Cannabis advocates hail ‘major step’

Washington - In a move marijuana advocates hailed as a historic shift, the Obama administration on Thursday began giving US states wide leeway to experiment with pot legalisation, and started by letting Colorado and Washington carry out new laws permitting recreational use.

The Justice Department said it would refocus marijuana enforcement nationwide by bringing criminal charges only in eight defined areas - such as distribution to minors - and giving breathing room to users, growers and related businesses that have feared prosecution.

The decisions end nearly a year of deliberation inside President Barack Obama's administration about how to react to the growing movement for relaxed US marijuana laws.

Advocates for legalisation welcomed the announcement as a major step toward ending what they called “marijuana prohibition”.

“Today's announcement demonstrates the sort of political vision and foresight from the White House we've been seeking for a long time,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group.

“I must admit, I was expecting a yellow light from the White House,” he said in a statement. “But this light looks a lot more green-ish than I had hoped. The White House is basically saying to Washington and Colorado: Proceed with caution.”

Marijuana remains illegal and tightly controlled under federal law, even as about 20 states, plus the District of Columbia, allow the use of medical marijuana. Voters in Colorado and Washington legalised recreational use in groundbreaking ballot measures in November 2012.

Obama had signalled he did not want a new crackdown, telling ABC News in December: “It does not make sense, from a prioritisation point of view, for us to focus on recreational drug users in a state that has already said that's legal.”

The leeway for the states will go only so far, though, if Colorado, Washington or other states show they are unable to control the drug, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Forty-two percent of Americans age 12 or older have used marijuana at some point, according to a 2011 survey by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Obama has said he used marijuana when he was young.

One opponent of marijuana legalisation said his group would redouble efforts to spread word of the negative effects the drug can have on adolescents.

“This is going to really quicken the realisation among folks that more marijuana in our communities is not a good thing,” said Kevin Sabet, a co-founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

US Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the Obama administration should not decline to enforce laws that it finds inconvenient or that it does not like.

“This sends the wrong message to both law enforcement and violators of federal law. Apprehending and prosecuting illegal drug traffickers should always be a priority for the Department of Justice,” Grassley said in a statement.

The Justice Department could have sued to block the Colorado and Washington laws from taking effect under the theory that they conflict with the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the primary US anti-drug law.

Coupled with the decision not to sue, the Justice Department sent a four-page memorandum to federal prosecutors nationwide outlining eight priority areas for marijuana enforcement.

While department officials said they are committed to enforcing federal restrictions on marijuana, prosecutors have now been told not to expend effort on cases unless they fall in one of the eight areas.

The areas include distribution to minors, situations when marijuana revenue is going to other criminal enterprises, trafficking across state lines and growing on public land.

The criteria mean, for example, that federal prosecutors will not charge a marijuana dispensary simply because it is large or profitable, said a Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But the criteria also stop short of guaranteeing immunity for anyone, leaving business and individuals open to prosecution if the case fits one of the eight areas, the official said.

Colorado and Washington will need to have regulatory systems to protect against those types of crimes, or else risk giving up the whole experiment, the department said in a statement.

Attorney General Eric Holder had a phone call on Thursday with the governors of Colorado and Washington to inform them of the decisions and told them there would be a “trust but verify” relationship between the Justice Department and the states, said the department official.

State officials said they shared Holder's concerns.

“This reflects a balanced approach by the federal government that respects the states' interests in implementing these laws and recognises the federal government's role in fighting illegal drugs and criminal activity,” Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, both of whom are Democrats, said in a statement. - Reuters

Legalising drugs in the spotlight

Should drugs be decriminalised?

Cape Town - South Africa’s advisory body on substance abuse will look into whether or not drugs should be decriminalised or controlled, says a member of the body.

“We do, as the Central Drug Authority, need to keep an open mind,” Peter Ucko, an executive committee member, told the Cape Times yesterday.

The Central Drug Authority formulated the National Drug Master Plan for 2013 to 2017 - the country’s blueprint on substance abuse that was approved by cabinet about a month ago and implemented with immediate effect.

When it came to decriminalising dagga, the master plan said an in-depth probe was needed to look into whether or not this was needed in South Africa.

On Monday the Cape Times published an article in which a crime researcher and criminologist said decriminalising drugs would result in gangs significantly weakening as their main source of income would be ruined.

The idea, rejected by some authorities, including Community Safety MEC Dan Plato, resulted in heated debate on the Cape Times Facebook page.

On Tuesday Ucko said there was a “strong movement” in South Africa and other countries leaning towards decriminalising dagga.

“The Central Drug Authority would be remiss if it did not consider all meaningful scientific options which can be applied and implemented in the real world,” he said.

Ucko said the authority’s stance on implementing any strategy was that the strategy needed to be evidence-based.

“Whatever we do must be evidence-based. We want science. We want research,” he said.

“In South Africa and around the world we have a war on drugs.”

Ucko said “if you remove the war by making drugs legal” it did not mean the authority would stop acting and focusing on what it was meant to.

He explained the master plan focused on reducing the supply of and demand for drugs, as well as the harm caused by using them.

Ucko said investigating drug policies, one of several things the Central Drug Authority needed to do when looking at controlling drugs, was ongoing.

He said drug policy models that other countries, including Holland and Portugal, were following would be looked at.

According to a Netherlands government website, “soft drugs” including dagga could be sold from coffee shops there “under strict conditions”.

The website said the idea behind this was so that dagga users did not need to buy dagga from illegally operating dealers as this would increase their chances of coming into contact with hard drugs.

About 12 years ago the Portuguese government decriminalised all drug use. Ucko said aside from legislative models used elsewhere, research from those countries would be looked at to gauge the results, implications and effectiveness of the models.

- Cape Times

SA plan calls for study on legalising dagga

Cape Town - The National Drug Master Plan, the country’s blueprint on substance abuse, has called for an in-depth probe into whether the decriminalisation or legalisation of dagga is needed in South Africa.

The 2013-17 master plan, formulated by the Central Drug Authority, a state advisory body on substance abuse, was approved by the cabinet about a month ago and implemented with immediate effect.

On Monday the Cape Times quoted Gareth Newham, the head of the Institute for Security Studies’ crime and justice programme, and criminologist Liza Grobler as saying decriminalising drugs would weaken gangs as their main source of power and income would be ruined.

Newham said if dagga were decriminalised, police could focus their resources and clamp down on harder drugs.

Authorities, including Community Safety MEC Dan Plato, were against decriminalising the use of drugs.

The authors of the master plan said when it came to substance abuse, a balanced approach was needed to deal with the problem.

“In the field of substance abuse it is generally accepted that no single approach such as criminalising or decriminalising substances or abusers would solve the problem of substance abuse,” it said.

When it came to dagga, the master plan said it was “well known” that dagga was the second-most used “dependence-forming” substance in South Africa. It said that nine years ago, preparations for a position paper on dagga started and three years ago this paper was presented to parties for consultation.

But the master plan said the stance towards dagga, in South Africa and other countries, had since changed and further research become necessary.

“There is a need for an in-depth investigation of the dynamics of (dagga) use and related harm in South Africa, as well as the relevance of current international/local policies regarding (dagga) use, including measures such as legalisation and/or decriminalisation,” the master plan said.

“The results of this investigation should then be used to develop government policies, legislation, protocols and practices related to (dagga) use.”

The authors said little attention had been given to the problem of driving under the influence of dagga.

A resolution passed at the 54th session of the Commission for Narcotic Drugs, held two years ago in Vienna, requested that a response be developed to “drug-affected driving”.

The master plan said the response would involve collecting data on drug-affected driving and developing a way to test this at the roadside.

In terms of addressing substance abuse, the master plan said it would look at:

* Focusing on a specific community, instead of a national solution, and devising a strategy for that community.

* Applying and developing evidence-based solutions.

* Introducing “a monitoring and evaluation approach” for formulating results. This would include looking at targets and the outcomes of a strategy.

- Cape Times

Infographic - Cannabis in South Africa

Cannabis in South Africa

Uruguay votes yes to legalising Cannabis

Uruguay's parliament voted to be the world's first country to license and regulate production, distribution and sale of dagga for adult consumers.

The unprecedented plan to create a legal marijuana market was approved by 50 of the 96 lawmakers present in the lower house of Congress just before midnight Wednesday after more than 13 hours of passionate debate. It now needs to pass through the Senate.

Legislators in the ruling coalition said legalising marijuana would help fight organised crime. They said putting the government at the center of a legal marijuana industry was worth trying because the global war on drugs had been a costly and bloody failure, and displacing illegal dealers through licensed sales could save money and lives.

They also hope to eliminate a legal contradiction in Uruguay, where it has been legal to use dagga but against the law to sell it, buy it, produce it or possess even one marijuana plant.

President Jose Mujica had postponed voting for six months to give supporters more time to rally public opinion. However, recent polls said two-thirds of Uruguayans remained opposed despite a "responsible regulation" campaign for the bill.

National party deputy Gerardo Amarilla said the government was underestimating the risk of marijuana, which he called a "gateway drug" for other chemical addictions that foster violent crimes.

"Ninety-eight percent of those who are today destroying themselves with base cocaine began with marijuana," Amarilla said. "I believe that we're risking too much. I have the sensation that we're playing with fire."

Activists

Dozens of pro-marijuana activists followed the debate from balconies overlooking the house floor, while others outside held signs and danced to reggae music.

"This law consecrates a reality that already exists: The marijuana sales market has existed for a long time, but illegally, buying it from traffickers, and in having plants in your house for which you can be thrown in jail," said Camilo Collazo, a 25-year-old anthropology student. "We want to put an end to this, to clean up and normalise the situation."

Mujica, for his part, said he never consumed marijuana, but that the regulations are necessary because many other people do. "Never in my life did I try it, nor do I have any idea what it is," he told the local radio station Carve.

The heavy toll, costs and questionable results of military responses to illegal drugs have motivated marijuana legalisation initiatives in the US states of Colorado and Washington, and inspired many world leaders to re-think drug laws.

The secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Inzulza, told Mujica last week that his members had no objections. Pope Francis, however, said during his visit to Brazil that the "liberalisation of drugs, which is being discussed in several Latin American countries, is not what will reduce the spread of chemical substances."

New legislation

Under the legislation, Uruguay's government would license growers, sellers and consumers, and update a confidential registry to keep people from buying more than 40 grams a month.

Carrying, growing or selling dagga without a license could bring prison terms, but licensed consumers could grow up to six plants at a time at home.

Growing clubs with up to 45 members each would be encouraged, fostering enough marijuana production to drive out unlicensed dealers and draw a line between dagga smokers and users of harder drugs.

The latest proposal "has some adjustments, aimed at strengthening the educational issue and prohibiting driving under the effects of cannabis," ruling coalition deputy Sebastian Sabini said. "There will be self-growing clubs, and it will also be possible to buy marijuana in pharmacies" that is mass-produced by private companies.

An Institute for Regulation and Control of Cannabis would be created, with the power to grant licenses for all aspects of a legal industry to produce marijuana for recreational, medicinal or industrial use. –  Sapa-AP