Going to pot: As attitudes to marijuana mellow, could legalization be next? Winnipeg Free Press December 22, 2014

 

 

Ayahuasca fundraising drive in Canada!

 

 

Dear All,

 

Light and Health to you and your loved ones.

 

Our legalization fundraising drive is now live! Please help us raise the funds needed to obtain reasonable regulations for Santo Daime in Canada. Please help us and also please distribute this request to your circles: friends of the Santo Daime, supporters of Religious freedom.  Thank you!

 

http://igg.me/p/santo-daime-canada-ayahuasca-legalization-drive/x/9334895

 

Notre collecte de fonds pour la légalisation de Santo Daime au Canada est maintenant en ligne! S'il vous plaît, aidez-nous à recueillir les fonds nécessaires pour une réglementation raisonnable de Santo Daime au Canada. S' il vous plaît aidez-nous et s' il vous plaît également distribuer cette demande à vos cercles: amis du Santo Daime, les partisans de la liberté religieuse. Merci!

 

http://igg.me/p/santo-daime-canada-ayahuasca-legalization-drive/x/9334895

 

Many blessings,

 

Rev. Jessica Rochester D.Div.

President, Ceu do Montreal

j.rochester@videotron.ca

 

 

 

 

 

http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/1228736/b-c-judge-gives-absolute-discharg
e-for-man-caught-growing-414-pot-plants/

http://we.leadnow.ca/votetogether

 

Move Canada forward

by Jolan Bailey, Leadnow Vancouver organizer

• Leadnow (www.leadnow.ca) is an independent advocacy organization that runs campaigns on the major issues of our time, engages people in participatory decision-making and organizes in communities across Canada. The organization envisions a country where people work together to build an open democracy, create a fair economy and ensure a safe climate for all generations. It’s been just over three years since 3,000 people from all across Canada came together before the 2011 election and began building the leadnow.ca campaigning community. People become part of this community by taking part in campaigns to defend our democracy and hold governments accountable to the values of a majority of people across Canada.

Do you remember how you felt after the last federal election when you heard the news the Harper Conservatives had won a majority government?

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. How could a seemingly progressive country like Canada elect a government that slashes budgets and is dead-set on becoming a dirty oil superpower?

It happened because of vote-splitting in our broken first-past-the-post voting system. Even though a majority voted for a new government against the Conservatives, their votes were split between the Liberals, the NDP and Greens. And because of our electoral system, this handed the Conservatives 100% of the power, with less than 39% of the vote.

The call for cooperation

Like me, a lot of people across the country were outraged. More than 55,000 people signed a Leadnow petition urging opposition parties to cooperate in ridings where Conservatives won because of vote-splitting and to then pass electoral reform.

The idea of formal cross-party cooperation to defeat the Conservatives has been a contested topic among opposition parties. Despite various levels of commitment to cooperation and electoral reform from opposition leaders, both NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau have committed to going alone in the next election. It’s now up to voters to take matters into our own hands.

It’s up to us to make sure we get the progressive government that we want – a government that’s committed to fighting climate change, investing in a fair economy and improving our democratic institutions.

What will happen in 2015?

Now, the 2015 election is just around the corner and despite their record, the Conservatives could win again.

The fate of the Harper Government will come down to a few dozen swing ridings where the outcome could be decided by a few hundred votes. If the vote splits in these key ridings, we could face four more years of Harper.

Vote together. Defeat Harper. Move Canada forward

Leadnow just launched a three-step campaign to unite progressive voters across party lines to defeat the Conservatives in 2015.

Step one: Build a bloc of voters

Leadnow is building a bloc of voters who commit to working across party lines to defeat the Conservatives by collecting signatures on a pledge. More than 10,000 voters have already signed the online pledge to Vote Together and volunteer teams are forming across the country to collect pledges with a door-to-door campaign.

Step two: Focus support behind the best candidates who can defeat Conservatives

As more people in a riding sign the pledge, Leadnow will focus more resources into helping voters in the riding unite behind one candidate.

If 1,500 people sign the pledge in a riding, Leadnow will commission a poll to find out which candidates have the best shot at defeating the Conservative. The results of the poll will be reported to supporters in the riding, along with research and background on the candidates running in their areas so people can vote with the best information available.

If thousands more sign the pledge, Leadnow will ask voters in the riding if they want to formally endorse a candidate.

In order to win the endorsement of the Leadnow community, candidates would need to be electable – meaning they have enough support in the riding that they have a legitimate shot at defeating their Conservative opponent – and acceptable – meaning that Leadnow supporters accept their positions on the issues.

If an endorsement is made, Leadnow will work to unite supporters behind the endorsed candidate.

Step three: Get out the vote

Whether or not a candidate is formally endorsed, Leadnow will work to get out the vote to make sure hundreds of thousands of progressive voters show up and vote on election day.

It’s bigger than the election

Leadnow has heard loud and clear from our supporters that while defeating the Conservatives is an important priority, our campaign has to be about more than ousting Harper.

Leadnow formed to work for an open democracy, climate justice and a fair economy in Canada and while Harper is standing in the way of progress on these issues, we know our goals can’t be accomplished just by changing the government.

To make long-term progress, we need power and we need politicians to take us seriously. Having a visible impact on the 2015 election helps build the power we need – if politicians know that our community has the power to make a real difference at the ballot box, they will do better at truly reflecting our interests.

Call to action

You can get involved by going to votetogether.ca to sign the pledge to Vote Together or by calling toll-free 1-855-LEADN0W (1-855-532-3609).

Leadnow Spark event: www.flickr.com/photos/leadnow/sets/72157649172573132/

Flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/leadnow/sets/

 

The Washington Post
December 2, 2014

'You will not be arrested for using drugs': What a sane drug policy looks like http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/02/you-will-not-be-arrested-for-using-drugs-what-a-sane-drug-policy-looks-like/

By Christopher Ingraham December

Sign in Amsterdam warning tourists of heroin sold as cocaine.

Authorities in the Netherlands are warning Amsterdam tourists about heroin masquerading as cocaine, which has already killed several people and sent a number of others to the hospital. The campaign is striking because you'd never see one like it in the U.S.: "You will not be arrested for using drugs in Amsterdam," the fliers promise. Instead, they give information on how to receive medical assistance and how to keep potential overdose victims alert while waiting for help.

Dutch law distinguishes between "soft drugs," like marijuana, and "hard"
ones, like cocaine and heroin. Possession and use of up to 5 grams of marijuana, and 1 gram of cocaine or heroin, is not subject to penalty.
In sharp contrast to the U.S., where drug use has primarily been dealt with as a criminal justice issue (although there's some evidence this is changing), the Dutch approach emphasizes harm reduction and public health.

One of the drawbacks of a criminal justice approach is that the threat of harsh sentencing keeps many drug users from seeking medical assistance in the event of an overdose. That's not a concern in the Netherlands. The Dutch approach allows authorities to have a frank dialogue with drug users when new dangers arise, like the fake cocaine.

The destigmatization of drug use in the Netherlands also plays a big role in this. Drug users there aren't thought of as criminals, as in the U.S., but rather as normal people engaging in unhealthy behavior.
There's a notable lack of moral judgment in the language used in the Amsterdam cocaine warnings -- contrast this with the rhetoric employed by many of the opponents of drug law liberalization in the U.S.

Some final food for thought: 44 percent of Americans report having used marijuana in their lifetimes, and 14 percent have used cocaine. In the Netherlands, those numbers stand at 26 percent and 5 percent, respectively.


--
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Drugs & Democracy Programme
De Wittenstraat 25
1052 AK Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 20 662 66 08
Fax: + 31 20 675 71 76
Email: drugs@tni.org
http://www.druglawreform.info/en/home
http://www.tni.org/work-area/drugs-and-democracy

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Prescription heroin offered in Vancouver outside of a clinical trial Treatment will be provided from Nov. 26 for 120 people with a severe addiction to heroin CBC News November 26, 2014

 

Merry marijuana: New recreational pot industry courts holiday shoppers Globe and Mail November 24, 2014

 

Vancouver addicts soon to receive prescription heroin

Andrea Woo

VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail

Published Saturday, Nov. 22 2014, 11:42 AM EST

Last updated Saturday, Nov. 22 2014, 11:51 AM EST

 

In a North American first, heroin addicts in Vancouver will soon receive prescription heroin outside of a clinical trial.

Doctors at the Providence Crosstown Clinic received shipment of the drug this week for 26 former trial participants and will begin administering the drugs next week. In all, 120 severely addicted people have received authorization from Health Canada to receive the drugs; the rest are expected to get them soon.

This development comes after more than a year of battles between Vancouver doctors and federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose. Doctors who had been prescribing heroin within the trial sought authorization to continue prescribing it afterward to keep the addicts from illicit heroin use and associated harms. But in October, 2013, Ms. Ambrose objected to Health Canada’s approval of the treatment and introduced regulations to make prescribing the drug (chemical name diacetylmorphine) outside of a clinical trial illegal.

Providence and five plaintiffs, represented by the Pivot Legal Society, launched a constitutional challenge and sought an injunction while the case is before the courts. After a three-day hearing in May, B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson granted the injunction, saying risks associated with severe heroin addiction “will be reduced if [the addicts] receive injectable diacetylmorphine treatment from Providence physicians.”

David Byres, vice-president of Acute Clinical Programs at Providence Health Care, said it is “exciting” to be able to move forward with a course of action that has been proven effective in clinical trials not only in Canada, but around the world.

“The patients are so desperate for treatment, so desperate to be able to no longer be addicted,” Mr. Byres said Friday. “It’s a great thing to be able to help them, and help with the addiction that has taken over their entire lives.”

With prescription heroin, patients attend the clinic two or three times a day, at set times, to receive the pharmaceutical-grade drug and sterilized supplies with which to inject it. They then must sit in a lounge-like area for 20 minutes so nurses can monitor them for adverse effects.

Several European studies have shown that for the small subsection of severe addicts who do not respond to repeated attempts at more common treatments, such as methadone, prescription heroin resulted in a reduction of illicit drug use and criminal activity and physical and mental health improvements. Employment satisfaction and social reintegration also improved.

The 2005-2008 North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI), led by researchers from Providence and the University of British Columbia, produced the same results. A follow-up study by the same researchers called the Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME) seeks to find whether hydromorphone – a powerful but legal pain medication – is as effective a treatment as prescription heroin. The double-blind trials’ severely addicted 202 participants were split in half, with one half receiving hydromorphone and the other heroin.

As participants cycled out of SALOME, some had stabilized enough so that methadone became a sufficient treatment. For the others, doctors applied to Health Canada to continue prescribing heroin outside of the trial, as it has already been proven effective and hydromorphone is still being studied. Health Canada sought the advice of an independent expert on opioid dependence and in September, 2013, began approving the trial doctors’ requests.

Since Ms. Ambrose banned the use of prescription heroin in October, about 30 of the severely addicted patients have left the Providence doctors’ care, with some relapsing into illicit heroin use. However, the clinic is optimistic it can re-engage them, Mr. Byres said.

Adrienne Smith, a health and drug policy lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society, said Pivot is looking forward to making arguments at trial about the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to access life-saving treatments.

“The minister made the decision to change the regulations preventing them from getting this medication based on ideology and not evidence,” Ms. Smith said. “The minister’s decision put the lives of heroin users in jeopardy.”

 

 

See attached poster

Hi all,

I have put together a powerpoint slide of the current situation of cannabis legalization in the USA and as I like to share, it is attached.

Cheers,

Mark Haden

Adjunct Professor UBC School of Population and Public Health

Mark@markhaden.com

 

 

 

 

Potent Pot: How marijuana got so strong and what it means for legalization CBC News November 14, 2014

 

Los Angeles Times
Saturday, November 15, 2014
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pot-venture-capitalists-20141116-story.html

Cannabis hedge funds join the green rush

By Evan Halper contact the reporter

The frenzy in the cavernous Green Valley Ranch Resort ballroom might have passed for any confab of entrepreneurs pitching their business plans to pokerfaced angel investors — until an organizer took the podium for a public service announcement.

Please stop smoking weed out by the parking lot, he implored. Hotel security did not approve.

The gathering last week of several hundred Wall Street types, tech industry disrupters, agricultural enthusiasts and assorted others shrugged and went back to the business at hand: leveraging the legalization of marijuana into a windfall.

The pot business is exploding. The devotees and Deadheads toiling away since states started legalizing medical marijuana nearly 20 years ago now must compete in a radically different business culture.
There is a massive potential. It is untapped. It is just sitting there below the surface and it is ready to come above ground. - Emily Paxhia, co-owner of pot hedge fund Poseidon Asset Management

The rapid spread of laws permitting recreational pot is enticing hedge fund managers, venture capitalists, software developers and many others to get in on what inevitably is being touted as a green rush.

They are particularly motivated after Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., this month joined Colorado and Washington state in legalizing recreational pot, with California and others girding to follow in 2016.

"There is a massive potential," Emily Paxhia, who co-owns one of the new pot hedge funds, Poseidon Asset Management, told the gathering. "It is untapped. It is just sitting there below the surface and it is ready to come above ground."

The inventiveness of the new entrepreneurs was on full display here at the "shark tank" conference organized by the ArcView Group, a San Francisco firm that helps deep-pocketed investors find promising cannabis startups.

Several entrepreneurs armed with PowerPoints had gotten involved only months ago. They included data wizards who talked of "disrupting" the industry with apps to make ordering God's Gift or Fogg Kush for home delivery as hassle-free as buying dinner on GrubHub, the online food delivery service.

A former NASA scientist hawked next-generation grow technology. Plans for a cannabis soda that promoters said could be as ubiquitous and consistent as Coca-Cola were unveiled, as were plans to open "the nation's first private membership [country] club to support the cannabis lifestyle."

Hallway chatter was rich with talk of convertible notes, rates of return, incubators and other investor jargon.

By late afternoon, everyone stopped working and engaged in a group yoga stretch.

"It is important we acknowledge the relentless work we have been putting our bodies and our minds through," said Jessica Dugan, who led the session. "In order to maintain our sector's growth, it is important to have some kind of mindfulness practice."

But it was all business when pot market analyst Patrick Rea unveiled the first "seed-stage mentorship-driven accelerator" for fledgling cannabis-related firms.

Those who cared to fund the program were promised a stake in each of the dozen or so startups it guides through a three-month boot camp in Boulder, Colo., and infuses with $20,000 cash.

"We will surround them with mentors, pressure test their business plans and help them get their financials in order," Rea said.

With all the regulatory and political uncertainty around marijuana, it is one of the riskier sectors in which to launch a company.

But you wouldn't know that talking to John Strickler, a longtime management consultant in established industries who decided three months ago to move his career to cannabis. Now he works for Ebbu, a Denver startup seeking to parse the chemical components of pot with unprecedented precision.

"What we are trying to do is create different feelings depending on what mood you want to be in and how you want to feel," he said. "We have an 'energy,' a 'create,' a 'bliss,' a 'chill' and one other one. What was it? Oh yes, 'giggle.' How could I forget 'giggle'?"

The "artisanally distilled" feelings would be sold in the form of liquid vapor, dissolving strips "similar to Listerine strips," gel caps or pre-rolled joints.

"Want to stay out late with your friends?" an Ebbu brochure asks. "We have an Ebbu for that. Want to focus on creative pursuits? There's an Ebbu for that too."

During the conference, entrepreneurs buzzed from table to table in several rounds of "speed dating" with some 200 members in the ArcView network, each of whom pledges to invest at least $50,000 in the pot startups.

Most stuck around for a few days to attend the colossal Marijuana Business Conference & Expo at the Rio resort off the strip in nearby Las Vegas, where 142 companies promoting products such as Peanut Budda Buddha cannabis candy bars and FunkSac child resistant pot pouches tried to lure business.

Some of the more popular booths were staffed by models in slinky dresses. More than 3,000 people attended. Last year's conference drew
700 people.

Not everyone is on board. Pot critics say the thirst for high returns has the marijuana industry starting to resemble Big Tobacco, with profit-hungry companies using the kind of marketing imagery and sales tactics that entice children and glamorize drug use.

Regulators are also concerned. In Washington state, officials banned nonresidents from investing in pot businesses — though some have already found workarounds, such as having out-of-state partners spin off into separate companies that lease real estate back to their colleagues permitted to work directly with the pot.

There was no shortage of ambition at the conference. There was, though, a scarcity of diversity.

Social justice activists bemoan that after decades in which minorities were jailed at astoundingly lopsided rates for using and selling pot, the money to be made in legalized marijuana seems to be headed toward affluent whites.

"There are no Hispanics here," said investor Silvia Orizaba, a rare exception. "It's all whites. So I have to invest with the whites."

Orizaba, a Chicagoan who says she has invested nearly $5 million into cannabis-related companies since 2008, is seeking to draw more Latinos into the business through a nonprofit she runs.

"This industry has gotten so far," she said. "But we need to get minorities involved to move further."

ArcView's founders, whose involvement in the cannabis business predates the days when there was big money to be made, are struggling to keep the new players focused on the political and social concerns that drove legalization and spawned the industry.

They implored investors to pledge big donations to several advocacy groups that gave presentations at the conference. The response was fairly muted.

So by late afternoon, ArcView cofounder Troy Dayton tried a more direct appeal. Help these groups with their political campaigns, he said, and maybe next time you come to Nevada you won't have to worry about being arrested for lighting up in the hotel parking lot.

Said Dayton: "That is another reason to make sure you donate to legalization."

Twitter: @evanhalper

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Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FiKe_S_Z-0

 

Full Episode - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9ni6CUuprQ

 

iTunes (audio) - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/vancouver-real-podcast/id923776316

 

 

 

 

 

The Guardian - The Observer
November 08, 2014

Nick Clegg and Juan Manuel Santos to lead global initiative on drugs reform http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/08/nick-clegg-juan-manuel-santos-global-initiative-drugs-reform?CMP=share_btn_tw

Deputy prime minister and Colombian president to seek allies in advance of UN special session on drugs policy in 2016

President Santos, left, and Nick Clegg at Admiralty House on Friday.
Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

Nick Clegg wants the UK to take a lead role in forging an alliance between European and Latin American countries aiming to reform global drugs laws focused on prohibition.

The deputy prime minister believes that the UN special session on drugs in 2016 offers a "unique opportunity" to push for alternatives to the current system. "We need to seize it," Clegg said. "The war on drugs has failed and there are now a large number of states who agree on the need for change."

Clegg was speaking after meeting Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, for talks about his country's peace negotiations with the Farc guerrillas and what both see as an emerging international consensus for reform of international drugs policy.

The talks between Santos and Clegg will be seen as a significant strengthening of the emerging liberal alliance on drugs reform, a move heavily resisted by the Lib Dems' coalition partners.

Last week the Liberal Democrat Home Office minister resigned from the government, partly due to his frustration with the Tories' drugs policy.
Norman Baker said the government should abandon the "inappropriate rhetoric of the 1950s" and focus more on treatment, but the Home Office said policy would not change.

Clegg said he and Santos had agreed on a need to reform a system under which addicts were punished rather than treated and which benefited only drug traffickers and organised criminals. "President Santos and I have agreed to lead the charge and work to build an international coalition to take our case to the UN and start to properly address the suffering caused by drugs."


--
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Drugs & Democracy Programme
De Wittenstraat 25
1052 AK Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 20 662 66 08
Fax: + 31 20 675 71 76
Email: drugs@tni.org
http://www.druglawreform.info/en/home
http://www.tni.org/work-area/drugs-and-democracy

_______________________________________________
Dd-world mailing list
https://lists.tni.org/mailman/listinfo/dd-world

 

 

Please see attached a flyer for a talk at SFU Harbour Centre, Room 2270-515 West Hastings, next Monday 17^th November 2014.  This event is being co-sponsored by MAPS Canada and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. 

 

Please forward to all your networks and social media outlets.  Thank you!  GILLIAN

 

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Dr. Brian Rush is well known for his work as the Senior Scientist in the Social and Epidemiological Research Department of the Centre for Mental Health and Addictions in Toronto (CAMH).

 

He is also a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Associate Professor in Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto. In 2005, Dr. Rush was granted an "Award of Merit" for his work in support of the Anti-Drug Secretariat Brazil in recognition to the significant contribution to the reduction of drug demand in Brazil.

Dr. Rush has worked for over 30 years in a research and evaluation capacity in problematic substance use and mental health fields. He has a background of addiction and community mental health services and systems research, social /psychiatric epidemiology, with a focus on co-occurring mental and substance use disorders, evaluation and planning of community prevention, program and policy evaluation, and community needs assessment. He is consulted widely on regional, provincial, and national issues related to the integration of mental health and problematic substance use services. 

 

 

GILLIAN MAXWELL

www.gillianmaxwell.com

Integration Coach/Public Speaker/

Knowledge Exchange Broker

604.253.7792

604.728.7792 cel

skype: gillian maxwell

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find

all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."   Rumi

 

 

 

InSightCrime
07 November, 2014

US Marijuana Reform: Impact in Latin America?
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/marijuana-reform-us-impact-latin-a
merica-stand

Written by Elyssa Pachico, David Gagne and Kyra Gurney

Drug Policy Tools and Data

Medical marijuana for sale in Oregon.

Oregon, Alaska, and Washington D.C. have become the latest places in the US
to legalize marijuana, providing another push towards drug policy reform in
the hemisphere and prompting questions over what these changes could mean
for organized crime in Latin America.

The panel of high-profile political figures who make up the Global
Commission on Drug Policy said earlier this year that the global taboo
around discussing drug policy reform has been "broken." The election results
in the US -- including California, where voters approved an initiative that
reduces penalties for drug crimes -- could prompt more prominent figures
across Latin America to speak out on alternative ways to approach the drug
issue.

Here are three ways that these latest reforms in the US could impact its
neighbors further South:

1. It makes it harder for the US to push for a more traditional approach to
the so-called "drug war." William Brownfield, assistant secretary of state
for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said as much in a
press conference some weeks ago at the United Nations. "How could I, a
representative of the government of the United States of America, be
intolerant of a government that permits any experimentation with
legalization of marijuana if two of the 50 states of the United States of
America have chosen to walk down that road?" he said at the time.

In an e-mail to InSight Crime, Institute for Policy Studies Fellow Sanho
Tree noted that with more states passing US drug reform laws, foreign
governments no longer see a "strong domestic consensus" when it comes to
drug policy.

"Since our own citizens are coming out against the drug war on a
transpartisan basis, it erodes the legitimacy of our drug war bureaucracy
overseas," he wrote.

John Walsh, the Senior Associate for Drug Policy at the Washington Office on
Latin America, echoed Tree's remarks.

"The US is no longer in the position it once was as the international drug
policeman," he said. "If the US tries to denounce other countries for trying
to legalize marijuana, their leaders can easily accuse the US of hypocrisy."

2. Legal marijuana in the US could hit Mexico criminal groups hard and
prompt them to rely more on heroin or methamphetamine exports. Crime analyst
Alejandro Hope has previously hypothesized how a chain of marijuana reform
in US could devastate Mexican suppliers and prompt a new model of regulation
in Mexico. However, the issue of harder drugs -- methamphetamine, heroin,
cocaine -- would remain.

Alejandro Madrazo, a law professor and drug policy expert at Mexican
research center CIDE, told InSight Crime that these recent reforms in the US
could accelerate trends already evident in Mexico, including the increased
importance of poppy production and heroin production for criminal groups.
Heroin use is booming in the US -- and to a certain extent in Mexico as well
-- evidence that Mexican drug traffickers are increasingly relying on this
product in order to turn a profit.

Meanwhile, Mexico criminal groups producing methamphetamine at an industrial
scale continue to impact states across the US. It's possible this could be
exacerbated if Mexico marijuana suppliers are impacted. One study in 2012
calculated that if marijuana became legal in three US states, Mexican
cartels could see their profits drop by up to 30 percent.

But when it comes to policy reform within Mexico, Madrazo said that may
depend somewhat on whether California votes on the issue in 2016.
"California is very close to Mexico both physically and culturally and so it
carries particular symbolic weight in the political imagination," he said.
The reforms in Oregon and elsewhere created "pressure, but were unlikely to
be the tipping point yet."

3. Popular support for marijuana reform in the US provides a contrast to
some Latin American countries, where majority popular opinion doesn't yet
favor legalization. In Uruguay, for example, where legalization of
consumption and production is underway, polls consistently show that the
majority of the population opposes the country's landmark laws.

"The state level-initiatives have really pushed the issue forward in the
United States," said Walsh. "It's a popular issue in that sense, so the
political leaders are playing catch-up for the most part... In Latin
America, and other countries where there is a vigorous debate over drug
policy, it tends to be elite-led, rather than a popular opinion question."
What Next?

As the chart below shows, the push for alternative drug policies in Latin
America is picking up steam, but while many countries are in the midst of
debating proposals for reform, legalization remains a distant reality for
many.

Read more:
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/marijuana-reform-us-impact-latin-a
merica-stand


--
Drugs & Democracy Info <drugs@tni.org>
Transnational Institute (TNI)
De Wittenstraat 25 1052 AK
P.O.Box 14656 1001 LD
Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 662 6608 / Fax: +31 20 675 7176 http://www.tni.org/drugs


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Chicago Trbunes
November 5, 2014

Voters back legal marijuana in Oregon, Alaska, Washington, D.C.
http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81873295/

GARY CAMERON / REUTERS

Melvin Clay of the DC Cannabis Campaign holds a sign urging voters to
legalize marijuana, at the Eastern Market polling station in Washington
November 4, 2014.

Residents of Oregon, Alaska, and the nation's capital voted to legalize
marijuana on Tuesday, in key victories that could fuel the legalization
movement as cannabis usage is increasingly recognized by the American
mainstream.

The Oregon and Alaska measures would legalize recreational pot use and usher
in a network of retail pot shops similar to those operating in Washington
state and Colorado, which in 2012 voted to become the first states to allow
marijuana use for fun.

A less far-reaching proposal in the District of Columbia to allow marijuana
possession but not retail sales won nearly 65 percent of the vote with all
precincts reporting, unofficial results showed.

The referendums come amid shifts in American opinions on marijuana in recent
years that have energized efforts to legalize cannabis, a drug that remains
illegal under federal law even as Colorado and Washington state have been
given the go-ahead to experiment with legalization.

"In 2016 we're going to push the ball forward in several states until we end
prohibition," Leland Berger, a Portland attorney who helped write the new
law, told Reuters outside a packed Portland nightclub where advocates
declared victory amid pot-centric revelry.

Advocates have portrayed the District of Columbia measure as a civil rights
issue, saying studies have shown that African Americans are
disproportionately more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges than are
people of other races.

The D.C. measure had been strongly favored to pass but could still be halted
during a review by the U.S. Congress, which has constitutional oversight
over the capital. The measure would allow adults 21 and older to possess up
to two ounces of cannabis and grow up to six plants.

Pot opponents to fight on

The Oregon law, which drew 54 percent support in preliminary returns, takes
effect in July 2015 and stores could open the following year.

The Alaska measure was leading by about 52-48 percent with nearly 97 percent
of precincts reporting preliminary results late on Tuesday, and groups for
and against the initiative said it had passed.

If given official approval, a regulatory body would have nine months to
write regulations after the election is certified and the measure becomes
law, with stores likely coming at some point in 2016.

Opponents of legal weed in Oregon say they would take their fight to the
Oregon legislature, pushing for stricter laws designed to limit access to
pot by children, among other efforts.

Kevin Sabet, co-founder of anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to
Marijuana, said his group would redouble its efforts to build a broader
coalition to beat back better-funded pro-cannabis groups ahead of what is
expected to be an expanded fight in 2016.

"Tonight is going to inspire us to do better and to try harder and go after
the donors we have to go after in order to level the playing field," Sabet
said. "The more people that hear about legalization, the more people are
uncomfortable with it. For us it's about getting our message out."

Meanwhile, a proposed constitutional amendment to make Florida the 24th
state and the first in the South to allow medical marijuana was defeated
after falling short of the 60 percent support needed to pass, according to
groups both for and against the measure.

In Maine, a proposal to legalize the possession of small amounts of
recreational marijuana failed in Lewiston and passed in South Portland,
advocacy groups said. In Guam, unofficial results indicated it became the
first U.S. territory to approve medical marijuana, an election official
there said.


--
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Drugs & Democracy Programme
De Wittenstraat 25
1052 AK Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 20 662 66 08
Fax: + 31 20 675 71 76
Email: drugs@tni.org
http://www.druglawreform.info/en/home
http://www.tni.org/work-area/drugs-and-democracy

_______________________________________________
Dd-world mailing list
https://lists.tni.org/mailman/listinfo/dd-world

Hi all,

For those who don’t know, I have spent a number of years collecting and organizing the research on a wide variety of drug and drug policy issues.  This collection is available to you if you would like to access this significant collection.   A “yes please” response to this email will result in a dropbox invitation.

For your reading pleasure,

Cheers,

Mark

Alternet,org
20 October, 2014

The Pernicious 'War on Drugs' Is Behind America's Staggeringly High Female Prison Population http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/pernicious-war-drugs-behind-americas-staggeringly-high-female-prison-population

Cliff Weathers

U.S. prisons incarcerate more than a third of all female inmates worldwide, many of them for drug offenses.

Women make up nearly 9% of the U.S. prison population and about a third of them are serving time for drug offenses, according to two recent studies. Moreover, with just over 200,000 women behind bars, U.S.
prisons incarcerate a third of all female prisoners worldwide.

According to the latest report on women detainees by the International Center for Prison Studies, some 625,000 women and girls are held in penal institutions throughout the world. This includes remanded
(pre-trial) detainees and those who have been sentenced. China, with
84,600 female women in detention (and 5.1 percent of its prison population), is a distant second to the U.S, followed by Russia (59,200), Brazil (35,596) and Thailand (29,175).

The worldwide female prison population has increased more than 16% since the first edition of the study in 2006, and is growing on all five continents, the researchers say. North and South America had the largest percentage increase, at 23%, while European nations had the smallest at 6%.

According to the report females compose 8.8% of the U.S. prison population.

In another study, The Sentencing Project reports that a third of the women who are in U.S. prisons are there for drug offenses, and the number of women incarcerated for drug offenses is increasing at nearly double of the rate for men. The organization says that the so-called war on drugs is behind why more women are being imprisoned today than ever before.

"These women often have significant histories of physical and sexual abuse, high rates of HIV infection, and substance abuse," says the prison-reform organization. "Large-scale women's imprisonment has resulted in an increasing number of children who suffer from their mother's incarceration and the loss of family ties."

A video short, release on YouTube by Brave New Films claims that a significant percentage of women are pregnant while incarcerated, and that some 70% had also been the primary caregivers of at least two children.

Another report by The Sentencing Project shows that reducing the prison population in some states has not lead to more crime, but actually reduced it.

Profiles of three states that have reduced their prison populations, New York, New Jersey and California, have actually seen their crime rates decline at a faster pace than the national average. Combined, the three states have reduced their prison populations by about 25% between 1999 and 2012, while the state prison population across the nation rose 10%.

While downsizing their prisons, these states have seen their violent crime rates fall at a greater rate than the rest of the nation. New Jersey and New York also saw their property crime rates fall significantly compared to the national average, while California's reduction was slightly lower. Criminologists say that state governments need to do far more to keep non-violent drug offenders out of the prison system, and to give probationers second chances and sentencing alternatives.

The U.S. Justice Department places the total 2013 prison population at about 1.6 million, a slight increase from 2012. The number of federal prisoners, however, dropped slightly in 2012, but it was offset by an increase of prisoners in state prisons.

See the Brave New Films video on women in prison below:
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/pernicious-war-drugs-behind-americas-staggeringly-high-female-prison-population

*Cliff Weathers is a senior editor at AlterNet, covering environmental and consumer issues. He is a former deputy editor at Consumer Reports.
His work has also appeared in Salon, Car and Driver, Playboy, and Detroit Monthly among other publications. Follow him on Twitter @cliffweathers and on Facebook.


--
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Drugs & Democracy Programme
De Wittenstraat 25
1052 AK Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 20 662 66 08
Fax: + 31 20 675 71 76
Email: drugs@tni.org
http://www.druglawreform.info/en/home
http://www.tni.org/work-area/drugs-and-democracy

_______________________________________________
Dd-world mailing list
https://lists.tni.org/mailman/listinfo/dd-world

See attached poster

 

 

Decriminalize, study and go from there: NDP's pot policy Winnipeg Sun October 20, 2014

 

 

 

 

Our 5-part season-opening series on Vancouver drug policy View this email in your browser The Four Pillars Revisited What happened to North America's boldest drug policy experiment? In 2001, after much campaigning by activists, academics and public health officials, Vancouver's municipal council approved the boldest, most progressive drug policy in North America: A Framework For Action: A Four-Pillar Approach to Vancouver's Drug Problems. The philosophy was simple but revolutionary: government should lesson the harms associated with drug use, even if those drugs are illegal. Heroin prescription, methadone maintenance and supervised injection are some of the ideas you will find in the document's 36 recommendations. However, the Four Pillars was passed over 13 years ago. Where do they stand today? This is our season-opening 5-part series, the Four Pillars Revisited, produced in partnership with The Tyee, podcasted on iTunes and syndicated at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University. To read the articles and listen to the files, click on the links below or go to the series page.   [Part 1] The Four Pillars Revisited: Prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and enforcement—Vancouver's four pillars. It's the most progressive drug plan of any city in North America. But its authors fear that the pillars are crumbling. More >>    [Part 2] Prevention: Do you remember DARE? It's a drug education program, but researchers say that it doesn't work because it exaggerates the harms of drug use. We profile people who say we need to try something new: tell kids the truth. More >>    [Part 3] Treatment: When somebody decides that it's time to kick drugs, who is there to help them? In this explosive expose, we reveal a chronically underfunded drug treatment system that is dominated by unregulated flop houses, questionable pharmacists and dogmatic providers. More >>   [Part 4] Harm Reduction: This summer, an activist named Ann Livingston signed a lease for a bubble tea cafe in the heart of the busiest drug market in suburban Vancouver. Ann has one goal: invite the drug users in and start a political movement. The Bubble Helping Centre in Surrey is to be that movement's headquarters. But how will the neighbourhood react? More >>   [Part 5] Enforcement: The authors of Vancouver drug policy always wanted to end the 'War on Drugs' but they made a compromise. While their fight against prohibition has stalled, Seattle is forging ahead. Will Seattle's compromise get any closer? More >>       Copyright © 2014 UBC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email about the Four Pillars Revisited Our mailing address is: UBC 1002-1874 East Mall Vancouver, BC V6T1Z1 Canada Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2014/10/09/calls_for_pot_legalization_unlikely_to_bring_change_experts_say.html

 

Pot should be legalized, regulated and sold like alcohol: addiction centre Globe and Mail October 9, 2014

 

Dear Friends

I am very energized after the 2014 World Ayahuasca Conference, recently held in Ibiza. I propose to continue the reflections and nice atmosphere on another activity: the launching of our book "Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond" (Oxford University Press, 2014), co-edited by Clancy Cavnar and I.

 

This book represents an important contribution to the debate. We are very proud of it!

 

There will be a slide show of Cavnar's art and an exhibition of the book content by me, followed by a collective debate mediated by Alec Dawson.

 

Place: Simon Fraser University Harbor Centre

 

Date: Wednesday, October 15th.

 

Time: 6:00pm to 8:00 pm.

For more information here: http://www.bialabate.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Launch-OUP-Labate-SFU-October-2014.pdf 

 

I hope to see you all there!

 

I'd appreciate if you can help spread the news.

 

With Amazonian vibrations,

 

Bia Labate

 

--

 

http://bialabate.net

http://neip.info