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World Athletics President: Reconsider Cannabis Policies

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

Athletic competition plays a huge role in society across the planet. Some sports are more popular than others in any given part of the world, however, you will be hard pressed to find a part of the world that doesn’t have athletes competing in some fashion, as well as fans watching them do it.

With that in mind, it’s not a coincidence that professional athletes, including Olympic athletes, have been used for cannabis prohibition propaganda purposes. Prohibition in sports serves the purpose of perpetuating support for cannabis prohibition in society. Anyone that says otherwise hasn’t paid attention. Professional sports leagues and regulatory bodies are starting to reform their cannabis policies, yet historically that was not the case.

Growing Calls For Reform

Late last week the President of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, indicated support for reviewing the sports regulatory body’s cannabis policies. The hinting at a cannabis policy review came right before the beginning of the track and field World Championships.

“I have actually encouraged our own Athletics Integrity Unit to enter into discussions with the World-Anti Doping Agency, and obviously the national anti-doping agencies, to look at this and to come back with some thoughts and suggestions,” Coe said according to Insider.

It makes no sense why track and field athletes, or any other athletes, would be penalized for simply having cannabis in their system. After all, no one is advocating that athletes should be able to compete while intoxicated by cannabis (or anything else for that matter). Cannabis is not ‘bad for athletes’ as some prohibitionists claim, and while cannabis does provide wellness benefits, those benefits do not rise to the level of it warranting continued prohibition under the premise that ‘cannabis is a performance-enhancing substance.’

Making An Example Out Of Athletes

If you have followed sports long enough, then chances are you have seen an athlete fail a drug test for cannabis at least once. That is what happened to my hero multiple times, former NBA player Clifford Robinson, during his 18-year playing career. Each time he failed a league drug test it wasn’t just the penalty of getting fined or missing games that he had to deal with.

Robinson was consistently subjected to enormous and unjust stigma each time, being described by the media and league officials as ‘having let his team down’ and having ‘off the court problems’ that ‘makes it hard to have him be a part of the franchise.’ In every measurable way Robinson, who I would later become friends with and help with his pursuits in various manners, was the target of a relentless smear campaign because the league wanted to make an example out of him, and to some extent that targeting involved prohibitionists outside of the league.

It’s a stigma that followed him well into retirement, preventing him from ever getting coaching positions he wanted, from being invited to various league functions, and many other things. I know that to be true because I witnessed it firsthand while helping him. To hammer home the point, the team Cliff was an all-star for, my beloved Portland Trail Blazers, does not have his number hanging in the rafters and I have yet to find any pictures or references of him at the Blazers’ arena, despite Robinson being the only ‘6th Man of the Year’ recipient in the team’s entire history.

As far as I am concerned, not only does the NBA need to recognize Clifford’s contributions to the league during his historic career, the league also needs to issue a formal apology to him and every other athlete that was subjected to inhumane cannabis policies. The same needs to happen in every other major sports league, the Olympics, and by other athletic entities that enforced cannabis prohibition policies, including World Athletics.

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European Parliament Members Form New Cannabis Reform Group

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

The European continent is in the midst of a cannabis revolution with policies being reformed for the better in a growing number of countries. Malta became the first country on the continent to pass an adult-use cannabis legalization measure late last year, and it most certainly will not be the last to do so.

Cannabis reform is a serious issue that every country needs to explore thoroughly and with an open mind. Also, countries need to collaborate as much as possible to help ensure that their domestic laws don’t create unnecessary hurdles for the emerging industry.

In order for Europe’s legal cannabis industry to reach its full potential, not only do domestic laws within individual countries need to be sensible, but there also needs to be a concerted effort at the continental level to adopt policies, rules, and regulations that make sense.

Members of the European Parliament seem to agree with the previously stated needs and have formed a group involving multiple political parties and representing multiple nations. Per Malta Today:

Five members of the European Parliament hailing from different political groups and different EU Member States have come together to create an informal interest group of MEPs who support human rights-based policies relating to the personal use of cannabis.

In an open letter to the 705 Members of the European Parliament encouraging MEPs to join the informal group, MEPs Cyrus Engerer (Malta, SD), Monica Semedo (Luxembourg, Renew), Mikuláš Peksa (Czech Republic, Greens), Dorian Rookmaker (The Netherlands, ECR) and Luke “Ming” Flanagan (Ireland, The Left) welcome the recent developments on cannabis legalisation in Germany, Malta and Luxembourg and call for more information sharing between Member States on the topic.

How fruitful the group’s efforts will end up being is anyone’s guess at this point, however, it’s definitely a worthwhile endeavor and hopefully more members will join, especially from countries like Germany and Switzerland where the cannabis industry is booming.

With Germany inching ever-closer to legalization, and the likely opening of the legalization floodgates once that happens, it’s more important now than ever for lawmakers across Europe to join the conversation if they haven’t already, and to let facts and evidence lead the way instead of letting prohibition politics drive the conversation.

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Senator Proposes Cannabis Tax In Uruguay

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

Uruguay will forever hold the title of being the first country on earth to pass a nationwide adult-use cannabis legalization measure. Lawmakers in Uruguay made the historic move in 2013, with regulated sales launching in 2017.

Regulated sales are still limited to residents in Uruguay, with tourists currently being prohibited from making legal purchases. It’s one disadvantage to Uruguay’s legalization model compared to Canada’s, where anyone of legal age can make purchases regardless of their residence status.

One distinct advantage that Uruguay’s model has over Canada, at least from a consumer standpoint, is that there is no tax on cannabis purchases in Uruguay. When Uruguay’s law was initially passed, the lack of taxes on cannabis purchases was geared toward directly undercutting the unregulated market.

Lawmakers in Uruguay recognized at the time that the more regulated cannabis costs at the point of sale, the less likely consumers would be to take the regulated route versus making their purchases via unregulated sources. This is not to say that Uruguay’s cannabis industry is free from fees. Producers have to pay licensing fees and people in the industry still have to pay income taxes on profits.

A Senator in Uruguay is proposing a new tax on cannabis to help fund, among other things, athletic competitions. Per El Observador Senator Sergio Botana is proposing a 1.5% tax on cannabis in Uruguay to help generate funds for the Uruguay Olympic Committee.

By comparison, cannabis taxes in Canada are much more complex than the flat percentage rate being proposed in Uruguay by Senator Botana. Still, a 1.5% tax rate would effectively be lower than what is required in Canada, and significantly lower than many (if not all) of the state-level tax rates in the United States.

With that being said, cannabis taxes are always a risky area of public policy and involve a very slippery slope. If/when Uruguay implements a 1.5% tax rate, how long until it is raised even higher? Whenever lawmakers need to drum up more public revenue, cannabis taxes will likely be a popular target, and that is true not only in Uruguay but also everywhere else that cannabis is legally sold.

Every dollar that gets added to the price of regulated cannabis results in some amount of consumers and patients seeking out cheaper, unregulated options. Also, keeping cannabis tax-free hinders the cannabis industry’s ability to pay for its own regulation and to benefit society beyond regulation, such as generating taxes that go to schools. It’s a delicate balance that lawmakers everywhere need to be mindful of.

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Cannabis Reform Saga Continues In Bermuda

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

Bermuda was on a path to making significant cannabis policy reforms this year. However, all of the progress hit a dead end when the Governor of Bermuda, who is appointed by the United Kingdom, effectively vetoed a cannabis reform measure previously passed by Bermuda lawmakers. Fortunately, there appears to be some hope that the measure could still become law.

As we previously reported on the International Cannabis Chronicle, Boris Johnson’s departure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom could potentially speed up cannabis reform in the UK. It could also prove to be significant in Bermuda as well. Current UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has indicated that she is considering granting ‘royal assent’ to Bermuda’s bill. It was the previous withholding of royal assent by the UK-appointed Governor (Rena Lalgie) that blocked the cannabis reform measure from becoming law.

Filling The UK Political Vacuum

Liz Truss has not publicly announced if/when she will make a formal decision on the matter. All that we have to operate on right now is that ‘A Government House spokesperson’ told The Royal Gazette that “The foreign secretary is considering whether assent can be given, and the Governor awaits a decision.”

It’s absolutely worth noting the context in which Truss will be making the decision that is being reported in Bermuda and the UK. With Boris Johnson on his way out, Truss is expected to pursue the Prime Minister position. How successful she will be if/when she chooses to pursue the effort is unclear, however, along the way she will likely try to make some bold moves to boost support for her as Prime Minister. Granting royal assent to Bermuda would be a great way to do exactly that.

Continued Colonization

The entire concept of royal assent is based on colonization. Bermuda is unfortunately not really its own country in the eyes of the international community, but rather, a British colony. Bermuda was originally colonized following the English Virginia Company permanently settling there in 1609. Later, following the unification of the parliaments of Scotland and England in 1707, Bermuda’s current British colony status was forced on the Bermuda population and has remained in place ever since.

Due to the colony status, Bermuda has to receive approval, or ‘royal assent,’ in order to implement the bills that its own lawmakers approve. It’s an absolutely ridiculous concept that is designed to keep the local population oppressed. From that perspective, not only does the UK need to respect the will of voters and lawmakers in Bermuda, but it also needs to let the people of Bermuda govern themselves without any interference by the UK.

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Cutting Edge German Cannabis Possession Case Decided On Appeal

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Policy.

A Lübeck appeals court has exonerated a father and son of possession on the basis of “emergency” treatment. The case may help other German patients beat criminal charges

On the last day of May, a regional appeals court in Lübeck (in the north of Germany) published what might yet become a bellwether cannabis case. As a result, it will also be important to patients across the country for at least the next 18 months until recreational cannabis reform actually kicks in. Namely, the court found that both a father who sourced hundreds of grams for his seriously ill son and the son were innocent of violations of the German Narcotics Act.

In doing so, the court annulled a District Court ruling which held that the two defendants were guilty of six counts of possessing large amounts of narcotics. The pair faced large fines.

The regional court acquitted both men because the possession of cannabis was justified under German law as an “emergency.” Namely, the son suffers from painful spasticity, the amount prescribed for the same was not sufficient to properly treat the symptoms, and the father obtained cannabis for his son to fill the gap.

What makes this case stand out is that the son needed six to seven grams of cannabis a day to properly treat symptoms (which is on the higher end of reimbursement, to begin with). Beyond this, the court also recognized that health insurance companies are increasingly stringent with cannabis approvals, even when justified.

In this case, the court ruled that any criminal penalties otherwise justified are overridden by a critical and unfilled medical need.

A Terrible Predicament

While recreational cannabis reform is clearly moving in Germany, the reality is that it cannot move fast enough for those who are, like the defendant and his caregiver in this case, chronically ill but still not covered by public healthcare. Such patients are directly in the line of fire – which has not been averted yet – by a government that recognizes that recreational reform must happen soon and medical reform is now five years old.

It is bad enough that casual recreational users are still directly in the line of federal drug charges. But for a country where medical use is theoretically legal, there needs to be an amnesty issued soon to protect those who may yet be unfortunate enough to be charged.

This case, as a result, may well show up in the defense of literally hundreds if not thousands of patients whose cases are still pending before full reform becomes the law of the land.

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Home Grow In Italy: Just Around The Corner?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Policy.

The country is poised to follow a trend seen in multiple European countries – namely introducing recreational reform with a limited home grow option

Italy may join the European club of countries allowing home grow by the end of the year. A bill to allow home cultivation of up to four plants finally reached the Chamber of Deputies (the Italian version of the American House of Representatives) in late June.

If passed, the bill would allow not only home grow but would also allow judges to impose reduced sentences for those who still are considered in violation of the new law. It would also require judges to impose penalties on a case-by-case basis.

The point of the legislation is to reduce the amount of money flowing directly into the coffers of organized crime and rectify shortages in the country’s medical cannabis infrastructure, provision, and distribution system.

The bill is expected to be voted on in the coming weeks before being considered by the Italian Senate in early fall.

The Status of Cannabis Reform in Italy

Italy has largely followed other countries, namely Germany, into the cannabis legalization debate. The country began medical cultivation in earnest after Germany passed its own medical legalization bill in 2017 – with the oversight of the same performed by the military.

Beyond this, CBD or cannabis lite as it is referred to across Europe, has become extremely popular in the country. In addition, case law on home grow has gotten increasingly compelling. Despite the failure of a petition to legalize recreational cannabis at the Italian Supreme Court late last year, it is clear that the issue is moving forward anyway at the legislative level – probably also speeded along by continuing reform including on the home grow front in other European countries.

Home Grow – The European First Step Towards Full Legalization

Over the past few months, the idea of implementing home grow as a first step towards greater recreational reform has gone from anathema to popular on-ramp to full normalization.

Malta started the trend late last year. Luxembourg, whose government promised full recreational reform by 2024, subsequently followed suit this spring with a similar idea. Portugal is well on the way to doing the same. Germany, in all likelihood, will also implement some kind of home grow in the legalization discussion. This is because there is a similar problem with medical cannabis provision and compensation in Italy. Not enough patients are getting their prescriptions approved, forcing them into the black market – or home cultivation.

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The Bleeding Edge Of International Cannabis Reform Is Being Forged By Women

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Policy.

Women are on the front lines of the war to legalize cannabis – and paying a heavy price

There are two high-profile cannabis cases right now that are making global headlines. Both of them involve women who have been caught with cannabis – and face years if not decades in prison.

In Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner has just pled guilty to drug charges for bringing about a gram of liquid cannabis in her luggage as she embarked on what she thought would be a lucrative off-season abroad.

Just days before this, last week, an Israeli woman was sentenced to life imprisonment rather than the death sentence for drug possession (including cannabis) in the United Arab Emirates.

Women may not be represented equally in the industry at the executive level yet, but they are increasingly on the front end of the drug war as global laws change. Not to mention being subjected to heavy penalties.

Women Are “Half the Battle”

In North America, women are certainly more present in the industry than just about anywhere else – and from every level – from working in the industry itself to proudly identifying as consumers (which is, if one remembers just a few years ago, a real and welcome change.)

Indeed, it speaks volumes that a high-profile female American user would be targeted in Russia in what many observers are calling a bold power play to obtain an early release for Russians held in the US and for far worse “crimes.” Russian officials have even been quoted as saying that they have done nothing differently than some U.S. states still can (even though hemp is now federally legal).

Regardless, the entire scenario puts yet more of a spotlight on the political deadlock on federal legalization in the US – not to mention the state of reform in Russia.

Cannabis reform is also lagging throughout the Arab world. The UAE, like most Arabic countries, has not reformed its cannabis laws – much – although life in prison is preferable to the death penalty.

Regardless, this case too highlights the draconian penalties that still exist in some parts of the world for a plant with increasingly noted healing properties. Not to mention that such laws are being applied without regard to gender.

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Will Boris Johnson’s Departure As Prime Minister Speed British Cannabis Reform?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Policy.

The controversial politician was forced to announce his resignation last week. How will this affect the pace of British cannabis reform?

Through the lens of history, the passage of Boris Johnson through the country’s top political job may become forever associated, for good or for bad, with Brexit. How that plays out when it comes to forwarding cannabis reform in the now separated from EU regulations on the same is still unclear.

That said, on the CBD front, it appears that it’s full speed ahead. The Food Safety Authority (FSA) just announced that 12,000 CBD products are now legal for sale in the UK. This puts the country far ahead of the discussion in Europe, where Novel Food regulations have yet again put applications (and legalization) discussions on hold. However, one thing is also clear. The EU may have ruled that CBD is not a narcotic, but this change, along with any other decisions taken at this level, now has to be incorporated into national law in every EU country.

What Is Likely to Shake The Apple Cart?

Far more influential than anything the UK does right now is what is happening in Germany. The government has formally committed to recreational reform, formal hearings have been heard, a white paper will be issued and there is, more or less, a timetable of reform that is now being refined as necessary. The passage of recreational reform will also finally normalize the CBD conversation in Germany.

Beyond this, the normalization of cannabis in Europe’s largest economy – and the fourth largest in the world, will certainly move the needle not only in the EU but in the UK too.

From a medical standpoint, the issue has essentially stalled in the UK so far. That said, both Brexit and Covid – and now the tumult of British national politics – are not likely to be fertile ground for forward-thinking politics on this (or many other issues) until things become a bit less chaotic in the UK.

In the meantime, it is clear that limited cannabis reform is in the offing in special trials (see the mayor of London’s proposal on decrim).

For now, at least, as a result, “Global Britain” is following, not leading, on the cannabis discussion. And right now, all eyes are looking to the Bundestag, not Whitehall, to move the stakes if not the goalposts forward.

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Argentina’s Supreme Court Upholds Medical Cannabis Cultivation Rights

Written by Frank Schuler on . Posted in Policy.

Medical cannabis advocates have tried for many years to get home cultivation officially approved in Argentina. Unfortunately, it has been a very slow process.

As we have mentioned in previous coverage, in 2017 lawmakers in Argentina passed a law that legalized cannabis for medical use. For the next few years, the new law essentially proved to be nothing more than symbolic as industry rules and regulations went nowhere.

In late 2020 Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández signed a decree calling for the legalization of home cultivation along with allowing pharmacies to sell medical cannabis products.

The catch to the 2020 decree, which is essentially the same catch that has hindered Argentina’s medical cannabis program since 2017, is that it relied on the creation of rules and regulations pertaining to licenses. Before someone can cultivate medical cannabis in Argentina they must first obtain a license from the government, and there essentially is no effective licensing process in place.

Medical cannabis advocates have pursued various legal remedies, and Argentina’s Supreme Court recently rendered a landmark decision that provides some legal protections for home cultivation. Per El Destape (auto-translated to English):

The Supreme Court of the Nation unanimously ratified the decriminalization of the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and made it compulsory to register it in the official records for those who want to carry out this practice . The highest court ruled in this regard when evaluating the proposals of the Medicinal Cannabis Moms Association (Macame) of Santa Fe, which had questioned the constitutionality of the rules regarding the self-cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use by minors in their care.

“The public health and safety reasons involved are sufficient to justify the State issuing administrative authorizations within the framework of Law 27,350 for self-cultivation and the production of products derived from cannabis for medicinal purposes. This determines, in turn, that the intervention of the State in this area does not imply an unjustified interference in the personal autonomy of article 19 of the National Constitution”, he stressed.

Ultimately, what is needed is a fully functioning medical cannabis program in Argentina so that there is no room for doubt when it comes to the rights of medical cannabis patients.

Every patient should be able to cultivate cannabis legally based on codified laws that law enforcement is mandated to follow. Whenever patients have to rely on case law in the absence of codified law, it always creates situations that are ripe for selective enforcement which no patient should ever have to deal with.