Policy – Page 85 – International Cannabis Business Conference

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German Health Minister Given Cannabis Legalization Deadline By Budget Committee

Written by Marguerite Arnold on May 16, 2022. Posted in Policy.

In a unique twist in the annals of cannabis legalization lore, the new head of the German Health Ministry was given an ultimatum by the Bundestag’s budget committee to submit a passable recreational cannabis bill by the end of the summer

The German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has been given a unique incentive to submit legislation that can be passed by the Bundestag by the end of the year to legalize a recreational cannabis market. Do it or have your PR budget withheld.

For his part, Lauterbach almost simultaneously issued statements to the press that he was going to speed up the process.

This means that Germany will have, all things being equal, a fully recreational cannabis market by the end of this year – legislatively at least. How long a gap between the bill’s passage and implementation is anyone’s guess. However, given the track record of legalizing jurisdictions so far, it is not inconceivable that while decriminalization and allowances for record expungement may take place more or less immediately, the actual market start may be delayed for 12-24 months. See Colorado and Canada, if not Holland.

What Could Be in The Cards

There are many question marks now on the table about what could happen next. One thing is for certain. While the Bundestag might, for convenience purposes, leave the cultivation and distribution question alone, this will in turn lead to further legal action. Nobody is happy about the cultivation bid, much less the monopoly distribution bid issued by BfArM. Keeping that as the status quo for the first source of recreational cannabis in Germany is unlikely. Even with the giveaway of open season on dispensaries (although how these should be awarded is another variable here).

Regardless, here are some of the issues that have been bandied about. Home cultivation is apparently on the table, in a win for many activists, but whether that differs for patients and recreational users is another discussion. So is the necessity for patients to have a grow license of their own.

Expect to see a heavy presence of law enforcement and heavy penalties for driving under the influence. Also expect to see at least a discussion of online shops and delivery services, even if only allowed by individual dispensaries.

It is going to be a very interesting 8 months as Germany takes its place as the second large, western economy to now proceed down the path of full and final recreational cannabis reform.

New Zealand’s Cannabis Eradication Operation Is A Complete Waste Of Money

Written by Johnny Green on May 16, 2022. Posted in Archives, Policy.

New Zealand came very close to becoming just the third country to legalize cannabis for adult use, and if it had done so, would have become the first to legalize cannabis via a citizen vote.

Uruguay was the first to legalize cannabis the better part of a decade ago now, and Canada became the second country to legalize cannabis for adult use nearly 4 years ago. Both countries legalized cannabis via legislative action.

In New Zealand, where activists have worked very hard for many years, voters got to weigh in on a cannabis referendum measure back in 2020. Unfortunately, the measure was narrowly defeated by a vote of 51.47% to 48.53%.

As we now know, the failed vote in New Zealand paved the way for a different country, Malta, to eventually become the third country to legalize cannabis for adult use.

So where does cannabis reform stand in New Zealand roughly 1.5 years after the failed cannabis legalization vote? Two top lawmakers in New Zealand recently published a rare dual op-ed (for Stuff).

The op-ed provided a ‘for’ argument in support of cannabis reform by Arena Williams (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Tūhoe), Labour MP for the Auckland electorate of Manurewa, and an ‘against’ argument in support of continued prohibition by Stuart Smith, National MP for the South Island electorate of Kaikōura.

The first paragraph, copied and pasted below, really summed up how ineffective prohibition is in New Zealand:

Senior police say the annual cannabis eradication operation, costing $700,000, a year, does nothing to reduce the supply or raise the price of marijuana on the street and distracts from targeting gangs, guns and meth.

The ‘core operating budget‘ for New Zealand’s current fiscal year is in the billions, so from that perspective, $700,000 is not a lot. However, it’s still a huge waste of money, as apparently pointed out by ‘senior police.’ So what is the point?

From my perspective, the country’s cannabis eradication program is nothing more than symbolic, presumably meant to serve as something for prohibitionists to point to as ‘proof’ that the country is fighting the unregulated cannabis industry.

How many school books does $700,000 buy? Meals for children? That money could be better spent on virtually any other public need.

In his portion of the op-ed, MP Smith seems to argue that cannabis prohibition should be the law of the land forever, that the public voted, and the result is final. That is unfortunate and does not actually reflect reality.

Yes, voters in New Zealand defeated the measure that was put before them in 2020. However, it’s just one general form of legalization, and with just a few policy tweaks it’s likely that more people would support it.

Prohibition is a failed public policy and is tremendously harmful to society. That is true in New Zealand, and everywhere else that prohibition exists. Rather than cling to prohibition, all lawmakers in New Zealand need to get on the rights side of history and pass reforms that make sense for the country.

Thailand To Give Away One Million Cannabis Seeds To Households

Written by Johnny Green on May 16, 2022. Posted in Archives, Policy.

When it comes to the pursuit of cannabis reform and establishing a legal, national cannabis industry you will be hardpressed to find a country that is trying harder than Thailand.

Historically, Thailand was home to some of the harshest cannabis laws on earth. However, after legalizing cannabis for medical use a few years ago Thailand has passed and/or implemented some of the most progressive cannabis policies on the planet.

Arguably the biggest example of that will come in June when every household in the country can sign up to cultivate low-THC cannabis plants. Households can even get a government-backed, low-interest loan to get their operations going.

As pointed out in previous coverage on this website, there will reportedly be no limit to the number of plants that a household can cultivate as long as the garden is registered with the Thailand government.

Thailand’s Health Minister, who is one of the biggest supporters of Thailand’s cannabis industry, announced this week that the government will be giving away 1 million cannabis seeds to aspiring cultivators. Per CNN:

The Thai government will distribute one million free cannabis plants to households across the nation in June to mark a new rule allowing people to grow cannabis at home, its health minister has said.

Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced the move in a Facebook post on May 8 in which he expressed his intention for cannabis plants to be grown like “household crops.”

What Thailand is doing is extremely commendable, especially when considering how harsh cannabis laws still are in neighboring countries. Thailand is located in the same region where people are still receiving the death penalty for cannabis-only offenses.

Hopefully, as Thailand continues to pursue meaningful cannabis policy reform and it proves to be successful it will convince countries in the region and everywhere else on the planet to follow suit.

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London Mayor Launches Commission To Examine Cannabis Policy

Written by Johnny Green on May 16, 2022. Posted in Archives, Policy.

Cannabis reform is sweeping the European continent, with at least one country now a legal jurisdiction for adult use. Late last year Malta became the first country in Europe to pass an adult-use legalization measure.

Italy was on track to possibly legalize cannabis this year after activists gathered and submitted over 630,000 signatures in an attempt to put legalization in front of voters. Unfortunately, even though the effort proved to have gathered enough valid signatures Italy’s government stopped the effort in its tracks, claiming that it was unconstitutional to let it proceed.

Cannabis legalization pilot programs are starting to spread across Europe. Copenhagen already has a program underway and the pilot program is set to expand across Denmark as more jurisdictions sign up. Switzerland is launching its first pilot program site in Basel this summer, and hopefully by 2023, the Netherlands will do the same.

Germany’s governing coalition previously announced plans to legalize cannabis in the near future, and last week Germany’s Health Minister announced that the timeline for legalization would be sped up with legalization possibly coming as soon as this summer.

In the midst of all of the momentum for cannabis reform on the continent one country that has moved almost as slow as any other nation is the United Kingdom. The UK’s medical cannabis program is extremely limited and has only helped a minor fraction of the number of suffering patients that exist in the UK. Recreational cannabis possession and use remain prohibited.

London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, announced this week that a commission will be launched to explore, among other things, cannabis policy reform. Per The Guardian:

Sadiq Khan has announced a commission to examine the effectiveness of the UK’s drug laws, with a particular focus on those governing cannabis.

The London drugs commission, to be chaired by Lord Charlie Falconer QC, a former lord chancellor and justice secretary, was one of Khan’s manifesto pledges in his re-election bid last year.

The mayor of London’s office said a panel of independent experts in criminal justice, public health, politics, community relations and academia will be assembled to consider evidence from around the world on the outcomes of various drug policies.

The announcement was made while Khan was in Los Angeles where he toured a cannabis cultivation facility. The announcement of the commission yielded swift pushback from the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom Priti Patel. Per The Times:

The home secretary has criticised the mayor of London after he set up a commission to consider the decriminalisation of cannabis.

Priti Patel told Sadiq Kahn that he “has no powers to legalise drugs”.

“Sadiq Khan’s time would be better spent focusing on knife and drug crime in London. The mayor has no powers to legalise drugs. They ruin communities, tear apart families and destroy lives,” Patel said in a tweet.

For starters, the War on Drugs ruins communities, tears apart families, and destroys lives. That is a fact. It is also a fact that the War on Drugs has failed, both in the United Kingdom and beyond. Patel’s tweet obviously disregards those facts.

Secondly, as I understand it, what Khan has proposed is essentially a fact-finding commission, not a commission that will actually seek to change policies. I suppose that it could evolve to a point where that is being pursued, however, that does not appear to be the case right now.

What does appear to be the case, at least in my opinion, is that Patel and other like-minded officials are probably scared of what the commission will potentially find and publish. It’s much easier for Patel and others to peddle reefer madness rhetoric without the existence of a commission like the one that Khan is launching.

Malaysia Senator Calls For Urgent Medical Cannabis Reform

Written by Johnny Green on May 16, 2022. Posted in Archives, Policy.

Malaysia is one of the harshest places on earth when it comes to cannabis policy. For example, anyone caught with over 200 grams of cannabis in Malaysia faces a mandatory death sentence if convicted.

That is the potential sentence that famed Malaysian singer Yasin Sulaiman is currently facing after authorities allegedly found 214 grams of cannabis and 17 plants near his home.

As we previously reported, Malaysia is pursuing medical cannabis reform in an extremely slow fashion. Malaysia’s Health Minister recently indicated a willingness to team up with cannabis researchers, however, people question how sincere he really is.

A member of Malaysia’s Senate spoke out recently about the need for Malaysia to embrace medical cannabis. Per The Star:

Malaysia should play a serious role and take progressive actions to allow the use of cannabis and hemp, especially cannabidiol (CBD) for medical purposes, said Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi.

The Senate member representing persons with disabilities (OKU), said the usage of the substances is to increase access to quality health services for their well-being.

“It is in line with Strategic Thrust 4 of the Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities (OKU) 2016-2022, which is to increase access to quality health services for their well-being,” she said in a statement.

Medical cannabis reform obviously faces an uphill battle in Malaysia, and for that matter, most of the region. Neighboring countries Indonesia and Singapore also have very harsh cannabis laws.

One bright spot in the region is Thailand, which shares a border with Malaysia. Thailand is going to allow any household in the country to sign up to cultivate low-THC cannabis this June, and once that happens, I am hopeful that it convinces lawmakers in the region to soften their stances toward cannabis reform.

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Effort To Free Brittney Griner Receives A Boost

Written by Johnny Green on May 16, 2022. Posted in Archives, Entertainment, Policy.

The WNBA has officially started its 2022 season. Unfortunately, one of the league’s biggest superstars, Olympic champion Brittney Griner, will not be playing, at least not any time soon.

Brittney Griner was arrested and charged with cannabis offenses in Russia back in February and is facing as much as 10 years in prison. It took weeks for the news of her arrest to surface, and after the world became aware of her incarceration and what she was being charged with, the outcry from the United States government and the WNBA was limited.

As previously mentioned in our prior coverage, the United States government apparently told WNBA leadership and even WNBA players to not speak out about Griner’s incarceration.

The reasoning, if you want to call it that, was that the United States government did not want Griner to be seen as a high-profile target and used as a political pawn. For many cannabis observers, including myself, that made zero sense given that Brittney Griner is a professional basketball player in Russia in addition to playing professionally in the United States.

I don’t think that it’s a stretch to assume that the reason why she was arrested was specifically to use her as a political pawn. It also seemed that Brittney Griner’s situation was being used for prohibition politics in her home country being that the Biden administration was not trying to help her case anywhere near the level that it has helped with other cases involving U.S. citizens arrested in Russia.

Fortunately, the United States government finally made a designation that it should have been made months ago which will hopefully help Griner. Per the Associated Press:

The Biden administration has determined that WNBA star Brittney Griner is being wrongfully detained in Russia, meaning the United States will more aggressively work to secure her release even as the legal case against her plays out, the State Department said Tuesday.

“The U.S. government will continue to undertake efforts to provide appropriate support to Ms. Griner,” the department said.

Griner was detained at an airport in February after Russian authorities said a search of her bag revealed vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis. Since then, U.S. officials had stopped short of classifying the Phoenix Mercury player as wrongfully detained and said instead that their focus was on ensuring that she had access in jail to American consular affairs officials.

Many cannabis observers, and rightfully so, have pointed out that the Biden administration has not done enough to free cannabis prisoners in the United States, and that he needs to free cannabis prisoners at home immediately.

I would argue that the two are not mutually exclusive. The Biden administration needs to free cannabis prisoners in the United States immediately, as he said he would do while on the campaign trail, and the Biden administration needs to do everything that it can to free Brittney Griner. Anything short of both is unacceptable.

Church Leaders In Belize Put The Brakes On Cannabis Reform

Written by Johnny Green on May 16, 2022. Posted in Archives, Policy.

In late March lawmakers in Belize passed ‘The Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill 2022.’ The bill would, among other things, create a government registration and ID system in which people could sign up to participate in a national adult-use cannabis system. As Belize’s leading newspaper, Amandala, described the measure back in March upon its passage:

Yesterday, the Senate passed into law the Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill of 2022, which, in conjunction with the recently amended version of the Misuse of Drugs Act, legalizes the recreational use, commercial production and sale of cannabis throughout the country of Belize. The laws legalize cannabis use for adults only and put in place a framework for the rollout of the industry in Belize, which is to be overseen by a Cannabis Control Commission.

The bill was set to become law, however, last week a group led by evangelical churches in Belize submitted signatures in an attempt to put the measure to a referendum vote.

Belize has a referendum system in which citizens can submit signatures to place something passed by lawmakers on the ballot so that citizens can vote on it. Various other jurisdictions around the world have similar systems.

Generally speaking, referendums can be good and have helped reform cannabis laws in some parts of the world. However, they can also be used to hinder cannabis policy efforts, which is what happened in Belize last week. Below is what a representative had to say regarding the referendum push in Belize, per Channel 5 Belize:

Bishop Moses Benguche, Church Senator

“The gathering of the church leaders assembled here today feels that is was important to be able to share and to bring these petitions to the Governor General at this time, because we are speaking in a direct way to what the government has done in presenting a bill on March twenty fifth, 2022, the Bill entitled Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Control and Licensing Bill. For us at this time, we decided to present these petition, because we think that it is a backward and retrograded step being undertaken in the name of New Growth Industry.”

Currently, only three countries have legalized cannabis for adult use at a national level – Canada, Uruguay, and Malta. Last I checked, the sky was still intact above all three of those countries, and any doomsday scenarios regarding legalization have yet to materialize.

From here, the Governor General’s Office in Belize will work with the Chief Elections Officer to validate the signatures. If there are not enough valid signatures, the referendum effort will essentially be over. However, if there are indeed enough valid signatures, the Chief Elections Officer will set a date for a vote.

Obviously, if the vote fails then presumably legalization will proceed. The group behind the referendum effort has indicated that they will respect the results of such a vote. However, if the referendum receives a majority of votes it is unclear how lawmakers will proceed.

The Bar Association of Belize recently issued a 17-page opinion that essentially states that the referendum vote will not be binding and that lawmakers can proceed regardless of the outcome. However, Belize’s Minister of Home Affairs doesn’t seem so sure, at least partially. Per Love FM:

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs: “What I can say is that I’ve seen that advice and I’ve also seen other advice coming from other attorneys practising in Belize and they differ and so I could see where there would be some possible legal challenge based on that but I see the Bar taking a particular position and I see other attorneys having another view on it. I think that that the churches have a genuine concern but at times, I do feel that they are detached from the actual on the ground reality of what it is that’s fueling murders, particularly in Belize City. Yes a lot of it results in retaliation but I think that they are out of touch with what is actually happening on the ground in Belize City and how much an industry like the cannabis industry can help places like Belize City. Instead of just looking at the bad, I think they should look at some of the economic benefits that will come to the various communities and understand, like I said, weed is not going anywhere.”

Cannabis reform in Belize has a lot of moving parts right now. Signatures need to be validated, if there are enough valid signatures then a vote needs to be held, and if the vote favors the referendum, then lawmakers will have a difficult choice to make. All we can do is wait to see how it all unfolds and hope for the best.

Will Home Cultivation Be Part Of German Cannabis Legalization?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on May 9, 2022. Posted in Policy.

Government leaders have been quoted recently saying that home grow would be a necessary component of recreational reform

Last week, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced that German recreational reform should be prioritized this summer. However, that is not all that is afoot in Germany. Within the last week, there have also been statements across the political landscape of the ruling “Traffic Light” Coalition that home-grow will also be included in this discussion.

Citing reasons that ranged from inevitability to an awareness that patients who still cannot convince their health insurers to reimburse them will almost have to be able to grow their own, voices from the SDP, the FDP and the Greens all discussed their reasons for allowing Germans to not only buy their weed but grow it too.

Now Come the Details

Given the reliability with which German politics tick (and of course, the impossibility of predicting anything in this industry) it is, however, highly unlikely that both a Health Minister and other members of the ruling coalition would make such statements with nothing to back them up.

However, what details are actually included in this first tranche of legalization legislation is still very unsure. There is also a lot of ground to cover.

Here are the biggest outstanding issues:

It is widely rumored that the government will allow specially licensed dispensary shops to sell recreational cannabis. In Germany, you can find wine, beer, and spirits in almost every grocery store. That is unlikely to happen with cannabis for the foreseeable future. However, do not expect to see a suggestion that cannabis will be sold in government-run stores – as Canada initially tried to implement (and then pulled back after widespread opposition). How such licenses will be made available is a big question. Will there be an open season or some kind of lottery system run by the states or municipalities?
How these new stores will be stocked is another question. Will there be additional cultivation licenses that can be applied for or will the existing medical license holders be given a monopoly on growing all high THC cannabis in the country?
Home grow. If this is allowed, will it be permitted by the number of plants, licenses, or both?
Edibles and extracts. This is going to be hard-fought territory and there is almost no precedent for the same either in Europe or much of North America.

For now, there is a great deal of speculation and even maneuvering on the chessboard. However, it is clear that the tide is turning in Germany. The question now is how far, and how fast?

Global Cannabis Protests Demand Reform Now

Written by Johnny Green on May 9, 2022. Posted in Archives, Policy.

Cannabis activists have not let up after 4/20 this year and continue to urge others to march for change

From Berlin Germany to Quito Ecuador, activists have continued to make their presence on the streets known this year, even post 4/20. The mood in multiple countries continues to crystallize into a global demand for cannabis reform that will not be stoppered or told to shut up.

Perhaps it is the end of the Pandemic. Perhaps it is that Prohibition has finally run its course. Maybe it is just Spring.

No matter. Voices and bodies for the cause have hit the streets of multiple countries demanding change.

Is 2022 A Global Tipping Year?

There are several indications that this year may see fairly dramatic forward motion on the cannabis reform front. The US is (yet again) considering federal regulation. In Germany, it is merely a matter of when (not if) as the country’s new health minister signs up for reform and of an expedited kind.

Beyond North America and Europe, however, other countries are watching. This includes countries from Africa to Latin and Central America. And politicians are being forced to pay attention.

When Will Global Regulation Happen?

Global change is likely still up to a decade away. This is because larger countries, like the US and China, want reform to happen country by country. This in fact was the sentiment the last time the UN met to consider reform.

However, since then, a global Pandemic has come and gone, and multiple countries have decided that it is more than overdue to address an issue that continues to cost money in terms of manpower, police, court, and jail time.

Beyond this, of course, there is the matter of both greening economies and shoring them up as a new world beckons.

And everyone knows it.

Why Are Politicians Still Waiting?

Politicians always wait. Cannabis reform generally, is still not (at least outside of the US and Germany) a campaign issue.

Beyond this, as seen in Latin and Central America, there are concerns that the industry may not be sustainable. In countries where there are high poverty rates and rapidly disappearing rainforests (like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Honduras), leaders are not sure how to regulate the industry to make it both sustainable and non-destructive.

And then there are the outliers, and slow but steady as she goes success stories. South Africa is absolutely capturing global attention right now for its construction of a cannabis hub.

The people are reading. The people are speaking. The people are marching.

Cannabis. Reform. Now.