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What Is Being Done To Free Brittney Griner?

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

“Britney Griner: The ‘Tom Brady of women’s basketball’ has vanished”. That is what BBC World News tweeted on March 15th in regards to international basketball legend Brittney Griner being detained in Russia. At the time of the tweet little was known about Brittney Griner’s situation other than she was arrested at a Moscow airport and being charged with possessing cannabis vape pen cartridges.

Since that time, details have started to trickle in regarding the situation. Brittney Griner, who plays professional women’s basketball for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia during the WNBA offseason, was originally arrested on February 17th, with news of the arrest surfacing at the international level weeks later.

According to a ‘source close to Griner’ she is doing ‘OK’. Per ESPN:

The source close to Griner said that despite the inability of diplomats to visit Griner or other Americans in Russian custody, they have gotten frequent updates on her from her team of Russian attorneys.

“I wouldn’t say she’s ‘good,’ but she’s OK,” the source said.

A court in Moscow recently set a date of May 19th to start the process of reviewing Griner’s case (not an actual trial date), which came after the court granted an extension to Griner’s pre-trial detention originally proposed by Russian prosecutors.

How Great Is Brittney Griner At Basketball?

Brittney Griner is one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game. Below is just a mere sampling of some of her accomplishments:

  • Member of Team USA’s 2016 gold medal team during 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
  • Two-time gold medalist with Team USA at FIBA Women’s Basketball World Championships (2018, 2014)
  • Named the MVP of the gold medal game in 2018
  • Two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (2015, 2014)
  • Six-time WNBA All-Star (2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014 and 2013)
  • Two-Time All-WNBA First Team (2019, 2014)
  • Three-Time All-WNBA Second Team (2018, 2017, 2015)
  • Three-Time All-WNBA Defensive First Team (2018, 2015, 2014)
  • Three-Time All-WNBA Defensive Second Team (2019, 2017, 2016)
  • Holds WNBA regular season records for blocks in a single game (11), blocks in a season (129, 2014), single-season blocks average (4.04, 2015) and career blocks average (2.9)

Griner’s resume speaks for itself – she is an elite athlete, hence why BBC World News felt comfortable comparing her to another elite athlete by the name of Tom Brady. Unfortunately, Griner is not compensated at the same level as Tom Brady. Whereas Tom Brady made tens of millions of dollars last season in the NFL, Griner made $220,000 in the WNBA during the same season. Griner makes an additional $1 million during the WNBA offseason playing in Russia.

What Is The U.S. Government Doing To Help Free Griner?

The criminal justice system in Russia is not exactly known for being credible and fair. It is no secret that many prisoners are arrested and put in detention for political purposes in Russia, and given Brittney Griner’s fame and notoriety, many observers have floated the obvious theory that Griner was possibly arrested as some type of ploy by Russia to use her as political leverage in some manner.

According to BBC, today marks the 25th day of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, which puts the initial invasion just days after Griner was reportedly arrested. Is that just a coincidence? Or was it premeditated? Without proper due process, there’s no way to know for sure.

“There have been a lot of allegations of planting of substances on people, particularly on the part of human rights advocates,” says Peter Maggs, a law professor at the University of Illinois and an expert on Russia’s civil code according to CNN.

Making matters worse, the United States government has indicated that it has had no contact with Griner. Per the previously cited article by ESPN:

A State Department official issued a statement to ESPN on Thursday saying, “We insist the Russian government provide consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees in Russia, including those in pre-trial detention, as Brittney Griner is.”

The statement marks a slight but significant change in the government’s tone when it comes to Griner. Up until now the government has deliberately kept a low profile with her case, hoping not to increase her profile to the point where she might become a valuable political asset to the Russian government. It generally has avoided commenting at all, and when Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about her at a news conference last week he gave a tepid statement that did not mention her by name.

Based on State Department guidance, Griner’s representatives have asked the WNBA, NBA, the media and Griner’s supporters generally to keep any attention to her case “on a low simmer,” as one source said.

Will Griner Be Released Pre-Trial?

Why is the United States government pursuing a flawed strategy of keeping attention to Griner’s case “on a low simmer?” Would that be the case if it was Tom Brady who was arrested? What if the case didn’t involve a substance that the United States government still prohibits? Would things still be “on a low simmer”?

The fact of the matter is that Russia is not going to give in to any demands made by the United States on anything right now, and that was true even before Russia invaded Ukraine. Furthermore, Brittney Griner is an international superstar. Not only is she one of the most legendary female athletes in the United States, she is an Olympic champion who is also a professional athlete in Russia.

Keeping things “on a low simmer” will not make Brittney Griner any more or less famous than she already is. Make no mistake about it – Russia’s government knows exactly who Brittney Griner is. The second she was arrested, Brittney Griner became a political prisoner even if the United States government doesn’t seem to want to treat the case that way.

Russia’s law dictates that prisoners can only be held for a year before facing trial, however, there are examples of that deadline being surpassed, including cases involving citizens of the United States. Short of an enormous amount of ongoing outcry by anyone and everyone, including and especially the WNBA and NBA, it’s quite possible that Griner could remain incarcerated indefinitely in Russia due to the cannabis charges.

Unfortunately, it’s that very thing that the United States government is specifically asking people not to do, which is shameful and no doubt based to some degree on the United States federal government’s long-standing opposition to cannabis and people who use it.

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Cannabis Tourism To Experience Exponential Growth

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Cannabis tourism has existed for many years, although for the most part, it was a completely unregulated sector of the cannabis industry. That shouldn’t surprise anyone, being that the entire cannabis industry was unregulated for many years.

For decades cannabis enthusiasts have flocked to top international cannabis tourism destinations such as Jamaica, Thailand, Spain, and Amsterdam. It was no secret that people from around the globe could easily find world-class cannabis in those areas, and entrepreneurial-minded locals were always happy to provide their services.

The entire tourism sector, not just cannabis, has done its best to navigate the ongoing pandemic, however, it’s obviously been a rough couple of years. Fortunately, cannabis reform efforts and the industry it creates have kept moving forward despite the pandemic.

As the world continues to open back up with the pandemic finally subsiding, travelers that double as cannabis enthusiasts will be met with more cannabis tourism options than ever before.

Types Of Cannabis Tourism

Historically, cannabis tourism largely revolved around simply acquiring amazing cannabis in a faraway place. For people that lived in an illegal jurisdiction where cannabis was scarce, the mere option to acquire cannabis easily while on a trip was enough to entice the traveler to choose that specific destination.

These days there is more to cannabis tourism than just the products, although cannabis use itself remains at the heart of the sector. As I often point out to people, if you can think of something that tourists do without cannabis involved, there’s likely a similar option that incorporates cannabis somewhere.

Just as there are winery tours, there are now cannabis cultivation and facility tours. Spas and wellness retreats have been popular for many years, and now many resorts and facilities also offer cannabis-based services such as cannabis oil massages and soaks.

Cannabis clubs are obviously popular in places like Spain, and the ‘club model’ is starting to show up in other places where cannabis laws are being reformed. Malta became the first country to legalize cannabis for adult use in Europe late last year, and the country’s legalization model is going to largely revolve around cannabis clubs that will no doubt be very popular with tourists.

Have Fun, Be Entertained, And Get Educated

Our International Cannabis Business Conference events help bring cannabis tourism to the next level. A prime example of that was on display at our last event in Barcelona on March 10th. Barcelona is home to more cannabis clubs than any other part of Spain, and possibly the world.

In addition to tourists being able to consume world-class cannabis and frequent Barcelona’s cannabis clubs, attendees of our event were also able to learn from, and network with, top cannabis entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and industry service providers from dozens of countries around the globe.

The International Cannabis Business Conference B2B event in Barcelona earlier this month was part of the world’s largest cannabis superconference along with Spannabis. In addition to the conference speakers and panel sessions, our Barcelona event also featured one of our famous after-parties where conference attendees were able to unwind after a full day of learning from leading cannabis experts.

We have more events coming in 2022 in Berlin and Zurich, and both of those cities rapidly becoming top international cannabis tourism destinations, with new local cannabis tourism services being launched all of the time. As cannabis reform efforts continue to change laws across the globe, the cannabis tourism sector will continue to expand alongside it. That is good news for tourists, as well as entrepreneurs and investors that are able to create products and services that help enhance the cannabis tourism experience.

milan italy milan italy

Milan’s City Council Calls For Cannabis Legalization In Italy

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Italy is home to one of the most inspiring cannabis activism efforts of all time. Last year activists in Italy gathered enough signatures to put national legalization before voters. Over 630,000 signatures were gathered in just a matter of weeks.

The signatures were gathered so quickly and abundantly due to a change in the referendum process in Italy in which signatures can now be gathered digitally. Being that the signatures were gathered digitally, I was personally worried at the time that not enough of them would be deemed valid during the validation process.

I have worked on signature-gathering campaigns for cannabis reform efforts in the past, and the validation rate can vary widely, with signatures gathered digitally being particularly ripe for a large invalidation rate. The effort in Italy required 500,000 valid signatures, and eventually, it was determined that there were indeed enough valid signatures in the overall signature count.

Unfortunately, the referendum effort later hit a dead end when Italy’s Constitutional Court prevented the measure from moving forward based on a technicality. Polling seemed to indicate that the measure would have passed overwhelmingly, which combined with how fast the valid signatures piled up, clearly demonstrates that support for legalization in Italy is significant.

The referendum effort may have never reached voters, however, it has increased the pressure on lawmakers in Italy to step up and pass a legalization measure. Now Milan’s City Council is calling for national legalization, which will only further build on that pressure. Per La Repubblica(translated to English):

The City Council of Milan is asking to legalize the use of cannabis and is calling on the government to approve a law that goes in this direction. The hall of Palazzo Marino has in fact approved the agenda promoted by the leader of the Democratic Party, Filippo Barberis, shared by most of the majority and also voted by the leader of Forza Italia, Alessandro De Chirico.

In the document, the classroom asks the mayor and the council “to take action with the Parliament and in all appropriate fora to support the need to approve a bill on the legalization of the production and consumption of cannabis and its derivatives” and to “reinvest the revenues deriving from the legalization of cannabis in training, prevention and harm reduction policies “, as happens in countries where this substance is already legalized. According to the agenda, the legalization of cannabis “would bring various economic and social benefits, such as a very important damage to the mafia economy, an increase in GDP and a consequent increase in revenues for public finances,”

In addition to the referendum effort in Italy, the nation’s Supreme Court ruled back in 2019 that personal cannabis cultivation was legal. The landmark decision created many questions, not the least of which is ‘what constitutes a personal amount of cannabis,’ yet it also largely tasked Italy’s lawmakers with answering those questions via legalization legislation.

All the while, cannabis legalization is on the move across Europe. Malta legalized cannabis for adult use late last year, and several European countries are ramping up legalization pilot programs. Germany, which is the biggest domino on the continent, is trending towards legalization. All of this puts pressure on Italy to legalize, which will hopefully happen sooner rather than later.

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Lawmakers In Denmark Seek To Expand Cannabis Pilot Program

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business, Politics.

Pilot programs seem to be a popular approach to cannabis legalization in Europe. For instance, Switzerland has a cannabis legalization pilot program in which cannabis is legal for adult use and commerce purposes in a handful of cities. The Netherlands has a similar program.

The goal of a cannabis legalization pilot program is to ‘ease’ a country into legalization by rolling things out in a limited fashion rather than legalizing nationwide all at once, such as how Canada implemented legalization. Public policy and health experts can then study what is happening at a local level and, in theory, be better suited to recommend nationwide policies.

A cannabis pilot program like the one described exists in Copenhagen, and if a coalition of lawmakers has its way, cannabis legalization pilot programs will be implemented in other parts of Denmark as well. Per Mugglehead:

Danish officials across five political parties have proposed a plan for an adult-use cannabis pilot similar to a program underway in its capital city.

Earlier this month, the proposal was presented in Danish Parliament instructing the government to start legislative work that will result in a bill that legalizes cannabis for five years.

According to submitted documentation, that bill will look like one put forth in Copenhagen with sales at state-controlled outlets, and it’s legal for citizens to buy, possess, grow and consume cannabis for personal use.

Other provisions of the pilot program reportedly include a way for jurisdictions in Denmark to sign up for the program, all cannabis would be domestically produced, retail staff would be trained and licensed, the legal age would be set at 18 years old, and retail sales would be limited to residents.

I personally feel that five years is too long for the pilot program to run, and that cannabis should be legalized nationally well before that timeline is up. However, I suppose that it’s possible that so many jurisdictions will sign up for the pilot program that it could spread things up considerably. It’s definitely great news for the jurisdictions that implement the policy change.

The incremental approach is not optimal, however, it is better than maintaining nationwide prohibition. As I have always stated regarding cannabis activism – if you can’t legalize nationally, focus locally. Every local reform victory adds to the victory pile and further builds the momentum for a national reform victory.

cannabis leaf cannabis leaf

Study In Italy Finds That Patients Successfully Replace Opioids With Cannabis

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Science.

It is estimated that roughly 1 out of every 5 people on earth suffers from chronic pain, with the likeliness of someone having the condition increasing with age. The rate of people over the age of 65 that suffer from chronic pain is as high as 85% according to at least one study.

Chronic pain is defined as being ongoing and lastly over 6 months, and can be caused by any number of factors. For some patients, chronic pain is a symptom of another condition, such as cancer. For others, its the result of an injury or accident.

Whatever the cause, chronic pain can be very tough to deal with. In some cases, it can be extremely debilitating and interfere with virtually every aspect of daily life. To make matters worse, when pain patients go to their doctor they are almost always met with one form of recommended treatment – opioids.

It is always worth mentioning that just because someone takes opioids, they shouldn’t be shamed for doing so. For some patients, it’s their only option, and for many other patients, it’s effective for their specific situation. Just as people shouldn’t be subjected to negative stigma for using cannabis, so too should they never be subjected to negative stigma for using opioids or any other medicine for that matter.

With that being said, cannabis is exponentially safer than opioids, and according to a new study many patients are reducing their reliance on opioids after starting medical cannabis treatment. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:

Milan, Italy: The long-term use of plant-derived cannabis extracts by patients with chronic pain is associated with reduced reliance on prescription opioids, according to data published in the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences.

A team of Italian researchers assessed the use of prescription opioids and other medicines in a cohort of chronic patients in the six months immediately prior to and immediately following their initiation of medical cannabis.

Authors reported that a significant percentage of subjects ceased their use of prescription opioids by the conclusion of the trial. They concluded, “Analyses by subgroups showed a statistically significant difference in the proportion of female opioid non-users before and after cannabis-based oil treatment (34.1 percent to 56.1 percent), as well as in the proportion of under-65 years old opioid non-users before and after cannabis-based oil treatment (32.5 percent to 55 percent), in the proportion of opioid non-users with non-severe comorbidity (33.3 percent to 54.2 percent), and … in the proportion of opioid non-users with a chronic pain condition (32.6 percent to 59.2 percent).”

The findings are consistent with dozens of other studies showing that pain patients typically reduce or eliminate their use of prescription opioids following the use of cannabis. Inconsistent with prior studies, authors did not identify an association between medical cannabis use and a significant reduction in patients’ use of other prescription drugs, including benzodiazepines.

Full text of the study, “Long-term cannabis-based oil therapy and pain medications prescribing patterns: An Italian observational study,” appears in European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. Additional information is available from the NORML fact sheet, ‘Relationship Between Marijuana and Opioids.’ Information on cannabis in the treatment of chronic pain is available from NORML.

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Cannabis Expungement Process In Bermuda Runs Into Record Keeping Issues

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Bermuda is one of many nations around the world that is working to reform its harmful cannabis policies. As we previously reported, Bermuda’s efforts include adult-use legalization, although threats of interference by Britain are proving to be a major hindrance for that particular component.

A measure was passed in Bermuda in 2020 which sought to remove cannabis offenses from people’s records when the charge(s) involved possession of a personal amount of cannabis. Unfortunately, the process of automatically expunging records is hitting a major hurdle, as described by Royal Gazette:

A law designed to clear the criminal convictions of people caught with small amounts of cannabis has hit problems because old documents often failed to quantify the amounts of drugs involved.

The Attorney-General, Kathy Lynn Simmons, told MPs on Friday that work to expunge records of people caught in possession of small amounts of the drug since a legal change in 2020 had faced problems because of patchy police and court records.

She admitted: “To date, two expungement orders have been issued by the minister and we are seeking remedies as it relates to other applications.”

Unfortunately, as other jurisdictions around the globe work to expunge old cannabis convictions, this is likely to be a re-occurring problem. When many of the current laws on the books around the world were implemented, reefer madness was running rampant. As a result of that, all acts involving cannabis were treated harshly, regardless of the amount involved.

A cannabis conviction on a person’s record can have a negative impact on that person’s life well into the future, way past the point that they paid their fines and/or served their time. That is true even in jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis for adult use.

My father was convicted in Oregon in the 1980s of a cannabis-only offense involving 4 ounces of brick weed. Oregon legalized the possession of 8 ounces back in 2014, with the law taking effect in 2015. He still fails background checks in 2022 even though Oregon legalized cannabis years ago. It’s one of many unfortunate examples of how a cannabis offense on a person’s record can have a lasting, negative impact.

Germany Drug Commissioner Czar Burkhard Blienert Germany Drug Commissioner Czar Burkhard Blienert

German Commissioner Provides Insight Into Legalization Approach

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

International cannabis policy and industry observers have had their eyes set on Germany ever since the current governing coalition expressed a desire to legalize cannabis for adult use at the national level. Often referred to as ‘the traffic light coalition,’ the current governing coalition in Germany made the announcement shortly after the last election.

Germany is already home to the largest medical cannabis industry in Europe, and given that it has one of the largest economies on planet earth, adult-use legalization coupled with a regulated national sales system would be an extremely big deal. So far Uruguay, Canada, and Malta have legalized cannabis for adult use, however, none of those countries have the same legalization model.

Malta still prohibits adult-use sales, although it will eventually allow private clubs to exist, and Uruguay has historically limited sales to residents via pharmacies and clubs. Canada is the only country that has legalized cannabis sales to all adults via a robust buffet of options – storefronts, delivery, ordering online, etc.

Germany is planning on allowing adult-use sales nationwide via a range of options, and once that happens it will likely prove to be bigger for global cannabis efforts than the three current legal nations combined. Canada, Uruguay, and Malta have a combined population of roughly 42 million people. Compare that to Germany which has a population that is nearly double that figure.

Burkhard Blienert, who we were proud to have as a speaker at our last event in Berlin, has served as Germany’s ‘drug czar’ since January. Blienert recently participated in an interview with Stern in which he discussed, among other things, the effort to legalize cannabis in Germany. To read the full interview click this link. Below are some interesting excerpts (translated to English):

Stern: They started with the promise of a “progressive drug policy”. What does that mean for you? 

Blienert: This is clearly the realization that in the field of cannabis, criminal law is not a tool that helps. That’s not how we reach consumers. That’s why we need a different social perspective on how we deal with it.

Stern: Education without criminal law – aren’t you playing down drug use?

Blienert: I believe that society’s job is to protect people. When it comes to cannabis, we are very specific in the coalition agreement. The point is not to allow people to obtain products that are illegal and harmful to their health on the black market, but to empower people and create regulated access to safe products for them. 

Stern: What’s the latest on cannabis legalization?

Blienert: A lot of people are looking forward to that. 

Stern: That’s exactly why I’m asking. 

Blienert: I’ll have to disappoint everyone at the moment. We are in the early stages where we are debating and discussing the structures for a process. We need a law that lasts. The way there is not a short-distance run. This is a complex and complicated project involving many ministries. And I would like us to involve the public, associations and science. The goal is legalization in this legislative period. We’ll do it.

Stern: Why is this taking so long? Actually, the coalition parties were in agreement. 

Blienert: It’s really not a short story, it’s a novel that we’re writing right now and it needs good preparation, research, a good structure, so that afterwards the ending will be good. 

driving car dui duii under the influence intoxicants driving car dui duii under the influence intoxicants

Canadian Researchers Analyze Dozens Of Cannabis/Alcohol DUI Studies

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Science.

Driving under the influence policies as they pertain to cannabis is an extremely important area of public policy. Everyone should want to keep roadways safe and treat driving while intoxicated by any substance as a very serious matter.

With that being said, just because someone consumes cannabis does not automatically mean that they are too impaired to drive. Also, just because someone has cannabis in their system it doesn’t mean that they are impaired, and for that matter, it doesn’t mean that the cannabis in the person’s system indicates that they consumed recently.

Cannabis can stay in a person’s system for a very long time, and due to how fast the body metabolizes cannabis, having cannabinoids in the system could mean that the person consumed cannabis just hours prior, or a month prior – there’s no scientific way to know for sure once cannabinoids have been metabolized.

Policymakers and regulators are struggling with how to address cannabis DUI policies, with many trying to superimpose the approach to alcohol DUIs on the approach to cannabis use.

Unfortunately for those people, cannabis does not interact with the human body the same way that alcohol does, as demonstrated by the results of a new study. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:

Alberta, Canada: The magnitude of cannabis’ influence on driving performance is far less than that of alcohol, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the journal Addiction.

Canadian researchers analyzed data from 57 studies assessing the influence of cannabis and alcohol on driving behavior and crash risk.

They acknowledged that cannabis exposure was typically associated with deviation in drivers’ lateral positioning (lane weaving) and a decrease in their average speed. Cannabis use was “not associated with an increase in crashes in experimental studies.” Authors also found “no compelling evidence” that cannabis influenced hazard response time, headway variability, time out of lane, speed variability, speed exceedance, or time speeding.

They concluded, “Specifically, for the measures reported here, there are no instances where the average effect of cannabis is equal to or greater than the driving performance decrements associated with BAC concentration ranging from 0.04 to 0.06 percent.”

Consistent with other studies, authors acknowledged that the combined use of cannabis and alcohol “is generally more detrimental to driving performance relative to non-intoxication or to either drug in isolation.”

NORML has long acknowledged that acute cannabis intoxication can influence driving performance, particularly if consumed with alcohol, and has opined that anyone inhaling cannabis “should refrain from driving for a period of several hours.”

Full text of the study, “Effects of cannabis and alcohol on driving performance and driver behavior: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” appears in Addiction. Additional information is available in the NORML fact sheet, ‘Marijuana and Psychomotor Performance.’

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Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Criticizes Legalization In Other Countries

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister came out swinging this week against cannabis legalization in the Western Hemisphere:

This is not the first time that Russia’s government has been critical of cannabis legalization in other countries, specifically when it comes to Canada. When Canada announced plans to legalize cannabis for adult use nationally, Russia was quick to condemn the move.

In the summer of 2018 Moscow issued a stern warning to Canada regarding looming cannabis legalization at the time, stating that Canada’s new policy meant it had “deliberately decided to breach international law.” Canada legalized cannabis in October 2018.

“We expect Canada’s partners in the G7 to respond to its ‘high-handedness’ because this alliance has repeatedly declared its adherence to the domination of international law in relations between states,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement at the time.

The comments out of Russia come in the midst of not only the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine but also as WNBA star Brittney Griner remains in custody in Russia while facing serious cannabis-related charges.

Griner, a United States citizen and professional women’s basketball star, was arrested at an airport in Russia after allegedly being found in possession of cannabis vape pen cartridges. Griner is looking at a potential decade in prison in Russia as a result, which serves as a grim reminder of how harmful Russia’s cannabis policies are.