Washington DC has ended criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis, giving the US capital one of the most liberal marijuana laws in America.

Beginning on Thursday, people caught with less than one ounce (28g) will be assessed a $25 (£15) civil violation, akin to a ticket for littering.

It remains a crime punishable with jail to sell cannabis or smoke it in public.

The new law was intended to ease racial disparities in marijuana arrests.

When they passed the law in the spring, Washington DC city councillors noted that surveys show white and black people smoke marijuana at roughly the same rate, but in Washington DC black people were far more likely to be arrested and jailed for marijuana possession.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Washington DC marijuana decriminalisation law takes effect

Last week, two major bodies of the UN made inquiries into drug policies and its impact on human rights in Georgia. Questions such as zero tolerant drug policies, money extortion from people who use drugs and the power of police in the context of drug policies in Georgia were posed to the government. And while responding to the questions asked, it seemed that the country is still far from human rights based, coherent drug policies.

The observations from the Committee on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women that highlighted issues of women in the places of detention, equal standard of health for men and women including Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) unveiled that government is too embarrassed to openly acknowledge the faults in the system. Even more, in relation to drug treatment for women in detention the Deputy Minister Ms Kristesashvili noted there are 13 women who use drugs and 43 that potentially maybe using drugs in detention and those who express their interest and wish to take OST they are transported to the civil services. Such statements contradict the practice, when women may be taken to the male prisons to receive treatment should such a need be established.

Drug policies, human rights and Georgian reality in the United Nations

The international AIDS community is mourning the deaths of more than 100 AIDS activists and researchers whose plane was shot down over Ukraine and who were travelling to Melbourne for the International HIV/AIDS conference.

298 people – 283 passengers including three infants and 15 crew – were killed on the Malaysia Airlines flight 17.

The former International AIDS Society president Joep Lange and his partner and ArtAids board member Jacqueline van Tongeren have been confirmed as having been on the flight, while there are reports of others including a World Health Organization spokesman, Glenn Thomas.

IDPC would like to offer its deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who died in this trategic and shocking event.

AIDS community mourns loss of 100 AIDS activists and researchers in Malaysia plane crash

With the opening of its first recreational marijuana outlets on July 8, Washington became the second state in the US to put into practice its cannabis regulatory framework. This follows Colorado's initiative which began on January 1 this year and has so far seen modest signs of success; tax revenue from recreational marijuana sales surpassed $10 million in the first four months of 2014, and a number of key crime indicators have fallen in urban areas -- though the latter is perhaps a tenuous link to the introduction of legal cannabis.

With two down, that leaves one to go; Uruguay. The South American state is the first ever country to legalize marijuana and the first sales are expected to take place either late this year, or early in 2015.

While much has been made of these three initiatives by both reformers and prohibitionists alike, they are by no means uniform in their approach.

Infographic: The differences between Uruguay, Colorado & Washington marijuana laws

Release has just launched Y-Stop, a new stop and search project for young people by young people. The project addresses the problems experienced during a police led stop and search. It aims to give you the skills to handle stop and search and your interactions with the police, as well as provide tools for advice, empowerment and reporting police behaviour. Y-Stop details 6 key principles to help you deal with a stop and search.

Want to know more? Take a look at the Y-Stop S.E.A.R.C.H. Card that explains each of them, with all the information and tips you need for handling a stop and search.

You can also slip your card into a Y-Stop Oyster Card wallet to make sure it’s always in your pocket. If you’d like to order these materials email natasha@release.org.uk

Release also provides peer training to train you on how to apply these 6 principles. If you want to book Release for a session email natasha@release.org.uk

This is just the first step of a growing project. Release will be creating more materials over the coming months!

Click here to find out more about Y-Stop.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Stop and search project launched by Release

Georgia’s policy is a striking example of an approach to drug abuse based on scientific evidence and what’s best for public health rather than harsh criminal justice.

Two years ago 24,000 people were in jail in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Today the figure is 10,000. The reduction – achieved through an amnesty and an end to jail sentences for personal drug possession and other minor offences – is one of the fastest falls in prison population on record, apart from mass releases in war or revolution.

Archil Talakvadze, Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Corrections, speaks of the change of policy as a striking example – still little known abroad – of an approach to drug abuse based on scientific evidence and what’s best for public health rather than harsh criminal justice.

“We had a repressive approach that led to one of the world’s highest incarceration rates, prison overcrowding and infections running out of control,” says Talakvadze, who comes from a health background. “Now we think about ‘harm reduction’ to balance law enforcement.”

Harm reduction: time to end the war on drugs?

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says the time has come to review Dominica’s marijuana laws. A regional committee could soon be established to dialogue with experts on the matter which is being given attention by CARICOM.

The Prime Minister told a press conference on July 7, 2014 that the marijuana issue needs to be discussed on a wider scale, in light of calls for the decriminalization of the herb here.

“We believe the time has come for us to look at the laws relating to marijuana, for example someone with a very small quantity of marijuana, we will send him to prison, and the question is, if a man has five grams of marijuana should this person be sent to prison for that small amount and that person would have a criminal record for the rest of his life,” Mr Skerrit said.

The Prime Minister said Dominica’s conviction laws for the possession of marijuana need to be reviewed as too many young people are being convicted for small amounts of marijuana which could have a negative impact on their future.

In Dominica, PM Skerrit wants review of marijuana laws

Organized crime and illicit criminal activity undermined essential institutions like the rule of law and delivery of education and health, the United Nations leading expert on drugs and crime told the Economic and Social Council today.

Opening a high-level panel discussion entitled “Sustainable development and the world drug problem: challenges and opportunities”, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that drug cultivation hindered growth of legitimate economies and businesses. Alternative development strategies promoted by UNODC had reduced cultivation, but farmers also needed infrastructure in order that the new crops they produced could be marketed and income generated.

Joining Mr. Fedotov in making opening statements were United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Economic and Social Council President Martin Sajdik.

On the panel were Khaled Abdel-Rahman Shamaa, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Vienna and Chair of the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs; Norachit Sinhaseni, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations; Mary Chinery-Hesse, Commissioner, West Africa Commission on Drugs; Lochan Naidoo, President, International Narcotics Control Board, Aldo Lale-Demoz, Deputy Executive-Director, UNODC; and Alberto Otárola Peñaranda, Executive Director of DEVIDA.

Mr. Ban agreed on the negative impact drugs and organized crime could have on people’s lives and on societies. Drugs and crime were corrosive and harmed justice systems, State institutions and communities.

“That is why it is so important to help farmers choose alternative crops,” he said, stressing the need to stabilize markets and create decent jobs. “When we take these measures, we do more than fight drugs and crime — we promote progress and peace.”

Panellists shared their experiences in addressing the drug problem from the State and regional level, as well as from within international institutions.

Alternative crops vital to fighting world’s drug problem, promoting progress,  Secretary-General tells Economic and Social Council

On 14th July, the International Drug Policy Consortium collaborated with the New York NGO Committee on Drugs and the New York Missions of Benin, Switzerland and Mexico to discuss expectations and potential outcomes from the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs.

The 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs: Ensuring a successful outcome

France said Thursday it has joined forces with 13 other European countries to negotiate a lower price for a promising new hepatitis C drug that has drawn controversy for its astronomical cost.

Sovaldi, made by US pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences, has shown huge potential at helping cure the liver disease but its price -- more than 50,000 euros ($68,000) for a 12-week course of treatment -- has health authorities concerned.

"If we accept such a high price, firstly we won't be able to treat everyone and we will also be creating a risk for our social security system, which means for other patients," French Health Minister Marisol Touraine said Thursday.

She told BFMTV that Sovaldi would cost the country's already heavily-indebted welfare system billions of euros. "So I launched an initiative... to mobilise all European countries and make sure we join forces to weigh on price negotiations with this US laboratory.

"For the first time, 14 European countries have made a commitment together. We will therefore negotiate country by country as that's how it's done, but we will exchange information and discuss things between European countries."

EU nations join forces against 'exorbitant' hepatitis C drug

"He didn't say no because he was scared to loose his only friend"

This is the story of Jesse Snodgrass, a kid with Asperger's syndrome who was arrested by an undercover cop posing as a student at Jesse's high school. This is the story of how the war on drugs preys on the most vulnerable.

The war on kids in the United States

Many countries have legalized cannabis as a medicine. In addition to the Netherlands, medical marijuana is legal in Spain, Portugal, Finland and certain US states. In these countries, cannabis in medicinal form can be had on presentation of a prescription.

In Germany, growing cannabis for medical purposes has been legal since May 2011. Before then, special permits from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices had to be obtained.

Cannabis-containing drugs are usually prescribed as a finished product with cannabis extract added, such as a spray. The medicine is sprayed into the oral cavity. From there it spreads rapidly in the blood.

More and more studies are confirming the positive effect on various diseases of the active ingredients of the cannabis plant. They cannot cure these diseases, but can improve the quality of life of those affected.

This applies, for example, to people who suffer from multiple sclerosis. MS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that manifests itself in flare-ups and that often produces spasms. These can be reduced by the administration of cannabis or its active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The muscles relax and thereby improve general mobility.

The ingredients of the cannabis plant can also help people who suffer from Tourette's, Parkinson's disease or chronic neuropathic pain.

Scientists have also found a positive effect in cancer therapy. Patients often suffer from nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy. THC helps counteract this, as does cannabidiol.

News