Cannabis Compound Found

Scientists have discovered cannabidiol, a compound in cannabis known as CBD, in a common Brazilian plant, opening potential new avenues to produce the increasingly popular substance.

The team found CBD in the fruits and flowers of a plant known as Trema micrantha blume, a shrub which grows across much of the South American country and is often considered a weed, molecular biologist Rodrigo Moura Neto of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro told AFP in June.  READ MORE...

Germany To Legalize Cannabis

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany on Wednesday set out plans to legalise cannabis, in a move promised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government that would make it one of the first countries in Europe to make weed legal.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach presented a cornerstone paper on planned legislation to regulate the controlled distribution and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes among adults.

Acquiring and possessing up to 20 to 30 grams of recreational cannabis for personal consumption would also be made legal.

The coalition government struck an agreement last year to introduce legislation during its four-year term to allow the controlled distribution of cannabis in licensed shops.  READ MORE...

Brittney Griner's Fears

The WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years in Russian prison after customs agents found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage in February.

Griner's team has appealed the decision, but if she's not included in a prisoner swap between the US and Russia, the WNBA All-Star will likely serve her sentence at a penal colony.

As her detention has dragged on, Griner has grown increasingly fearful of the "miserable or inhumane conditions" she could face if and when her appeal is denied, her lawyer told The New York Times.

Here's what we know about Russian penal colonies and what Griner's experience could look like.

Russian penal colonies are prison-labor camps that are essentially the remnants of the Soviet Union's infamous Gulag system.  READ MORE...

Cannabis Intoxication

New research published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence provides evidence that a new scale that incorporates contemporary young adult language to measure the effects of cannabis is a viable alternative to standard assessments of intoxication.

Many previous studies examining cannabis use have simply asked the participants to indicate “How high do you feel?” on a sliding scale. But the authors of the new research noted that such a scale might not adequately differentiate between various levels of effects and might not be in line with the common language used among young adults.

“Research on cannabis is growing pretty rapidly, however, the field is still working on some pretty foundational issues about how to measure the effects of consuming cannabis consistently as well as in a way that reflects the experiences of people who are using it,” said study author Renee Cloutier, a scientific director for the Program Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Without this step, researchers are limited in their ability to generate knowledge that is reliable, generalizable, and easy to communicate back to the people who are most invested in it (i.e., people who use/purchase cannabis). The downstream consequence is that we lack a robust evidence base for creating an informed and empowered consumer base or policy makers who want to develop evidence-based cannabis policies.”

Researchers have developed a new sliding scale for cannabis effects that includes four anchors: relaxed, calm/chill, high, and stoned/baked.

To further evaluate the new scale, Cloutier and her colleagues conducted a 14-day daily diary study with 161 young adults. Each day, participants were asked if they had used cannabis. If they had, they were additionally asked to report the mode of administration (bong, vape, pipe, edible, etc.) and to rate their subjective intoxication using both an older scale and the newly developed scale.  READ MORE...

Malta's Cannibis Rules

Malta’s new cannabis rules should serve as a model for other European states of how to end the unnecessary prosecution of low-level drug users and strike a blow against organised crime, according to the minister responsible for the law, Owen Bonnici.

Bonnici, a former justice minister and now minister for equality, research and innovation, said the new law, passed by the Maltese parliament in December 2021, prevented recreational users from being dragged through the courts or tribunal process for possession of small amounts of cannabis.

But it also allows for users and, eventually, non-profit organisations to grow cannabis plants and distribute it to other smokers via cannabis associations, meaning they no longer have to source the drug via the black market and put money into the pockets of international criminal gangs.

Malta’s law allows users to carry seven grams of the drug and store up to 50 grams at home, making it the first EU state to legalise cannabis.

German Chancellor Olof Scholz is in favour of legalisation but the country’s new government has not set a time limit on the reforms.

Although the Netherlands is world-famous for the availability of cannabis, it remains illegal for individuals to sell or possess it and the "coffee shops" that are licensed to sell it have to buy their product in bulk on the black market, incentivising criminals that grow and traffic it.

A number of European states, including Italy, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, have done away with prison sentences for marijuana possession, but in 14 of 28 European states -- including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria -- minor cannabis possession can still lead to jail time.

Even in European states where cannabis has been “decriminalised”, meaning that those caught with small amounts of the product are not be arrested, users still need to buy the drug from dealers.  READ MORE...

Black Market Grass

Noxon, whose name has been changed, started selling weed about eight years ago in Dutchess County.

His legitimate job barely paid rent and bought food, but the discretionary income from selling weed and concentrated cannabis, including THC vape cartridges, which he said are diverted from the legal market in California, gave him what he called “a quality-of-life cushion.”

He has no plans to stop.

People don’t like paying taxes, Noxon said of the prospect of competing against legal adult-use cannabis in New York, especially when they already have an established black-market connection.

Noxon, and the black market as a whole, is one of the many wild cards in determining how many cannabis consumers in the state begin to purchase marijuana legally once dispensaries open. But a low tax rate on cannabis could shift consumers to the legal market more successfully than states like California.

After years of starts and stops, legislation legalizing adult recreational marijuana was signed into law by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on March 31. The Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act [MRTA] was intended to make up for a $15 billion budget shortfall, nearly all of which will be filled by the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, though the law is still on the books.  READ MORE