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Thailand’s Public Health Minister Does Not Support Recriminalizing Cannabis Again

Written by Frank Schuler on . Posted in Policy.

Earlier this year Thailand implemented a historic law that dramatically changed the nation’s cannabis policies. Low-THC cannabis became legal nationwide, and literally, every household in Thailand became eligible to apply to cultivate cannabis.

It would be a major shift for any country, however, it was particularly impressive for a nation located in a region where people can still receive the death penalty for cannabis-only offenses.

A grim reminder of that fact happened recently when Singapore executed someone who was caught with cannabis. The ultimate penalty came after the person served seven years in prison.

Thailand’s new cannabis law is significant, and will hopefully serve as an example for the rest of the region to follow. Unfortunately, there has been some pushback in Thailand with calls to pull back the new cannabis policy, although it appears that those naysayers do not have a very sympathetic audience with Thailand’s Public Health Minister.

Below is a social media post from Khaosod English:

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnveerakul vowed on Tuesday to not allow anyone to criminalised marijuana again. Speaking at a marjuana, spa and tourism promotion event, Anutin said there will be a chain reaction affecting many businesses if marijuana is criminalised again as many business contracts to produce and market marijuana for medical purposes have been signed.

The minister added that even though the Marijuana Act has yet to be enacted, public health regulations restricted the use of marijuana for recreational purposesabd it must be regulated like tobacco as it causes adverse effects to health. Anutin said officials at the Public Health Ministry listen to those, including medical professionals, who oppose the decriminalization and will use their inputs in revising the draft Marijuana Bill.

Cannabis prohibition does not work. It is an inhumane public policy and a complete waste of limited public safety resources. Law enforcement should be fighting real crime, and the judicial system reserved for prosecuting actual criminals.

Thailand’s new approach to cannabis policy is still very young by public policy standards, and hopefully as more time goes by and the unfounded fear-mongering claims by prohibitionists will prove to be just rhetoric, hopefully then the calls for reinstituting full prohibition will subside.

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Another Grim Reminder Of Singapore’s Horrific Cannabis Laws

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

More and more people around the globe are taking part in new cannabis freedoms thanks to cannabis policies being reformed either by citizen initiatives or by legislative action. Every victory is worth celebrating each and every time.

However, there’s still a lot of reform work that needs to occur, with another very grim reminder coming this week in Singapore where a man was executed for doing nothing more than reportedly selling cannabis – something that is now legal in several jurisdictions for medical and/or adult-use. Per The Province:

A tweet from writer, researcher and community organizer Kokila Annamalai noted that confirmation had been received that the man was executed at Changi Prison after earlier being convicted of cannabis trafficking.

Many people who commented on Annamalai’s post voiced frustration.

“Killed for selling the plant my dad grows in his back garden in Canada,” one poster wrote. “I’m hoping that the rise of social media disrupts the Singaporean government’s media stranglehold on narrative and leads to real change,” added another.

Singapore law is such that selling cannabis results in an automatic death penalty. While it seems unclear exactly how much cannabis the person was caught selling, Singapore’s law has a threshold of 500 grams of cannabis. Anything above that and it’s an automatic death sentence.

From what it sounds like from some of the social media comments, the person that was executed was perhaps cultivating cannabis. If so, it doesn’t take much to get to the 500-gram limit. It is not uncommon for one plant to yield thousands of grams of cannabis if the grower knows what they are doing.

Per the reporting out of Singapore, the execution was the 6th for a drug offense just since late March. Singapore’s government has offered up several excuses for keeping its inhumane policies in place, however, none of them will ever be able to justify executing someone for doing nothing more than selling/cultivating a plant that is exponentially safer than alcohol.

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Lawmaker In India: Promote Cannabis, Not Alcohol

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

Historically, cannabis was portrayed as ‘the scourge of man’ in film and by mainstream media. The related reefer madness-induced stigma was simultaneously perpetuated by lawmakers across the globe. Meanwhile, alcohol is embraced by most cultures and political majorities around the world and has been for a logn time, which is unfortunate given how much safer cannabis is compared to alcohol.

In fact, a team of international researchers once determined that cannabis is roughly 114 times safer than alcohol. Given that mathematical fact and the scientific research backing it up, why is cannabis illegal in so many places, and yet alcohol is permitted?

According to the World Health Organization, “The harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions,” and “Worldwide, 3 million deaths every year result from harmful use of alcohol. This represents 5.3% of all deaths.”

Conversely, no one has ever died in recorded human history from consuming cannabinoids alone. There have been examples of cannabis being contaminated and people dying from consuming the contaminants, but never from consuming the cannabinoids alone. Clearly, given those facts, cannabis prohibition policies are not based on science.

While it’s very important to highlight the hypocrisy of cannabis prohibition and simultaneous permitted alcohol consumption and sales, it’s also important to refrain from shaming people for alcohol use. Just as consuming cannabis is a personal choice, so too is the choice to consume alcohol. Prohibition of either substance doesn’t work.

With that being said, given the difference between the two from a safety standpoint, the more that people consume cannabis instead of alcohol is always a good thing, and something that governments should encourage as part of a harm reduction strategy.

That is a point that seems to be embraced by at least one lawmaker in India who is ramping up calls to regulate cannabis like alcohol. Per excerpts from Scroll.in:

A Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Chhattisgarh has suggested the promotion of bhaang and cannabis as alternatives to liquor, claiming that those who consume the former rarely commit serious crimes, PTI reported on Monday.

While I don’t agree with some of the rhetorical alcohol shaming that is part of the conversation in India right now, I do agree with the sentiment on the pro-cannabis side to some degree.

Just as someone can consume alcohol responsibly and should be allowed to do so, so too should people be allowed to consume cannabis responsibly if that is their choice, and that should be true in India as well as everywhere else.

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Push For Adult-Use Legalization Gains Momentum In Colombia

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

Colombia is not new to the international cannabis scene. For many decades Colombian cannabis has served as a top source for cannabis consumers around the world, albeit in an unregulated fashion.

The South American country is most associated with a different intoxicating substance, cocaine, however, Colombia also cultivates tons and tons of cannabis.

I don’t know who was the first person to smuggle cannabis out of Colombia, but I do know that international smugglers such as Robert ‘The Tuna’ Platshorn went to Colombia as early as the 1970s to purchase cannabis by the boat load and sailed literal tons of cannabis back to North America.

Sun-grown cannabis grows very well in Colombia’s climate with far less effort and inputs compared to industrial cannabis cultivation operations found elsewhere on the planet.

A cultivation expert that I know and who travels to Colombia often once told me that a pound of cannabis can be cultivated in Colombia for just $7. That puts Colombia in a very advantageous position to reap the benefits of the emerging international cannabis industry.

That is a sentiment that appears to be shared by an increasing number of lawmakers in Colombia, including President-elect Gustavo Petro, who has served as a vocal critic of the war on drugs.

Petro recently met with the Biden administration to discuss, among other things, drug policy reform. Per excerpts from Reuters:

Colombian President-elect Gustavo Petro on Friday met with representatives of U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration in Bogota, the Colombian capital, where they discussed topics including drug trafficking, the environment and economic development.

Petro, a 62-year-old economist who will become Colombia’s first leftist leader next month, has been roundly critical of the U.S.-led war on drugs and was elected on promises to tackle deep inequality and climate change and to seek peace with remaining leftist rebels.

An adult-use cannabis legalization measure was recently introduced in Colombia by Colombian Sen. Gustavo Bolivar, and hopefully it gains support.

With cannabis reform on the move around the globe, and Colombia uniquely positioned to gain a huge share of the international market via exports, the time is ripe for reform in the South American nation.

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Unprecedented Speech By German Drugs Commissioner At Cannabis Conference In Berlin

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Policy.

The Commissioner on Narcotic Drugs at the Federal Ministry of Health spoke as the keynote address to a packed auditorium, kicking off International Cannabis Business Conference Berlin 5

For those sitting in the packed audience in the Estrel Hotel in East Berlin last Tuesday, the scene felt a bit surreal. It was a moment five years (at least) in the making. However, for those who are regular attendees of the conference and have been there from the start, it was a historic moment. Finally, a senior member of the German government was in attendance and unashamedly so. Burkhard Blienert, Drugs Commissioner for the German government, made the keynote, opening speech.

The auditorium may have been full, but beyond it, the exhibit space, also the largest it has ever been, was a testament to the growing industry that brought events, not to mention all conference attendees to this point. It is clear that no politician in Germany connected to the cannabis reform issue can ignore the annual conference.

While Blienart did not reveal any more details – except to say that the legislation is still in process and there is much to compromise about – he did clarify the timeline of legalization a bit more clearly. Namely, that a draft bill will likely be released by the end of the year, with passage to occur in 2023.

The process is now underway. If there was an analogy to be made, Germany is now about two years from the beginning of a regulated, legal, cannabis market.

Many Details Still to Be Ironed Out

While there is forward motion, it was also very clear from Blienart’s speech that nothing is done and dusted. Further, there are multiple issues still to be decided. This starts with deciding what will be a legal point of sale. While he did not say as much, other rumours coming out of Berlin of late have suggested that online sales – at least at first – will be banned.

Beyond this, there is also the issue of home grow. Blienart did not rule it out. Indeed, the rumour mill has also suggested that the first number on the table is three plants.

Taxation also remains an open question.

Regardless, it is now a certainty that legalization is not going to founder. And despite the fact that there is at least an 18-month window from this summer to legal sales, it is also clear that things will not be delayed much longer than this either.

Recreational cannabis is coming to Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy. The conversation will never be the same.

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Multiple National Cannabis Missions At International Cannabis Business Conference In Berlin

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business, Entertainment, Policy, Science.

Multiple economic missions had booths at the conference last week – the beginning of an international trend

While the scale of the event rivaled any corporate conference – as did the exhibit booths – one thing stood out clearly this year at the Berlin International Cannabis Business Conference last week: The arrival of cannabis missions from international locales.

Last year, both Zimbabwe and New Zealand sent economic trade envoys to the conference. This year, both New Zealand and Thailand had their own booths, promoting their country’s cannabis exports.

It is, clearly, the beginning of a wave. The International Cannabis Business Conference has, since its beginning in 2017 been the most international, high-level business conference in the world. From now on, governments will be taking notice.

It is obviously now a relatively fast-changing world. One where the governments of three European countries (Malta, Germany, and Luxembourg) met last week to begin a series of high-level meetings on changing cannabis regulation across the region.

Unprecedented Market Access

One of the most important reasons for foreign producers to work with their governments to send trade mission presence to the International Cannabis Business Conference conference is that the access created by the International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin is unprecedented, globally. Attended by all the major producers across Europe and in Germany, along with representatives of what are now believed to be the 187 distributors across Deutschland, the conference is an unparalleled opportunity to gain market access to the cannabis market in the world’s fourth-largest economy.

From the moment you hit the conference floor, it is very clear you have just entered a cannabis zone of unique scope and size.

Not Just Germany

Beyond individual companies and trade delegations, the conference is also packed with buyers and sellers of every kind. This ranges from brokers to resellers to pan European distributors to investors.

If you are looking to buy (or sell) any kind of wholesale cannabis product across the EU, this is the place to be.

There is no major segment of the cannabis world that is excluded

What Does the Future Hold?

The International Cannabis Business Conference in just a few short years has established itself as the premiere gathering place for the global industry. This will only continue to build. Look for a bigger conference, more attendees, official delegations and of course, increasingly senior politicians and deal makers.

Within two years, this is going to be the ground zero of a recreational market. The sky may not be the limit, but it will surely go even more stratospheric!

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First Of Its Kind Multilateral EU Policy Meeting On Cannabis Held In Luxembourg

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Policy.

The first of many high-level meetings on the legalization of cannabis was held in Luxembourg between representatives from Germany, Luxembourg, and Malta

An unprecedented meeting occurred on Friday, July 15 – just three days before the beginning of the International Cannabis Business Conference’s Global Investment Forum in Berlin.

Ministers from Germany, Luxembourg and Malta met for the first time to kick off a series of meetings between the countries on how to legalize recreational cannabis.

There were three sessions. Two focussed on international and European law. The third looked at the opportunities and challenges ahead as public policy and regulations change.

After the meeting, they issued a highly revealing joint statement along with personal comments from attendees. According to the Luxembourg Minister of Justice, Sam Tanson, “Almost half a century after the entry into force of our law establishing the criminalisation of drug-related behaviour, namely the law of 19 February 1973 on the sale of medicinal substances and the fight against drug addiction, Luxembourg still pursues a drug policy focused mainly on repression. However, as our statistics show, the failure of this approach cannot be denied, and the time has come to develop a new approach, based on dialogue with the states that have made the same observation and the European and international institutions.”

The Key Takeaways

For those who have been watching global developments, this multilateral meeting was actually unprecedented. Nothing has happened quite like it on the path to legalizing the plant in the last decade.

The key takeaways were equally historic. Namely:

  • The demand for cannabis – both for medical and recreational use has grown exponentially. In fact, cannabis now accounts for 39% of all illegal drug traffic in the region. Unless the underground economy is undermined, this represents a major security threat from the amount of cash that is being handed over to organized crime.
  • There is no way to control any form of cannabis unless the laws are changed, and regulations are established.
  • Law enforcement is being challenged by the fact that it is no longer possible to distinguish between cannabinoids without expensive testing.
  • There is a need for EU governments to reassess their cannabis policies which reflect changing realities as well as to strengthen social programs geared towards health and prevention rather than criminalizing use.

There is no word yet on the schedule of meetings, or whether the first group will expand the invitee list to other legalizing countries, but given the broad scope of the inquiry, it would appear that these three countries are setting the table for a European-wide discussion about all cannabis regulation, and for all purposes.

Stay tuned. This is getting interesting.

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Indonesia Sees Setback In Medical Cannabis Reform

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Policy.

The Asian country appears to be on the fast track to follow Thailand into the medical cannabis reform column. Unfortunately, the Constitutional Court has rejected the plea to review the Narcotics Act – leaving reform in the hands of the legislators

A major lawsuit launched in Indonesia has now failed in its bid to convince the country’s highest court to amend the national Narcotics Act to exclude cannabis. For all the good news, it is important to remember that cannabis reform is still not a given in too many countries in the world. Many of those nations are now located in Asia.

Beyond Australia and New Zealand, Thailand remains the only other Asian country to have begun the process, although it was widely hoped that the court would accept the judicial review.

However, all is not lost. The impact of the case that got to the court in the first place is having a huge impact on the discussion far beyond the courtroom. Indeed, the story of Santi Warastuti along with the two other plaintiffs and their children is one that has ignited a storm of political support.

The Vice President of the country, moved by the plight of the suffering children in the case recently told the top religious body in the country to issue a fatwa – a religious decree – allowing Muslims to use cannabis.

Beyond this, the Parliament is currently considering a medical cannabis law.

The court may have failed to act, but the fight is very far from being over.

The Thai Tipping Point?

Thailand is clearly creating waves throughout Asia in its fast movement towards not only medical cannabis for domestic use, but also for export. The country has quickly established not only a wide domestic medical cultivation base but is now actively seeking to sell its medical crops abroad (starting with Germany).

This rapid conversion, along with the establishment of export markets in both New Zealand and Australia, is clearly making regional news.

Asia could easily become one of if not the centres of cannabis production and consumption globally. Many believe the plant originated from this part of the world. It has certainly shown up in almost every Asian country’s history – mostly used as a medicine or religious herb – or both.

The impact of the Asian region finally swinging, en masse, to even “just” medical reform cannot be understated.

That is why it is important that Indonesia continue down its current path of reform.

No matter the setback, in other words, in the judicial arena, it is also clear that forward progress is coming here. Just not via the courts – but rather the legislature.

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Will The United States Ever Legalize Cannabis Federally?

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

The negative impact of cannabis prohibition in the United States goes far beyond the country’s borders. Every country around the world enacts its own cannabis laws, however, prohibition in the U.S. largely drove prohibition abroad over the years.

Yet, whereas much of the world followed the United States’ lead when it came to enacting prohibition policies, countries such as Uruguay, Canada, and Malta didn’t wait around and have zoomed past the U.S. when it comes to ending cannabis prohibition for adult use.

For that matter, many states within the U.S. have already taken matters into their own hands and passed legalization measures at the state level. Every passing year seems to result in more states passing legalization either via legislative action or through the ballot box.

Lawmakers at the federal level have tried for some time, to varying degrees, to pass an adult-use legalization measure. Unfortunately, it has failed to happen, with bill after bill dying a slow death in Congress.

There is optimism that something could happen this session in Congress, with the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act finally being introduced in the Senate. The measure was teased for quite some time prior to being introduced and was essentially hyped as a measure that the Senate could finally support after the Senate has failed repeatedly to pass measures previously passed by the House.

I don’t personally have a lot of hope for this specific measure passing, partially because some advocates do not think that it goes far enough, and mostly because Congress is dysfunctional, and getting anything reasonable passed these days seems to be extremely difficult.
Only time will tell. No one knows for sure when cannabis will be legalized federally in the U.S., and anyone that says otherwise is likely trying to sell you something.

Below is more information about the newly introduced Senate measure via a news release from our friends at the National Cannabis Industry Association (sent to us via email on June 21st):

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer (D-NY) along with Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) which is now the Senate’s only pending legislation that would provide comprehensive cannabis policy reforms across the nation.

The landmark bill would remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act and move regulatory responsibility from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies to protect public health and safety. The legislation would also allow the state-regulated medical and adult-use cannabis industries already in place in 37 states to operate without federal interference.

The Senate Democrats’ CAOA would also institute a federal excise tax of 5-25% on cannabis on top of the already-hefty state taxes imposed on the industry, concerning advocates for small cannabis businesses and equity operators.

“We applaud the authors of this legislation for working to bring federal law into harmony with the states and the vast majority of voters who have called for an end to prohibition,” said Aaron Smith, co-founder and chief executive officer of the National Cannabis Industry Association. “We look forward to working with Senators on both sides of the aisle to improve the tax provisions in this bill on behalf of small cannabis businesses and eventually pass it into law.”

The long-awaited CAOA Act was introduced after a bill sponsors circulated a discussion draft last year. NCIA and other advocacy organizations provided comprehensive feedback to the bill’s authors last year. Notable changes to the legislation include:

  • Increases the permissible THC by dry weight from the current 0.3 percent to 0.7 percent and refines the definition of “hemp,” and consequently “cannabis” by taking into account the total THC in a cannabis product, rather than just delta-9 THC.

  • Changes to the weight quantity to qualify a person for felony cannabis distribution or possession charge under the section from 10 pounds to 20 pounds.

  • Provides that a court shall automatically, after a sentencing review, expunge each federal cannabis conviction, vacate any remaining sentence, and resentence the defendant as if this law had been in place prior to the original sentencing.

  • Enables a noncitizen who has received a deportation order based on a cannabis-related offense to file a motion to reconsider that decision. If the motion to reconsider is filed within 30 days of the removal order, the motion may allow for the cancellation of the deportation order.

  • Establishes a new 10-year intermediary lending pilot program in which SBA would make direct loans to eligible intermediaries that in turn make small business loans to startups, businesses owned by individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, and socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses.

  • Removes the requirement to maintain a bond for any cannabis business that had less than $100,000 in excise tax liability in the prior year and reasonably expects excise tax liability in the current year to be below such amount.

  • Incorporates rules similar to rules currently applicable to permitted malt beverage producers and wholesalers.

Whitney Economics submitted a report outlining concerns with the tax plan, finding that the CAOA would impose an additional $1.1 billion in taxes on the already-struggling and cannabis industry.

“Introducing this far-reaching bill is a historic and important effort but we hope that the Senate moves quickly to pass the bi-partisan SAFE Banking Act which would provide tangible and immediate relief to small businesses and improve public safety by opening access to banking and financial services in our industry,” added Smith.

The SAFE Banking Act has been approved by the House of Representatives seven times and the Senate version of the bill (S. 910) enjoys the support of a bipartisan group of 43 co-sponsors but has yet to be brought to a vote in that chamber.

Laws to make cannabis legal for adults have passed in 19 states as well as the District of Columbia and the territories of CNMI and Guam, and 37 states as well as several territories have comprehensive medical cannabis laws. The substance is legal in some form in 47 states.

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The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) is the largest cannabis trade association in the U.S. and the only organization broadly representing cannabis-related businesses at the national level. NCIA promotes the growth of a responsible and legitimate cannabis industry and works toward a favorable social, economic, and legal environment for that industry in the United States.