Tag: marijuana

United States to pardon simple federal marijuana possession convictions

Posted on by Milutin

US President Biden on 6 October 2022 announced that he is taking executive action to pardon people convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law and D.C. statute.

The pardons will be done through an administration process to be developed by the Justice Department, senior administration officials told reporters on a briefing call, and will cover citizens and lawful permanent residents.

“Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Biden said in a statement.

More than 6,500 people were convicted of simple possession between 1992 and 2021 under federal law, and thousands more under D.C. code, the officials said. Biden had promised the action during his campaign.

However, most convictions happen at the state level, leaving those pardons up to each governor.

In addition to the executive order, Biden is urging all governors to take similar action in their states. He is also asking Health and Human Services and the Justice Department to review whether marijuana should still be classified as a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act.

 

World Health Organization Recommends Reclassifying Marijuana Under International Treaties

Posted on by Milutin

Global health experts at the United Nations are recommending that marijuana and its key components be formally rescheduled under international drug treaties.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for whole-plant marijuana, as well as cannabis resin, to be removed from Schedule IV—the most restrictive category of a 1961 drug convention signed by countries from around the world.

The body also wants delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its isomers to be completely removed from a separate 1971 drug treaty and instead added to Schedule I of the 1961 convention, according to a WHO document that has not yet been formally released but was circulated by cannabis reform advocates.

Marijuana and cannabis resin would also remain in Schedule I of the 1961 treaty—they are currently dual-designated in Schedules I and IV, with IV being reserved for those substances that are seen as particularly harmful with limited medical benefits. (That’s different from the U.S. federal system, under which Schedule I is where the supposedly most dangerous and restricted drugs—like marijuana, heroin and LSD—are classified.)

WHO is also moving to make clear that cannabidiol and CBD-focused preparations containing no more than 0.2 percent THC are “not under international control” at all. It had previously been the case that CBD wasn’t scheduled under the international conventions, but the new recommendation is to make that even more clear.

Cannabis extracts and tinctures would be removed from Schedule I of the 1961 treaty under the recommendations, and compounded pharmaceutical preparations containing THC would be placed in Schedule III of that convention.

A number of countries that have historically opposed drug policy reforms, such as Russia and China, are expected to oppose the change in cannabis’s classification.

Other nations like Canada and Uruguay, which have legalize marijuana in contravention of the current treaties, are likely to back the reform, as are a number of European and South American nations that allow medical cannabis.

Also, while some experts state that this is a step forward towards serious independent researches on use of cannabis, others think that the news is still not good enough for consumers and those using cannabis for medical purpose.

cannabis

The impact of legalization and regulation of marijuana for adults in USA

Posted on by Milutin

The legalization and regulation of marijuana for adults is associated with a drastic reduction in overall arrests, increased tax revenue, and is not adversely impacting public health or safety, according to a comprehensive report issued by the Drug Policy Alliance.

Among the report’s highlights:

  • Marijuana arrests are down. Arrests for marijuana in all legal marijuana states and Washington, D.C. have plummeted, saving states hundreds of millions of dollars and sparing thousands of people from being branded with lifelong criminal records.
  • Youth marijuana use is stable. Youth marijuana use rates have remained stable in states that have legalized marijuana for adults age 21 and older.
  • Marijuana legalization is linked to lower rates of opioid-related harm. Increased access to legal marijuana has been associated with reductions in some of the most troubling harms associated with opioids, including opioid overdose deaths and untreated opioid use disorders.
  • Calls to poison control centres and visits to emergency departments for marijuana exposure remain relatively uncommon.
  • Legalization has not made the roads less safe. DUI arrests are down in Colorado and Washington. The total number of arrests for driving under the influence, of alcohol and other drugs, has declined in Colorado and Washington, the first two states to regulate marijuana for adult use. There is no correlation between marijuana legalization and crash rates. The crash rates in both states are statistically similar to comparable states without legal marijuana laws.
  • Marijuana tax revenues are exceeding initial estimates.
  • The marijuana industry is creating jobs. Preliminary estimates suggest that the legal marijuana industry employs between 165,000 to 230,000 full and part-time workers across the country.

The full report is available online following this link>>>.

The report proposes several recommendations for the future, including the one that the tax revenues collected from marijuana sales must be reinvested in the communities most harmed by marijuana criminalization. These monies are essential to help rebuild communities most devastated by mass incarceration and the decades-long drug war by investing in programs that offer people a new start.

Dana Beal visited DPNSEE

Posted on by Milutin

On the 22nd February Dana Beal, an American social and political activist, best known for his efforts to legalize marijuana and to promote the benefits of Ibogaine as an addiction treatment, visited office of DPNSEE. The main topics discussed was use of Ibogain in treatment off the addiction but also Parkinson disease. Through the discussion Dana presented the ibogain as the only substance-abuse treatment that regenerates neuron damaged by drugs and several other benefits of it, underlining that there is no potential for abuse of it.

We discussed the issue of difficulties for introducing this treatment in Serbia, since the Ibogaine is being on the list of Illicit and controlled substances in Republic of Serbia as psychotropic substance that can cause severe damage of the health of the people. The discussion led to explanation that the certain private clinic in Serbia that treat addictions are using the Ibogaine method as a treatment. We closely looked at the law and what concluded that there is inconsistencies in the interpretations of the law that gives space for the treatment.