NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ICBC

Author: Marguerite Arnold

gavel courtroom court

Cutting Edge German Cannabis Possession Case Decided On Appeal

A Lübeck appeals court has exonerated a father and son of possession on the basis of “emergency” treatment. The case may help other German patients beat criminal charges

On the last day of May, a regional appeals court in Lübeck (in the north of Germany) published what might yet become a bellwether cannabis case. As a result, it will also be important to patients across the country for at least the next 18 months until recreational cannabis reform actually kicks in. Namely, the court found that both a father who sourced hundreds of grams for his seriously ill son and the son were innocent of violations of the German Narcotics Act.

In doing so, the court annulled a District Court ruling which held that the two defendants were guilty of six counts of possessing large amounts of narcotics. The pair faced large fines.

The regional court acquitted both men because the possession of cannabis was justified under German law as an “emergency.” Namely, the son suffers from painful spasticity, the amount prescribed for the same was not sufficient to properly treat the symptoms, and the father obtained cannabis for his son to fill the gap.

What makes this case stand out is that the son needed six to seven grams of cannabis a day to properly treat symptoms (which is on the higher end of reimbursement, to begin with). Beyond this, the court also recognized that health insurance companies are increasingly stringent with cannabis approvals, even when justified.

In this case, the court ruled that any criminal penalties otherwise justified are overridden by a critical and unfilled medical need.

A Terrible Predicament

While recreational cannabis reform is clearly moving in Germany, the reality is that it cannot move fast enough for those who are, like the defendant and his caregiver in this case, chronically ill but still not covered by public healthcare. Such patients are directly in the line of fire – which has not been averted yet – by a government that recognizes that recreational reform must happen soon and medical reform is now five years old.

It is bad enough that casual recreational users are still directly in the line of federal drug charges. But for a country where medical use is theoretically legal, there needs to be an amnesty issued soon to protect those who may yet be unfortunate enough to be charged.

This case, as a result, may well show up in the defense of literally hundreds if not thousands of patients whose cases are still pending before full reform becomes the law of the land.

Germany

italy flag

Home Grow In Italy: Just Around The Corner?

The country is poised to follow a trend seen in multiple European countries – namely introducing recreational reform with a limited home grow option

Italy may join the European club of countries allowing home grow by the end of the year. A bill to allow home cultivation of up to four plants finally reached the Chamber of Deputies (the Italian version of the American House of Representatives) in late June.

If passed, the bill would allow not only home grow but would also allow judges to impose reduced sentences for those who still are considered in violation of the new law. It would also require judges to impose penalties on a case-by-case basis.

The point of the legislation is to reduce the amount of money flowing directly into the coffers of organized crime and rectify shortages in the country’s medical cannabis infrastructure, provision, and distribution system.

The bill is expected to be voted on in the coming weeks before being considered by the Italian Senate in early fall.

The Status of Cannabis Reform in Italy

Italy has largely followed other countries, namely Germany, into the cannabis legalization debate. The country began medical cultivation in earnest after Germany passed its own medical legalization bill in 2017 – with the oversight of the same performed by the military.

Beyond this, CBD or cannabis lite as it is referred to across Europe, has become extremely popular in the country. In addition, case law on home grow has gotten increasingly compelling. Despite the failure of a petition to legalize recreational cannabis at the Italian Supreme Court late last year, it is clear that the issue is moving forward anyway at the legislative level – probably also speeded along by continuing reform including on the home grow front in other European countries.

Home Grow – The European First Step Towards Full Legalization

Over the past few months, the idea of implementing home grow as a first step towards greater recreational reform has gone from anathema to popular on-ramp to full normalization.

Malta started the trend late last year. Luxembourg, whose government promised full recreational reform by 2024, subsequently followed suit this spring with a similar idea. Portugal is well on the way to doing the same. Germany, in all likelihood, will also implement some kind of home grow in the legalization discussion. This is because there is a similar problem with medical cannabis provision and compensation in Italy. Not enough patients are getting their prescriptions approved, forcing them into the black market – or home cultivation.

italy

cannabis plant

The Bleeding Edge Of International Cannabis Reform Is Being Forged By Women

Women are on the front lines of the war to legalize cannabis – and paying a heavy price

There are two high-profile cannabis cases right now that are making global headlines. Both of them involve women who have been caught with cannabis – and face years if not decades in prison.

In Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner has just pled guilty to drug charges for bringing about a gram of liquid cannabis in her luggage as she embarked on what she thought would be a lucrative off-season abroad.

Just days before this, last week, an Israeli woman was sentenced to life imprisonment rather than the death sentence for drug possession (including cannabis) in the United Arab Emirates.

Women may not be represented equally in the industry at the executive level yet, but they are increasingly on the front end of the drug war as global laws change. Not to mention being subjected to heavy penalties.

Women Are “Half the Battle”

In North America, women are certainly more present in the industry than just about anywhere else – and from every level – from working in the industry itself to proudly identifying as consumers (which is, if one remembers just a few years ago, a real and welcome change.)

Indeed, it speaks volumes that a high-profile female American user would be targeted in Russia in what many observers are calling a bold power play to obtain an early release for Russians held in the US and for far worse “crimes.” Russian officials have even been quoted as saying that they have done nothing differently than some U.S. states still can (even though hemp is now federally legal).

Regardless, the entire scenario puts yet more of a spotlight on the political deadlock on federal legalization in the US – not to mention the state of reform in Russia.

Cannabis reform is also lagging throughout the Arab world. The UAE, like most Arabic countries, has not reformed its cannabis laws – much – although life in prison is preferable to the death penalty.

Regardless, this case too highlights the draconian penalties that still exist in some parts of the world for a plant with increasingly noted healing properties. Not to mention that such laws are being applied without regard to gender.

Brittney Griner

london taxi england united kingdom britain

Will Boris Johnson’s Departure As Prime Minister Speed British Cannabis Reform?

The controversial politician was forced to announce his resignation last week. How will this affect the pace of British cannabis reform?

Through the lens of history, the passage of Boris Johnson through the country’s top political job may become forever associated, for good or for bad, with Brexit. How that plays out when it comes to forwarding cannabis reform in the now separated from EU regulations on the same is still unclear.

That said, on the CBD front, it appears that it’s full speed ahead. The Food Safety Authority (FSA) just announced that 12,000 CBD products are now legal for sale in the UK. This puts the country far ahead of the discussion in Europe, where Novel Food regulations have yet again put applications (and legalization) discussions on hold. However, one thing is also clear. The EU may have ruled that CBD is not a narcotic, but this change, along with any other decisions taken at this level, now has to be incorporated into national law in every EU country.

What Is Likely to Shake The Apple Cart?

Far more influential than anything the UK does right now is what is happening in Germany. The government has formally committed to recreational reform, formal hearings have been heard, a white paper will be issued and there is, more or less, a timetable of reform that is now being refined as necessary. The passage of recreational reform will also finally normalize the CBD conversation in Germany.

Beyond this, the normalization of cannabis in Europe’s largest economy – and the fourth largest in the world, will certainly move the needle not only in the EU but in the UK too.

From a medical standpoint, the issue has essentially stalled in the UK so far. That said, both Brexit and Covid – and now the tumult of British national politics – are not likely to be fertile ground for forward-thinking politics on this (or many other issues) until things become a bit less chaotic in the UK.

In the meantime, it is clear that limited cannabis reform is in the offing in special trials (see the mayor of London’s proposal on decrim).

For now, at least, as a result, “Global Britain” is following, not leading, on the cannabis discussion. And right now, all eyes are looking to the Bundestag, not Whitehall, to move the stakes if not the goalposts forward.

Britain

germany flag

The German Cannabis Legalization Hearings

The several weeks-long hearing process has now come to an end. These are the takeaway high points

The hearings on the legalization of recreational cannabis are now a thing of the past. Announced in early June, they have now taken place and some clarity about the direction and timing of the German rec market is now emerging.

The first, most important takeaway is that Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and the Federal Drug Commissioner Burkhard Blienert (who will also keynote the ICBC conference in Berlin in just a few weeks) have committed to making recreational cannabis a reality.

The importance of this commitment cannot be understated. Unlike US politics, the German federal government is more consensus-oriented. If two major leaders announce an initiative, chances are it will happen (although of course it does not always – see previous Health Minister Jens Spahn’s many pronouncements about the digitalization of healthcare). That said, Lauterbach also mentioned again that he had undergone a change in perspective about legalization unlike his counterparts in the Green and FDP parties – both of whom have been pro-legalization for quite some time now.

“The risks of the current situation are greater than the legal levy,” he said. “The coordinates have shifted in favour of legalization.” Blienart went a bit further than his boss. According to him, what is about to occur is a “paradigm shift” on the topic of cannabis.

For these reasons alone, the signs are here that what these two men have now pronounced will in fact occur.

The Timetable of Change

By autumn, according to Lauterbach, an overview paper discussing key points of the hearings (which were heard from 200 experts across a range of topics) will be released publicly. This in turn will lead to the drafting of the law to legalize recreational use. The actual debate and presumed passage of the bill have now been pushed back to the beginning of 2023. This means it is unlikely that an actual market will begin here before the beginning of 2024.

The intent, just like it was on the medical plunge, is to make this a four-year experiment that will be re-evaluated after the first period is over.

Other Key Takeaways

Industry sources have consistently spoken up about the need for a tax levy that allows legal cannabis to be price competitive with its black-market counterpart. There have been some discussions on how to manage the potency of product. One way that would not create regulatory but rather market control of price and potency would be to increase the price (and applicable tax) for products with a higher level of THC. This presumably also leaves the door open to a conversation beyond flower that moves quickly into both concentrates and edibles).

Beyond this, advertising is likely to be a part of the mix. A complete ban on the same will make it hard for the market to establish itself – and therefore is probably unlikely. This is especially true as German pharmacies, including cannabis specialty pharmacies, do not seem to want to be on the front lines of the rec experiment, unlike Switzerland.

Online sales are also likely to be verboten – at least at first.
Stay tuned. The results of the paper when published will have far more concrete suggestions as well as predict more accurately what will be both in (and out) of the now pending and absolutely historic law to make Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy, a green and cannabis-friendly place.

Germany

South africa flag

Employment Law And Cannabis In South Africa

An employment case over personal (and medical use) has caught the attention of a country in transition on cannabis reform

The issue of cannabis use and employment is a sticky one. For Americans old enough to remember it, mandatory drug testing for most kinds of employment became a reality in the late eighties and early nineties. Cannabis users, because of the length of time the metabolites stay in the human body, were affected the most.

Now, as the White House is criticized for subjecting its staff to zero-tolerance policies, but the states are moving forward on eliminating this kind of discrimination, the topic is starting to show up elsewhere and in jurisdictions where cannabis reform is moving forward on a federal level.

In South Africa, a woman has just lost a case before a Johannesburg Labour Court on the claim that she was discriminated against and fired illegally for using cannabis while not on the job. She worked in an administrative office position from which she was fired after she had repeatedly tested positive for use – albeit not during working hours. She also testified that she had used cannabis for both medical and spiritual reasons.

The court cited her lack of medical evidence as cause to deny her a discrimination claim as well as the existing zero-tolerance policy of the employer. More tellingly, however, the judge also ruled that to have ruled in her favour would have created a precedent that would impact the company unfairly.

Medical Use, Employment Policies and Reform

The timing of this case is certainly interesting, given the fact that South Africa is moving ahead with at least medical reform – and in a very big way. Beyond this, the country’s Supreme Court has ruled that personal use cannot be criminalized. This would, one would assume, also include negative repercussions in other areas of life – and labour law is also of course considered to fall under the civil rights section of every cannon of written law.

As a result, it may well become a bellwether case.

The ability to find a prescribing doctor in South Africa, as it is elsewhere, remains not only difficult but expensive. Yet courts (everywhere cannabis laws are reforming) are only slowly coming to this understanding.

The unwillingness in this case to set a precedent – and further under such conditions – seems destined to make sure that this will indeed be a case that is remembered. Namely as one which penalized someone for medical use – up to and including the loss of long-term employment.

south africa

cannabis plant garden

Isle Of Man Issues First Medical Cannabis License

The island off the northwest coast of England is moving into the medical cannabis game

The Isle of Man, located to the west of the UK and approximately the same distance from England, Ireland, and Scotland, has just become a cannabis-producing country – even if for now still in theory. Namely, this self-governing island also considered a “possession of the crown” since 1828, has issued its first medical cannabis cultivation license.

The treeless island approximately 30 miles long and 10 miles wide is at an interesting crossroads when it comes to its economy. While fishing, agriculture and smuggling were all important parts of the economy in its past, these days offshore financial services, hi-tech manufacturing and tourism make up the majority of the island’s economy.

Cannabis is viewed by island authorities as another interesting opportunity.

Indeed, according to Enterprise Minister Tim Crookall, this development “represents the dawn of a new economic sector.”

An Interesting Path to Market

The progress so far on the island has been slow but steady. The applications to enter the industry were initially issued in June 2021. Unlike other places, the medical license was granted not by the Department of Health, but the Gambling Supervision Commission – which has been tasked to regulate the sector.

Medical cannabis is not yet available on the island, however a license to import and dispense it has also now just been granted – although this will also only be available to those with private healthcare coverage.

The Emerging British Cannabis Island Economy

One of the more intriguing aspects of this development is that cannabis cultivation projects are flourishing not on the mainland – but just off of it. This is true not only of the Manx cannabis cultivation project but what is going on just south of the UK on the Channel Islands. Medical reform is now done and dusted and Guernsey’s government is now openly considering a domestic recreational market.

Beyond this, it is far from inconceivable that such developments will not dovetail, at some point, with ongoing campaigns for broader medical access as well as the now booming CBD market and the nascent fully recreational one on the mainland.

It is easier to pass new kinds of legislation, like cannabis reform, in these smaller, semi-independent jurisdictions – and most of them need some kind of economic development project that will garner export sales to at least the British mainland.

For these reasons, it is likely that the islands around the UK will be hotbeds of forwarding cannabis reform for at least the next decade.

isle of man

court decision hearing gavel

Cannabis Related Political Prisoner? The Brittney Griner Case Goes To Court

The two-time Gold Medalist faces up to 10 years in prison for possession of less than 1 gram of cannabis. Critics are crying foul – calling this a trumped-up political case to swap prisoners

The cold war between the US and Russia may be hotter than it has been in decades over the Ukraine war. However, a cannabis-related case may be where one of the forces of détente and legalization shows what has changed in the world and what has not.

For those who have not been following the case, American sports star Brittney Griner arrived in Russia this February to play in the country during the American off-season. This is a common practice for many American sports players who can sometimes make more money abroad than they can at home.

Upon her arrival, she was arrested for possession.

Calling On the Biden White House

Griner’s wife has now made the charge that US officials, who did not reveal the case to the public until the beginning of March, have done very little to help her imprisoned spouse. In an interview with CNN, Cherelle Griner said that so far, the actions of American authorities had been insufficient. She also said she hoped to meet with Joe Biden because he has the power to repatriate her wife.

So far, Griner has no complaints about how she has been treated.

Prisoner exchanges for this type of crime and of course someone of this stature, are not uncommon between the two countries.

The great irony of course is that the Biden White House is struggling with its own cannabis policies right now, not to mention presiding over a country on the verge of recreational reform – if it can ever pass the senate.

The Great Criminal Injustices of the 2020s

It may well be, looking back at this period of time with a twenty to thirty-year rear-view mirror, that the continued criminalization and incarceration of cannabis users even as large sections of the world are now moving to at least medical cannabis reform, will be one of the worst injustices of this period of time.

It is of course not just Russia which is still threatening users with both criminal charges and jail time related to cannabis possession and use. Even in places like Germany, with recreational reform now pending in the legislature, over 185,000 individuals face criminal penalties for the same thing. In the US, cannabis-related arrests are clearly down, but too many people face the same issue.

The shadow from the War on Cannabis is long indeed.

Brittney Griner, russia

planet earth

Cannabis Use Increases Across The World

According to the UN, legalization and the Pandemic have increased use globally

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has come to an unsurprising conclusion when it comes to cannabis use. Legalization and the Covid Pandemic have increased use.

According to the UN at least, this has also “raised a risk” of depression and suicide, although they also note that use among teenagers has not increased appreciably.

However, the causality between increased depression and cannabis use was not proven. In fact, cannabis users were lumped in with users of other drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and ecstasy.

Trying to claim that cannabis is directly responsible for causing an increase in generalized mental illness during unprecedented global events like a Pandemic is far from helpful. The entire world shut down. People’s livelihoods, as well as their working conditions, were profoundly disrupted. So was the ability to socialize.

This, rather than drug use of any kind is more likely to lead to depression than cannabis use. Indeed, it is also becoming clearer that cannabis use can actually help alleviate both depression and severe trauma.

However, this approach is an unfortunate and telling sign of where the bias about cannabis use lies at the international agency.

A Global Schedule I?

It is precisely this kind of prejudice that still confronts the entire discussion of cannabis reform. It is also why the discussion about moving cannabis from a Schedule I substance on a global basis is so critical. That said, it is also clear that this will not happen at an international level but rather at a sovereign and regional one.

This is also why the current discussion discussions in Germany right now about how to proceed given international treaties are so critical to further international progress. Some people are claiming that Germany cannot proceed with recreational sales because of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. However, this is profoundly circular logic. Indeed, at the last UN meeting on the topic, the discussion was to leave reform up to individual countries.

The reality is that cannabis is not a drug like cocaine or heroin. It is overdue that both national and international policy reflected this.

Sadly, until it does, the UN will continue to produce these kinds of reports.

cannabis use

cannabis plants garden

Setting Cannabis Home Grow Standards Across Europe

Current proposals range from 4-5 plants – but is this a number based on any kind of reality?

Malta has just allowed it. Luxembourg and Portugal are on the brink of doing so. Germany almost certainly will put language in place allowing the same.

The real question is how are governments coming up with this number? Further, does it really do anything other than supply recreational users who are diligent with their horticultural efforts? And perhaps more importantly, will patients be bound by the same regulations?

The reality is that this critical part of reform is not getting the attention it deserves.

A Numbers Game

As anyone who has actually grown cannabis knows, a successful, bountiful grow takes a couple of things to maximize yield. The first is the right growing environment. Indoors, which is ideal for users in Europe, requires a good LED light, a grow tent, fans, and an extractor. This is easily a four-to-six-hundred-dollar investment (at the low end). Outdoors, it means that you are limited to one crop a year.

Beyond this, there is then yield to consider. A good cultivar can yield about 400-600 grams per plant every three to four months. An auto strain (meaning that the plant produces flower regardless of light intensity) can speed up this process to two months per crop, although yields tend to be lower. The bottom line is even if you use a high-yielding auto flower crop, you are unlikely to get more than 1 kilo of flower per plant every two months.

Most recreational users cannot use 4-5 kilos of flower every two months. Most patients can. But this is just the optimal situation. More likely is the production of perhaps several kilos a year.

This is fine for the average recreational user. It is, however, sub-optimal for those who need the most help.

Decrim and Patient Licensing

Another option, which has not caught on in Europe, yet, is the idea of issuing limited cultivation permits for patients and patient groups. This ensures that a person who needs a steady and larger than average amount of cannabis will be kept in meds without bankrupting them. It does not mean that a cannabis patient cannot go to a doctor too and obtain some help with regulated meds too.

It also creates a non-profit medical market. See Canada.

This concept is problematic in a highly regulated medical market like most European countries. However, so is the reality that a majority of patients who should qualify for treatment not being able to access it without incredible hurdles or the possibility of a criminal conviction.

The bottom line is that every European country is still struggling with acceptance – and that starts with a humane home grow policy beyond creating an infrastructure that helps the legitimate industry flourish.

Europe

london bridge england united kingdom britain

UK’s Lack Of Comprehensive Cannabis Policy Criticized

A Report Launched by UK Minister for Science, Research and Innovation criticizes a lack of coordinated policy on “cannabinoid innovation”

The UK government is criticizing itself in a new report to be launched by the Minister of Science, Research, and Innovation – namely calling on the government to turbocharge cannabis innovation rather than continuing to take a disinterested approach to the sector.

It also explicitly criticizes the approach so far.

According to the report, “It is not sustainable or acceptable for the [UK] Government to continue to take an uncoordinated, disinterested or laissez-faire attitude to the sector as a whole, as it has done since the cannabis sector’s 2018 inception.”

The 24-page document quotes leading industry players, academics, patients, consumers, and investors.

Beyond being critical of the progress so far, however, the report also lists twenty ways in which the UK can create a best-in-class cannabis sector.

Commissioned by the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis and the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry, the report was authored by Professor Christopher Hodges, a well-known regulatory expert, and thought leaders. The work will also be launched with a speech from George Freeman, a member of parliament and the minister of the agency which is ultimately responsible for the report.

It is, as a result, the first-ever ministerial address about the cannabis sector in the UK.

Evolving By Accident

According to the report, the market has “evolved by accident, without coordinated government action or a coherent strategy to steward it to maturity.” They further offer some interesting findings including that 1 in 7 Britons use cannabis for medical if not health reasons and that 64% of the population believes that scientific study of cannabinoids should be supported by the government.

A New Regulatory Schemata

Arguing that the framework established by the report would create a global advantage for post-Brexit Britain, Professor Hodges, an Emeritus Professor of Justice Systems at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Oxford, also calls for specific changes that could be made quickly and easily.

These include allowing GPs to prescribe medical cannabis rather than specialists, modernizing the Proceeds of Crime Act, creating a national patient registry, and updating the rules about farming hemp. The report also calls for the creation of a “stewarding authority” to implement the suggested reforms as well as govern and guide the sector forward.

Through these suggestions, the report authors hope to create jobs, attract more investment, and secure both political support and public recognition.

United Kingdom

chicken

Feeding Cannabis To Poultry Instead Of Antibiotics

Thailand is not just distributing free cannabis plants, but also finding innovative ways to incorporate the plant into other industries

Thailand is moving quickly into the international cannabis industry – and for several reasons beyond just legalization.

The first of course was the announcement of the distribution of a million cannabis plants to its citizens.

The second, which is garnering international attention yet again, may revolutionize livestock farming. Namely a farming community in Lampang in northern Thailand is treating its chickens with cannabis instead of antibiotics.

Researchers from the Chiang Mai University Department of Animal and Aquatic Sciences have now released the first data from this unique experiment. Fewer than 10% of the 1,000 chickens have died since cannabis was introduced into their feed in 2021. Beyond this, the mortality rates for chickens who are fed hemp is approximate to feeding them more expensive (and dangerous) antibiotics.

The experiment included giving chickens hemp with 0.4% THC (rather than 0.2% legalized by the Thai government as of this June).

The birds are now fetching price the price – or about $1.50 per pound – from customers who want organic meat that is antibiotic-free.

Why Did This Make a Difference?

Thai researchers are confirming that cannabis has bioactive compounds that not only create better metabolic activity and overall health but also help improve immune systems.

So far, the study has been in “screening test” mode. Now the researchers will look at whether cannabis can help protect chickens against bird flu and other severe diseases.

Anecdotally this has also been found to be true in people too.

The Impact on The Meat Industry and Beyond

Antibiotics are routinely given to farm animals who are later slaughtered for their meat. This has the long-term effect of creating increased antibiotic resistance in humans – giving rise to fears about superbugs that are resistant to the modern arsenal of antibiotic treatments.

As a result, the use of such drugs in food animals has also created trade wars – particularly between Europe and the United States – the latter of which routinely uses antibiotics in its meat farming practices.

If the Thai study continues to find that higher THC hemp can prevent viral outbreaks, it may revolutionize the global meat industry.

It also may impact the world of antibiotics – both in food – and potentially in places like hospitals where outbreaks of bacteria are a serious concern.

Antibiotics are not without side effects. Neither is their widespread use. This trial in Thailand, in other words, could well have global and long-lasting implications.

Thailand

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