, and as a result, many members of society falsely assumed that it was bad for human health. That perception has evolved a lot in recent years.

“To exemplify the long co-existence with hemp, ancestral archaeological relics date the use of this plant fiber as a fabric to approximately 8000 years before the common era (BCE) as a
material in ancient Mesopotamia (present-day Iran and Iraq), and to 4000 years BCE and 3000 years BCE as a material for ropes in China and Kazakhstan, respectively. Impressively, until
the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was estimated that around 80% of fabrics, candles, ropes, among other items, were produced from hemp.” the paper’s authors pointed out.

Using the cannabis plant’s fibers for textiles is not as common now as it was in previous eras, however, as more products are made from extracting cannabinoids from cannabis plants innovators are exploring ways to maximize the use of the fiber tissue left behind. In addition to using plant fiber for textiles, they can also be used as biomass fuel.

“Used for millennia as a food, fiber production and religious, therapeutic, and recreational instrument, a source of phytocompounds with proven efficacy for clinical conditions of difficult management, its planting, cultivation, use and acquisition are today prohibited – even for researchers who intend to work with this plant! – in the vast majority of countries. Recent efforts try to decriminalize the use of the drug and to expand the medical use and access to patients of Cannabis-based drugs through legislation, but despite successes around the world, it still finds its hindrances.” the paper’s authors stated.

“Cannabis is perhaps one of the greatest controversies in contemporary humanity.” the authors concluded.

‘Expert Panel’ Releases Cannabis Engagement Report In Canada

Written by Hazel Norman on October 15, 2023. Posted in Policy.

Canada became the first G-7 nation to pass an adult-use national cannabis legalization measure roughly five years ago. It still remains the only G-7 nation to do so and provides the best insight into the effects of implementing a robust national legalization measure.

As part of the ongoing cannabis public policy modernization research effort in Canada an ‘expert panel’ was created to obtain feedback from the public. This week the panel released some of its findings. Below is more information about it via a news release from Health Canada:

Today, the Expert Panel conducting the legislative review of the Cannabis Act published its report entitled Legislative Review of the Cannabis Act – What we Heard Report. The report is a summary of what the Expert Panel heard during its engagement activities conducted between December 2022 and June 2023.

“We want to thank everyone who generously gave us their time and energy in sharing their perspectives and answering our questions,” said Morris Rosenberg, Chair of the Expert Panel. “We have heard a wide variety of perspectives throughout the consultations. A very rich and broad scientific literature was shared with us, as well as diverse lived and living experiences. We hope that we have captured the breadth and nuances of perspectives.”

The Expert Panel was established with a mandate to provide independent, expert advice to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health on progress made towards achieving the Cannabis Act’s objectives and on the identification of areas to improve the functioning of the framework.

The Expert Panel engaged with almost 500 stakeholders in nearly 90 meetings as part of its first phase of work.

The next phase of the Expert Panel’s work includes the development of its final report for the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, which will continue to be informed by engagement activities throughout the fall. This report will provide advice and recommendations on areas of the legislative framework or its implementation that could be improved or reformed.

The final report is to be tabled in both Houses of Parliament by March 2024.

The Expert Panel continues to welcome written submissions as it develops the final report. Submissions can be sent to legreview-examenleg@hc-sc.gc.ca or to the following mailing address:

Cannabis Act Legislative Review Secretariat
Health Canada
Address locator 0302I
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0K9

SOURCE Health Canada (HC)

Court In Brazil Determines Cannabis Smell Does Not Justify Home Search

Written by Hazel Norman on October 9, 2023. Posted in Policy.

Cannabis prohibition enforcement involves various tactics, including the reliance on ‘smelling’ cannabis to ‘justify’ searching people, their personal property, their vehicle, and sometimes their homes. The latter was at the heart of a recent court case in Brazil that went all the way to the nation’s Superior Court of Justice.

A lower court previously determined that if law enforcement smelled cannabis from a person “who is already being investigated on suspicion of drug trafficking,” that law enforcement has just cause to search the person. However, that just cause does not extend to the suspect’s home and a judicial warrant is required, even if a different resident of the home authorizes entry.

The case involved an individual being investigated for suspected drug trafficking. After searching the suspect outside of their home and reportedly finding nothing, law enforcement then searched the individual’s home despite not having a warrant to do so. Cannabis and other illegal items were discovered during the search.

Law enforcement indicated that they had received permission to enter the residence from a different resident other than the suspect, however, the Superior Court of Justice determined that the search was illegal and that anything found during the search was inadmissible. Per Newsendip:

Minister Reynaldo Soares da Fonseca of the SCJ granted habeas corpus, a constitutional right for someone who is imprisoned to report wrongful detention or abuse of power.

Minister Reynaldo Soares da Fonseca recognized the illegality of the evidence and acquitted the defendant of any charges. He explains in his decision that there is a necessity for concrete evidence that would justify entering a home and invading the right to privacy.

“I reiterate that nothing illegal was found with the personal search, therefore not justifying entry into the person’s home,” concluded the judge.

The recent decision in Brazil obviously does not extend beyond Brazil’s borders. Furthermore, the scope of the decision is fairly narrow and still permits people to be searched outside their homes for simply smelling like cannabis.

What Brazil truly needs is a modernization of its national cannabis policies. Cannabis prohibition is a failed public policy that has harmed too many lives, and it’s beyond time that Brazil started taking a more sensible approach.

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Why Is Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer Concerned About Cannabis Usage Rates?

Written by Hazel Norman on October 9, 2023. Posted in Policy.

Ireland is a cannabis prohibition nation. Not only is adult-use cannabis prohibited in Ireland, but medical cannabis is also technically prohibited in Ireland. There is a program in Ireland in which a limited number of medical cannabis patients are permitted to travel to the Netherlands for medical cannabis treatments.

As of July 2020, only 30 patients were approved for the program. Considering that Ireland has a population of over 5 million people, the low patient count speaks for itself.

Personal cannabis possession in Ireland is a violation of the Misuse of Drugs Acts (1977-2016), and carries a penalty of up to €1,000 for the first and second offense. The fine can be increased to €1,270 for a first offense, and €2,540 for a second offense, if the amount of cannabis involved is deemed to be ‘excessive.’

The penalty for a third personal possession offense is one to three years in prison depending on the case. It is worth noting that the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 2011 mandates that courts consider community service in place of a prison sentence when possible.

Needless to say, Ireland’s cannabis policies are terrible and in desperate need of improvement. No patient should have to face fines, mandated community service, and/or incarceration for possessing their medicine.

And yet, against that backdrop, Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer’s reported concern is not the plight of patients, but rather, that people are consuming cannabis. Per excerpts from The Journal:

THE USE OF cannabis in Ireland is “of great concern”, the Chief Medical Officer has expressed to the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use.

“Cannabis can cause addiction,” she said. “We have 45,000 people with cannabis-use disorders in the latest data.”

Under-18s account for 80% of new presentations to cannabis addiction treatment services.

The excerpts from the article need context. For starters, what constitutes a ‘cannabis-use disorder’ is often determined by courts, law enforcement, and entities that profit from forcing people into treatment. Clearly, there is a bias involved in those instances.

Regarding ‘under-18s,’ many youth who are caught with cannabis, either by law enforcement or their parents, are forced into rehabilitation programs as part of their punishment. Statistics are reflective of that, and not reflective of ‘teen addiction’ per se.

Ireland does not have a cannabis use problem. Rather, it has a cannabis prohibition problem, and that problem is particularly terrible for suffering patients.

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French Medical Cannabis Legalization Is Not Expected In 2024

Written by Hazel Norman on October 1, 2023. Posted in Policy.

France’s government is expected to refrain from recommending national medical cannabis legalization after the European nation’s medical cannabis experiment is over.

In March 2021, France launched a limited medical cannabis experiment involving between 2,000 and 3,000 suffering patients with the goal of gaining insight to possibly craft national medical cannabis policies and regulations. Initially slated for a two-year period, France’s medical cannabis experiment was eventually granted a one-year extension and is set to end in 2024.

According to domestic reporting, the 2024 Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) will not include provisions to legalize medical cannabis nationwide due to a lack of support by the Macron administration.

The French medical cannabis experiment received initial approval from the federal Senate back in 2019, however, the launch of the trial was delayed until the spring of 2021 due to various reasons. Cannabis producer LaFleur was eventually selected as the cultivator for the program and has supplied participating patients since the launch of the experiment.

Limited cannabis access is not a new public policy concept in Europe, with limited adult use cannabis commerce now permitted in parts of Switzerland, and soon, the Netherlands. Germany is another jurisdiction that is working towards launching adult-use pilot programs.

France is somewhat rare in that most European nations now permit medical cannabis access. France, on the other hand, has historically been much more hesitant to reform its medical cannabis policies.

If the French government does not adopt national medical cannabis reform at the conclusion of the experiment, and the pilot program does not receive another extension, medical cannabis patients will have no safe access to their medications. Instead, they will be forced to either go without medical cannabis or obtain their medical cannabis from unregulated sources.

CBD products containing less than 0.3% THC are legal in France, however, many suffering cannabis patients require treatment regimens involving products that have higher levels of THC.

According to data analyzed by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies, roughly 10.6% of France’s adult population has consumed cannabis within the last year, and 47.3% have reported using cannabis at least once in their lifetimes.

Slowing Down Legalization In Germany Is The Wrong Move

Written by Hazel Norman on September 25, 2023. Posted in Policy.

A coalition of SPD ministers from Hamburg, Thuringia, and Lower Saxony are trying to slow down cannabis policy modernization efforts in Germany. Germany’s current legalization effort was historically led by Germany’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). If the coalition of SPD state ministers have their way, Minister Lauterbach’s bill will never become law.

What is currently being proposed is a multi-phase plan to modernize Germany’s adult-use cannabis policies. The first phase, which was approved this year by Germany’s federal cabinet, would legalize the personal cultivation, possession, and use of cannabis.

Additionally, the first phase would eventually permit noncommercial cannabis clubs to operate. The clubs would be subject to a host of regulations, including caps on the number of members they can have. Individual consumers would also be restricted to only possessing one membership at a time.

While Germany’s federal cabinet approved the first phase measure, it is now being considered by members of the Bundestag and it’s very likely that provisions of the bill will evolve, and not in a manner that the coalition of SPD state ministers are hoping for.

Unlike the SPD state ministers, who feel that the current measure being considered is too liberal, many members of the Bundestag have expressed publicly that they feel the current measure is too restrictive.

The second phase of legalization according to Minister Lauterbach’s proposal would involve permitting regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot programs, similar to what is in operation in Switzerland and being considered in the Netherlands. Although, Germany’s pilot programs are expected to be conducted on a larger scale than compared to its European counterparts’ programs.

A cannabis pilot program, in theory, provides national lawmakers the opportunity to collect data at a local level in order to be better suited to craft national cannabis laws and regulations. Full national sales are not within the scope of the current legalization effort in Germany, although there’s a lot of the process left to be completed and anything is possible.

Germany’s Health Minister participated in ongoing discussions with the European Union regarding cannabis policy, and Minister Lauterbach indicated that national sales would run afoul of EU agreements. Malta and Luxembourg have passed national legalization measures, however, they do not include provisions for national sales.

Slowing down the process in Germany is unacceptable. If anything, it needs to be sped up. Cannabis prohibition is a failed public policy, and regulation is a more sensible approach. Canada is proving that right now, and it would be wise for Germany and every other country to modernize their own cannabis policies.

European Parliament Member Shares Pictures Of His Cannabis Plants On Social Media

Written by Hazel Norman on September 20, 2023. Posted in Policy.

A member of the European Parliament (MEP) recently posted pictures of cannabis he is cultivating for personal use. Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, MEP for Ireland Midlands North West, shared the following image and message to X/Twitter:

I’ve grown two! This is the Shogun (sativa dominant) feminised plant. It’s a funny one. Over 6 foot tall. Over 4 foot wide. Spindly. Topped it in attempt to thicken it up. Made no difference. Just wants to reach for the sky. Can’t water it enough. They’ve a mind of their own! pic.twitter.com/bFtp5mtNxc

— Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan (@lukeming) September 16, 2023

The social media post was overwhelmingly well received based on the replies to the tweet, although there were a handful of comments from people asking why the MEP was posting the content. MEP Flanagan is a long-time proponent of cannabis reform.

Some of the comments questioned how the MEP was not facing charges for the cultivation, however, as other platform users pointed out, MEP Flanagan is based out of Brussels where limited personal cannabis cultivation is not a criminal offense.

The discussion surrounding the social media post by a sitting MEP touches on a larger ongoing continental discussion regarding the need for cannabis policy modernization. What MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan is doing on his balcony is something that every responsible adult should be able to do, regardless of which European nation they are based in at the time.

Currently, only Malta and Luxembourg have passed national adult-use measures that expressly permit personal cannabis cultivation, possession, and consumption. Germany is currently working to pass a national measure, and regional pilot programs are being launched in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

European cannabis reform is taking on a different form in Europe compared to the Western hemisphere. Canada and Uruguay have passed national legalization measures with robust consumer options, whereas European reform is largely based on personal cultivation.

‘Cannabis light,’ which is cannabis containing a low amount of THC, is legal in many parts of Europe, however, those products are considerably different compared to what is available in truly legal markets such as Canada.