Hi all,

The Vancouver Police Department is asking the public to help them establish the VPD priorities.

The survey only takes 2 minutes to complete.

Please spread widely,

Cheers,

Mark

 

http://fluidsurveys.com/s/VPDStrategicPlan/

New York Times
November 13, 2015


The Push for Legal Marijuana Spreads

By THE EDITORIAL BOARDNOV. 5, 2015

Support for making marijuana legal is increasing around the world, and that is a good thing. Earlier this week, the Mexican Supreme Court opened the door to legalizing the drug by giving four plaintiffs the right to grow cannabis for personal use.

In Canada, the newly sworn in prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has said he intends to change the law so people can use the drug recreationally; medicinal use is already legal in that country. And in the United States, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, recently introduced a bill that would let states decide if they want to make the drug legal without worrying about violating federal law.

Laws banning the growing, distribution and possession of marijuana have caused tremendous damage to society, with billions spent on imprisoning people for violating pointlessly harsh laws. Yet research shows that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, and can be used to treat medical conditions like chronic pain.

The Mexican Supreme Court's ruling, which applies only to the four plaintiffs seeking a right to grow marijuana, does not strike down the country's marijuana laws. But it will open the way to more legal challenges and put pressure on President Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican Congress to change the law, which has helped to fuel drug-related crime in the country.

Prohibition in Mexico and elsewhere in the Americas will also become harder to maintain if California voters legalize recreational use of marijuana. Activists there are seeking to put legalization initiatives on the 2016 ballot. California was the first state to allow medicinal use of the drug in 1996, and it is a big market for illegal Mexican cannabis. It would make little sense for Mexico to spend countless millions a year in drug enforcement to ban a substance that is legal and regulated across its northern border all the way up the western coast to Canada. Oregon and Washington have already legalized the drug, as have Colorado, Alaska and the District of Columbia.

Some proponents of keeping prohibition in place might be encouraged by the defeat of an Ohio legalization initiative on Tuesday. But voters did the right thing by rejecting that measure because it would have granted a monopoly over the growing and sale of legal marijuana to a small group of investors. Even the acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Chuck Rosenberg, who opposes legalization, described that ballot measure as an "anomaly." (Mr. Rosenberg also said marijuana was "harmful and dangerous" but he acknowledged that other dangerous substances are "perfectly legal.")

Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.

What's needed now is responsible leadership from President Obama and Congress. They ought to seriously consider the kind of legislation Mr.
Sanders has proposed. His bill would remove marijuana, or "marihuana" as it is called in federal law, from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which is meant for drugs that have a high potential for abuse and no medical use.

This change would allow states to decide if they want to make the drug legal and how to regulate it without being limited by federal law. Mr.
Sanders's bill would also make it illegal to transport the drug across state lines. If Congress is unwilling to act, Mr. Obama should move on his own by ordering the attorney general to request a study by the secretary of health and human services, which would be needed if the administration is to remove the drug from Schedule I on its own.

A growing group of activists, judges and lawmakers is showing the world a path to more sensible drug policies. Mr. Obama and Congress should join them.
_______________________________________________
Dd-world mailing list
https://lists.tni.org/mailman/listinfo/dd-world

 

 

 

Webinar Topic:    Implementing marijuana regulation in Washington State:  A 2015 Update

DATE:    November 10, 2015

TIME:    9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time)

HOST: Clean Air Coalition British Columbia

 

If you would like to register for the knowledge exchange webinar, please go to www.cleanaircoalitionbc.com/webinars;  on the UPPER RIGHT HAND SIDE register for the session.

 

Overview

 

State-licensed production, processing and retailing of “recreational” marijuana began in 2014. Recent legislation is now bringing the sale of “medical” marijuana into the state system.  Our presenters will share how implementation is progressing, some of the lessons learned and how the various government agencies are involved.   There will be time for discussion.

 

Presenters

 

Dr. Gillian Schauer is a contractor with the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In that capacity, she works on research and policy issues related to both tobacco and marijuana. She has been CDC’s on-the-ground lead working with states on marijuana policy and works closely with Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and Colorado.

 

Mary Segawa is the Public Health Education Liaison at the WA State Liquor and Cannabis Board, focusing on policy and education related to preventing the misuse and abuse of alcohol and marijuana, including underage use.

 

Kristi Weeks serves as Policy Counsel to the Department of Health, WA State, including overseeing the department’s implementation of marijuana regulation.

 

 

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/world/americas/mexico-supreme-court-marijuana-ruling.html?emc=edit_th_20151105&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=5342006&_r=0

 

 

. http://forum.liftcannabis.ca/vancouver-2015-2/

 

 

 

 

 

• BBC – Mexico court ruling could eventually lead to legal marijuana

 

 

 

UN Web TV
3 November, 2015

Launch of the United Nations University Policy Report entitled What Comes
after the War on Drugs?
Organized by the United Nations University (UNU).

Watch the full video:
http://webtv.un.org/watch/launch-of-the-united-nations-university-policy-rep
ort-entitled-what-comes-after-the-war-on-drugs/4594719766001

--

Huffington Post
November 03, 2015

New UN Think-tank Report: What Comes After the War on Drugs?*
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-cockayne/new-un-thinktank-report-w_b_846
5246.html

Should the United Nations support the decriminalization of drug use?
This was the question raised last week by Richard Branson, a well-known
entrepreneur and member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a private
group. Branson made headlines with a claim that the main United Nations drug
agency, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), was poised to
call for governments to decriminalize the use and possession of all drugs.
UNODC quickly denied the claims, suggesting a document circulated by Branson
did not represent the body's official policy.

Branson's claim comes half a year before members of the United Nations will
meet at a special session in New York to consider the state of global drug
control efforts, known by its acronym UNGASS 2016. Our new policy report for
the UN's own thinktank, the United Nations University (UNU), entitled What
Comes After the War on Drugs? argues that UNGASS
2016 will largely confirm the current approach to drug control, despite
growing calls for change. The report, based on a series of consultations
involving over 50 Member States, 16 UN entities and 55 civil society
organizations, considers the major political and policy trends leading into
UNGASS 2016, and offers recommendations for strengthening global drug policy
efforts at a time of deepening divisions.

Some states, particularly in the Americas, see UNGASS 2016 as an opportunity
to rethink global drug control, turning a page on the War on Drugs. Other
states in contrast see UNGASS 2016 as an opportunity to build flexibility
into the current approach, and to adapt to new drugs and new trafficking
patterns. States have not bridged this divide in preparing for UNGASS 2016,
so What Comes After the War on Drugs?
predicts that UNGASS 2016 will largely affirm the existing regime while
adding positive references to the protection of public health and human
rights.

We also predict support for the idea that states should have flexibility in
implementing their existing drug control obligations. The United States, in
particular, has championed the notion of flexibility since some U.S. states
began to permit recreational use of cannabis -- something traditionally not
permitted by the UN drug control system. The report cautions that states in
different regions will use the notion of flexibility to do very different
things. Some will certainly experiment with cannabis legalization and harm
reduction, while others will see 'flexibility' as a green light for a more
punitive approach, incarcerating users, forcing them into treatment options
without sound medical supervision, and even executing drug traffickers. This
will lead in time to policy fragmentation.

To avoid that outcome, Member States need to embed flexibility in a larger
discussion of what actually works in drug policy, based on certain shared
principles. We call this 'principled pluralism', and suggest that it is not
currently achievable at the UN's global drug policy discussion forum in
Vienna, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, partly because most countries are
not represented there. We argue that states should use the period until
2019, when a new UN Plan of Action is expected, to hold inclusive
discussions in New York. This could take the recent process that designed
the Sustainable Development Goals as a model, and be framed as an Open
Working Group on Drug Policy, open to all states and to civil society, and
guided by a Scientific Advisory Committee. This Open Working Group would
work towards Global Drug Policy Goals, to be adopted in 2019. Creating
shared goals has proven to be an effective way for states to define the key
objectives of a regime, direct resources, and work towards a shared vision
on a global issue.
Global Drug Policy Goals would help ensure coherence in a drug control
regime that is going to continue to be pulled in very different directions.

Whether or not that discussion happens in New York or Vienna, states should
ensure that UNGASS 2016 explicitly recognizes four principles for future
drug control discussions: 1) inclusiveness, 2) science-based
decision-making, 3) protection of human rights, and 4) promoting human
development. Without a commitment to these common principles, global drug
control discussions risk rapid fragmentation in coming years.

But there are also more specific things that states could achieve at UNGASS
2016, and we offer five operational recommendations. First, states should
use UNGASS 2016 to create a forum for sharing scientific evidence on the
impacts of penal policy interventions. Second, UNGASS
2016 should establish an high-level, independent, expert commission to
analyse global access to controlled medicines and report back on measures to
improve it. Third, states should ask the Secretary-General to develop
coherent, UN-system-wide guidance on drug treatment programming. Fourth,
states should initiate a workstream in the UN Statistical Commission to
develop new national statistics measuring the human development impacts of
drugs and drug control policies. And fifth, states should ask the
Secretary-General to develop UN-wide guidance on protection of human rights
in drug programming.

In the end, the direction of global drug policy is up to Member States
-- not UN agencies such as UNODC, or outside experts like Richard Branson.
But unless all stakeholders work together to use UNGASS 2016 to take
concrete steps, a golden opportunity to adapt the global drug control regime
to present-day realities risks being squandered. If states, in particular,
do not step up to the challenge, what comes after the War on Drugs may be,
in some parts of the world, just as bad -- or even worse.

*Dr. James Cockayne is Head of United Nations University's Office at the
United Nations.

*Ms Summer Walker manages United Nations University's global Drug Policy
Project.

The United Nations University (UNU) is a think tank established by the UN
General Assembly to contribute research to help resolve pressing global
challenges.

--
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

Independent
November 03, 2014

Ireland to 'decriminalise' small amounts of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and cannabis, for personal use http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-to-decriminalise-small-amounts-of-drugs-including-heroin-cocaine-and-cannabis-for-personal-a6719136.html

Minister also announced intention to implement 'injection rooms' in Dublin for addicts Rose Troup Buchanan

Many drug users pick up additional infections and medical problems as a result of using unclean needles - Getty

Ireland will move towards decriminalising substances including heroin, cocaine and cannabis as part of a "radical cultural shift", the country's drugs minister has said.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, the chief of Ireland's National Drugs Strategy, told a lecture at the London School of Economics on Monday that drug users will be able to inject in specially designated rooms in Dublin from next year.

The minister said attitudes to drugs needed to move away from shaming addicts to helping them and emphasised there was a difference between legalisation and decriminalisation.

It would remain a crime to profit – from either the sale or distribution of illegal drugs – but drug takers would no longer be criminalised for their addictions.

"I am firmly of the view that there needs to be a cultural shift in how we regard substance misuse if we are to break this cycle and make a serious attempt to tackle drug and alcohol addiction," said Mr Ó Ríordáin.

However, while Mr O Ríordáin told The Irish Times that there was a "strong consensus that drugs across the board should be decriminalised,"
he said it would be for Ireland's next government to discuss.

His comments follow a leaked report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, appearing to call for a worldwide decriminalisation on
19 October.

The report was reportedly withdrawn after at least one nation put pressure on the international body to bury the findings of Dr Monica Beg, chief of the HIV/AIDs section of the UNODC in Vienna.


--
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

Legalizing cannabis on CBC almanac – Nov 3 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/bcalmanac.xml