XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.drugs.pot, alt.hemp.politics

Chronicle 1062 -- Opioid Rules, Eradication Clashes, Cannabis Banking,

Dutch Grow Licensing, more...
Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1062 -- 4/18/19
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1062

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director, borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. HOLLAND'S HALF-BAKED ATTEMPT TO RETURN TO THE MARIJUANA VANGUARD
[FEATURE]
After more than 30 years, the Dutch are finally going to do something
about "the back door problem." https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/17/hollands_halfbaked_attempt

2. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
A federal bill to protect the 2nd Amendment rights of medical marijuana patients is filed, North Dakota backs away from messing with those
rights, no medical marijuana for Tennessee this year, Texas bills get a
public hearing, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/17/medical_marijuana_update

3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A pervy, predatory probation officer goes to prison, a half-dozen
Maryland prison guards go down in a racketeering case, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/17/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

4. CHRONICLE AM: DUTCH TO TRY LICENSED GROWS FOR COFFEE SHOPS, NO MEDMJ
FOR TN THIS YEAR, MORE... (4/11/19)
Medical marijuana and guns rights are in the news today, the Dutch
embark on a pilot program of licensed legal marijuana grows, there is no medical marijuana for Tennessee this year, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/11/chronicle_am_dutch_try_licensed

5. CHRONICLE AM: BIPARTISAN CANNABIS BANKING BILL FILED, TEXAS MEDMJ
HEARINGS, MORE... (4/12/19)
Some 20 senators sign on to a bill to solve legal marijuana's banking
problem, a Maine jail appeals a federal court ruling that it must
provide Suboxone to a prisoner, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/12/chronicle_am_bipartisan_cannabis

6. CHRONICLE AM: NO CANNABIS LOUNGES FOR OREGON THIS YEAR; DRUG
ERADICATION CLASHES IN PERU, MEXICO, MORE... (4/15/19)
A set of Michigan bills would do some post-legalization cleanup, a decriminalization bill advances in Missouri, an Oklahoma bill protecting patient rights is signed by the governor, drug crop growers clash with authorities in Mexico and Peru, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/15/chronicle_am_no_cannabis_lounges

7. CHRONICLE AM: ANDREW YANG CALLS FOR OPIOID DECRIM, DENVER MOVES TO
EXPAND POT SOCIAL CLUBS, MORE... (4/16/19)
The Denver city council is trying to make it easier for marijuana social consumption businesses to open, a Colorado drug defelonization bill
advances, a Democratic presidential contender calls for opioid decriminalization, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/16/chronicle_am_andrew_yang_calls

8. CHRONICLE AM: FDA EASES OPIOID RULES TO ALLOW TAPERING, CIUDAD JUAREZ VIOLENCE SPIKES, MORE... (4/17/19)
Decriminalization bills are alive in Alabama and North Carolina, the
Iowa Senate approves hemp, the FDA eases opioid prescribing rules,
Ciudad Juarez sees a bloody weekend, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/17/chronicle_am_fda_eases_opioid

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================

1. HOLLAND'S HALF-BAKED ATTEMPT TO RETURN TO THE MARIJUANA VANGUARD
[FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/17/hollands_halfbaked_attempt

Beginning in the mid-1980s, Holland was the world's marijuana mecca.
Under the quite sensible policy of gedogen (pragmatic tolerance), Dutch authorities didn't quite legalize marijuana but instead effectively
turned a blind eye, allowing licensed retail establishments -- the
famous coffeeshops -- to sell five grams or less of marijuana, and to
let their customers consume the products onsite despite prohibition
remaining on the books.

A generation of stoners made the pilgrimage to Amsterdam, getting
wrecked on hash and primo nederwiet (Dutch weed) and musing fuzzily
about why their home countries couldn't be as cool about cannabis as the Netherlands. That was then.

Oh, the stoners still come for coffeeshops like the Bulldog and Die
Melkweg, especially weekend punters from more puritanical locales, such
as Britain and France, where weed can still get you in trouble. This is
the "drug tourism" the Dutch decry even as they pocket the Euros.

But over the years, some of the luster has rubbed away, in part because conservative Dutch governments who were never happy with the coffeeshop
scene whittled it down as much as they could, but also in part because
the Dutch were standing still while the relaxation of marijuana
prohibition gained momentum around the world.

Uruguay legalized it. Canada legalized it. Ten American states, the
nation's capital, and two US territories legalized it, with another
state or two or three likely to do it this year. And this was actual legalization, not the wink-wink-nudge-nudge "it's still illegal but
we'll allow it" Dutch compromise. And while no European country has
completely legalized it, decriminalization is afoot in broad swathes of
the continent (https://www.herbonaut.com/where-is-marijuana-legal/), and
Spain allows private use and cultivation, as well as "cannabis clubs," especially in Catalonia.

Now, though, the Dutch are finally considering taking the next step, and
that involves fixing a chronic issue for their system: the "back door
problem." That is, while it has been allowed for the coffeeshops to sell marijuana, they have had no legal source of supply. The Dutch system had
no provision for the regulated provision of product to the coffeeshops. Instead, while coffeeshops could openly sell to their customers through
the front door, their black market weed supplies had to sneak in the
back door.

A halting and limited effort to rectify the situation is now about to
get underway. The coalition government announced last week (https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2019/04/10-growers-producing-10-types-of-weed-ministers-unveil-marijuana-plans/)
that it will move forward with a pilot program in regulated marijuana production for the coffeeshops. Under the plan, the government will
issue licenses to 10 growers who will each have to produce at least 10
types of marijuana product, with THC content clearly marked on the
packaging. A minimum of six and a maximum of 10 local authorities will
take part in the trials, which will last four years, meaning that it
will be up to the next government to decide whether the Netherlands will
press ahead with state-regulated production.

But both the local authorities' association, VNG, and the government's
highest advisory body, the Council of State, have already criticized the
plan as too limited and stringent. The plan seeks to completely
eliminate the black market as a source for coffeeshop product:
"Coffeeshops in the municipalities which are taking part in the
experiment can only sell legally-produced hemp products and growers can
only sell to those shops," the plan says. "This means the entire chain
will be closed."

The local authorities in the country's two largest cities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, have complained that the goal is unworkable, especially in Amsterdam, where more than a hundred coffeeshops are doing brisk
business. The Council of State, meanwhile, has complained that the pilot program is too small and will not allow useful conclusions to be drawn.

Still, the coalition government is moving forward with the plan and says
it expects final decisions on which local authorities will be involved
by the end of the year. The Netherlands is now poised to once again move
into the marijuana vanguard with state-regulated commercial marijuana production, even if the government's plan is still half-baked. We will
see in four years whether the country is ready to finally solve the
"back door problem" and fully embrace the marijuana business.

This article was produced by Drug Reporter (https://independentmediainstitute.org/drug-reporter/), a project of the Independent Media Institute.

================ ...
___________________

It's time to correct the mistake:
Truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
<http://www.leap.cc>
Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
___________________

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"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.

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