Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed into law a bill legalising the medical use of cannabis, a parliamentary database showed on Thursday.More than 6 million people, including cancer patients, civilians with post-traumatic stress disorder, and wounded soldiers need medicine containing cannabis, according to a lawmaker.The bill signed by Zelenskiy on Tuesday would only come into force six months after it is officially published, and the ban on selling or supplying cannabis for recreational use would remain in effect.

Ukraine legalises cannabis for medical use

A few years ago, Howell Miller was in prison in New York State, walking laps around the track with a fellow-inmate he’d befriended, who happened to be a former U.S. congressman. Prior to the prison stint, Miller, a cheerful guy in his early fifties, had run a construction company and a serious marijuana operation, simultaneously. “I was a silent baller,” he told me. “Then one of my guys got caught with forty-four hundred pounds on a truck.” As Miller neared the end of a twelve-year sentence, he began hearing stories of people getting rich running weed shops: “I was thinking, Why the hell am I still in jail?” His ex-congressman friend, Anthony Weiner, told him on the track that day that the first dispensary licenses were going to be awarded to people who had marijuana convictions. “I thought, I’m gonna get out and look into that,” Miller said.

What Weiner had described was the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program, or CAURD. It’s the flagship program of the Office of Cannabis Management (O.C.M.), the agency created, in 2021, to oversee the legalization of marijuana in New York. The state’s cannabis restrictions had been loosening for almost a decade, but that year the government passed a law that would have seemed unthinkable just a short while before. The governor at the time, Andrew Cuomo, had been pushed left on the issue during a primary challenge from Cynthia Nixon; after his reëlection, he found himself knee-deep in multiple scandals, and unusually pliable. The law not only made pot legal for adults; it also allocated forty per cent of weed-related tax revenue to communities where cops had made disproportionate marijuana arrests, and it set a goal of awarding half of all licenses to “social and economic equity” applicants: women, people of color, service-disabled veterans, distressed farmers, and residents of those overpoliced communities.

CAURD went a step further, mandating that the first licenses for the sale of recreational weed go to people who had, or whose family members had, a marijuana-related conviction. In the previous four decades, according to an analysis by the Legal Aid Society, police in New York had made more than a million marijuana arrests. Although weed is consumed in roughly equal proportions across the racial and economic spectrum, as recently as 2020 people of color were subjected to ninety-four per cent of marijuana arrests and summonses in New York City; arrests in the city were also much heavier in high-poverty areas. The idea for CAURD was plain: legal weed as reparations.

Legal weed in New York was going to be a revolution. What happened?

On 22 March, German lawmakers finally adopted a bill that will decriminalise cannabis possession and home growing, and will create a regulated framework for supply through non-profit cannabis clubs. While a significant step, the draft law retains a prohibitionist framework and will create two-tiered cannabis justice. While middle-class white users are likely to have easier access to cannabis, people from racialised groups will continue to face policing and prosecution. How we got to this place—and the current uncertainties about how the bill will be implemented makes clear that we must centre racial justice and social equity in efforts for cannabis regulation in Germany and across Europe.

In Germany, people from racialised and migrantised communities have been disproportionately criminalised for drug-related offenses. This is driven by practices such as 

, and local laws that grant police authority to control people without individualised suspicion in self-designated crime “hotspots”, 

 neighbourhoods. Police control cannabis on a wide scale, with 214,242 cannabis offenses recorded in 2022. Of an estimated 40,000 cannabis cases sentenced each year,² 28% are against non-German citizens,³ with enormous consequences for people’s mental health, employment prospects, and more.

Enforcement of cannabis has targeted people from racialised and migrantised groups despite evidence of similar levels of drug use among groups in Germany

Enforcement of cannabis has targeted people from racialised and migrantised groups despite evidence of 

 among groups in Germany. In addition to that, 

90% of drug supply is estimated to occur behind closed doors

, in a market served primarily by white Germans. This means that the concentration of police powers in racialised populations and neighbourhoods is little else than an arbitrary practice, grounded on prejudice rather than evidence. We at the 

, an organization focused on discriminatory criminalisation of people in Germany, find that the new cannabis law will do little to remedy these disparate impacts of cannabis criminalisation.

Under the new law, people in Germany will be able to grow and possess cannabis, with a limit of 25 grams of cannabis (50 grams at home), and up to three plants per person. They will also have access to a regulated supply via non-profit cannabis clubs.

But these liberalising measures are accompanied by other policies that continue patterns of punitive punishment for cannabis offenses. For example, there is a restrictive limit on the quantities users can legally possess,⁴ and people can be fined for using cannabis within 100 meters of schools or in cannabis clubs. The draft law is also restrictive in the design of the clubs, requiring, for example, that members cultivate their own cannabis and 

 that can be shared among enforcement authorities. Many from already-marginalised groups are unlikely to have capacity to contribute to cannabis clubs and many will be unwilling to share personal data. As experience in other countries shows, including in Uruguay, when cannabis regulation is too stringent, people are unable to benefit from the law.

Just as regulated cannabis reflects a rethinking about the criminal culpability of consumers of cannabis, so should it prompt an overhaul in how people are criminalised for supply outside of regulated channels, as has been the case in some jurisdictions in the United States that have regulated cannabis.

The persistence of a prohibitionist framework is most visible in how supply outside of cannabis clubs will be sanctioned going forward. Just as regulated cannabis reflects a rethinking about the criminal culpability of consumers of cannabis, so should it prompt an overhaul in how people are criminalised for supply outside of regulated channels, as has been the case 

While the ceilings for punishment for some cannabis-related offenses will be reduced (from five years to three), some of the most arbitrary and harsh aspects of the current law remain in place. Under one provision, people face a mandatory one-year prison sentence for cannabis supply labelled as “commercial”. Our interviews with defence attorneys suggest it is often the most vulnerable who are deemed to be selling commercially, because they sell for survival, a reality for many.The law will also increase some mandatory minimum prison sentences. Our experience suggests that it will be people from racialised and migrantised groups who are racially profiled by police that will continue to be punished for cannabis supply. Nowhere in the law do we find the kind of reparations frameworks adopted in some US jurisdictions, including social policy to facilitate current suppliers’ employment in another field.

Why does Germany’s bill fall short in these ways? In part, it is because the bill was drafted with a more privileged white cannabis user in mind. The debates surrounding the bill were focused on questions of youth and the health effects of cannabis, certainly important considerations. Crowded out was a robust rethinking of what justice should mean under a new, regulated cannabis regime in Germany.

Instead, when it comes to matters of justice and the criminal legal system, law-and-order rhetoric from justice officials—including the police, 

, and prosecutors—has been always at the centre of the cannabis debate, seemingly almost derailing the passage of the bill at various points. They have argued that the illegal market will continue to dominate, and that they will also have more work as they oversee cannabis clubs. Most telling, they have been vocal against the very limited social policy in the law. The bill requires that people who possessed now-allowed quantities may apply to have their records erased, and existing German regulations require retroactive relief to people with open cases. According to these actors’ arguments, the administrative burden of these provisions is simply too high, and the bill should have been reconsidered, or at least delayed. Thankfully, this has not come to pass, but nor have stronger measures been adopted that place the responsibility in the hands of the state to erase records, without applications from individuals.

But every night in jail is one too many for those impacted, every day with the burden of a criminal record harms people’s life prospects, and every additional police control generates more harm.

But every night in jail is one too many for those impacted, every day with the burden of a criminal record harms people’s life prospects, and every additional police control generates more harm. Despite the magnitude of these consequences, arguments for justice and equity—for example, through more robust social policy, expansive decriminalisation, or reinvestment—are scarcely heard amidst a tough-on-crime chorus.

In our view, the reason for this is that the cannabis conversation has, since the beginning, mostly left out the voices of people policed and criminalised for cannabis. Policy makers avoid discussing racial and ethnic disparities, hiding behind a lack of official data on these issues—while also, for example, painting lopsided populist pictures of racialised “criminals” involved in the cannabis trade.

In the last months, we’ve tried to address this shortcoming in the cannabis reform conversation, bringing together a coalition of drug policy advocates and racial justice activists. We developed an 

about these disparities and are demanding politicians address the injustices we’ve so clearly identified, in implementation and when Germany’s law is reviewed in a few years. What is also clear to us is that this law could have been stronger if these considerations had shaped the new regulatory framework from the outset: We may have had a law tailored to remedy past injustices and avoid similar harms from occurring in the future.

European jurisdictions have a lot to learn from places in the US and elsewhere that have: reinvested in the people and communities criminalised under prohibition, including with robust social policy and employment opportunities; erasing people’s past cannabis-related criminal records automatically, including for supply; easier access to cannabis markets for consumers; and more aggressive decriminalisation, including for supply and higher thresholds for possession.

As momentum for cannabis regulation continues to grow across Europe, it is likely that other countries will take this model as a starting point, just as Germany was inspired by Malta – the first European country to regulate cannabis in 2022. It is essential that we learn the lessons learnt from the German experience and apply them elsewhere in the continent. And so, we urge activists elsewhere: Racial justice in cannabis regulation in Europe, from the beginning.

And so, we urge activists elsewhere: Racial justice in cannabis regulation in Europe, from the beginning.

 “Migrantised” is a term similar to “racialised”, to suggest that there is a social process through which, in this case, certain areas are understood as “migrant” and associated with certain stereotypes.

 In 2022, of the total 60,754 drug cases sentenced were against non-German citizens. In 2022, 64% of police-recorded drug offenses were for cannabis.

 Criminal legal system data is unavailable in Germany by racial or ethnic group. Therefore the closest proxy we have for quantifying racism in the system is data on the number of non-German citizens in the criminal legal system. This number is necessarily an over and under count: It is an overcount because not all non-German citizens are from racialised groups and it is an undercount because German citizens from racialised groups are also criminalised.

 By contrast, Minnesota's cannabis regulation, which became law in May 2023, has a domestic possession threshold of 2lbs (907g). In Spain, the threshold is 100g. A moderately experienced grower can easily harvest 150g from 3 plants. The thresholds as they stand are divorced from the reality / practice of growers and users.

As cannabis regulation becomes a reality in Europe, racial justice must be at the centre of our movement’s advocacy

The Government of Saint Lucia, through the Ministry of Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs, has been engaged in the revision and development of policy, legislation and a regulatory framework for cannabis in Saint Lucia.

In keeping with these advancements, the Government of Saint Lucia will be hosting a two-day Cannabis Symposium from March 19 – March 20, 2024 as an open-ended regional policy discussion on matters relating to cannabis.

This symposium will afford relevant stakeholders and Cannabis Authorities within the region an opportunity to hold candid discussions on some of the issues and challenges experienced throughout the region.

Subsequently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed by the aforementioned parties, guided by a common interest to establish and maintain robust, inclusive and safe regimes surrounding cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, sale and use in the individual states of the region.

This MOU will, in effect, establish the Caribbean Cannabis Forum—a mechanism to encourage and host joint discussions on national, regional or international cannabis matters of relevance to the Caribbean region.

Saint Lucia to host Caribbean Cannabis Symposium

Hashish dealers in Morocco have said they will stop supplying to Israel in light of the war in Gaza, as reported by Israeli news site Mako on Friday.

According to an Israeli drug dealer interviewed for the report, the Moroccan suppliers are no longer willing to sell directly to Israeli dealers or through middlemen. "They decided because of the war, they are boycotting," the source, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "Since the war, we have lost so much money. Tens of millions of shekels, at least."

Moroccan hashish dealers reportedly boycott Israel, citing Palestinian suffering

This issue of Caribbean Quarterly interrogates the Caribbean cannabis landscape from a range of perspectives, addressing issues such as the socio-cultural significance of the plant and its uses, regulatory challenges and opportunities, reparatory measures for Rastafarian communities and enduring limitations in research.

From Hand Measures to Gram Weights, Ganja Becomes More Precise

Distorted Directions in Cannabis in the Commonwealth Caribbean - Did We Exhale?

The Methodology of Initiation Fifteen Years Later

Creating Cannabis Identity through Cannabis Use

The Contribution of Traditional Farmers to Cannabis Reform in St Vincent and the Grenadines

Lessons in Developing a Formal Cannabis Sector and Culture in the Caribbean

The Art of Cannabis Advocacy in Reggae Music

Ganjapreneurship, Hypocrisy and the Jamaican Nation State

Towards Purpose-driven and Responsive Laws to Regulate Jamaica's Cannabis Industry

A Cultural Beacon Pioneering Jamaica's Cannabis Events' Space

And a number of poems and book reviews are available 

New approaches to cannabis culture

There was another landmark moment for cannabis reforms last month, ss Germany's upper house voted to bring its 80 million citizens one step closer to legally regulated cannabis access. This follows on from Malta’s recent establishment of a regulated non-medical cannabis availability (through non-profit membership associations), Luxembourg legalising possession and home growing, and ‘research pilots’ of legal retail production and sales in the Netherlands and Switzerland. These European countries have become the new leaders in ending the historic failings of prohibition, with Germany the most politically significant yet.

Transform has supported these reform processes over recent years, acting in an advisory role for the Luxembourg and Maltese Governments, and though ongoing engagement with senior policymakers in Germany, Czechia, and Switzerland. Our efforts continue to support and inform the development of cannabis policies throughout Europe that center public health and social justice. Last year, the newly updated third edition of Transform's 

 was translated into German and distributed to key policymakers.

What are the cannabis reforms happening in Germany?

After several years of debate and political wrangling, Germany’s upper house (the Bundestag) has passed a 

 with a majority (407 to 226). The new Act decriminalises possession of up to 25g of cannabis (50g at home), allows for private cultivation of up to three cannabis plants for personal use, and establishes a framework for licensed not-for-profit membership-based associations (also known as Cannabis Social Clubs) to grow and supply cannabis amongst their members (max 500 per association).



In theory the law will come into force on April 1st. However, it still needs to be passed by Germany’s lower house (the Bundesrat) that represents the 16 German Lander (the sub-national jurisdictions under Germany’s federal government). Some of these more conservative regional Governments, notably Bavaria, are opposed to the reform and may hold up the process. A particular issue has been raised by regional justice ministries regarding the law’s requirement to delete previous criminal records for cannabis (offence expungement), with concerns that the process may overburden their judicial systems. This may mean there would be a ‘mediation committee’ between upper and lower chambers to discuss possible changes to the law - with the expungement element potentially at risk which would be a huge blow for ensuring justice. Whilst it seems very unlikely the new law will be derailed completely, implementation could potentially be delayed until October. A worst case scenario is a longer delay, pushing the reform beyond next year’s general election which, should the current coalition dissolve and the Christian Democrats (who opposed the reform) win, could potentially lead to it being abandoned or, if already passed, repealed.

German cannabis legalisation explained

DEA considers rescheduling cannabis: What this means for U.S. and global policy

The Drug Enforcement Administration has confirmed it is reviewing the classification of cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act, just days before the first public acknowledgement of its medical use by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Amid an “unprecedented” situation, speculation is rife around whether the U.S. is finally heading for a shift in policy at a federal level. But one thing experts do agree on is that any decision on cannabis policy is likely to be based on politics, rather than public health.

And yet, it will do little to address the harms caused by decades of this hard-line approach, according to Ann Fordham, executive director of the International Drug Policy Consortium.

“The devastating harms of U.S.-led global cannabis prohibition, such as the criminalization and incarceration of millions of people for cannabis-related activities, would remain entirely unaddressed by domestic rescheduling,” she says in an email.

“Furthermore, advocates for drug policy reform within the U.S. have called on President Biden to take steps to completely remove cannabis from the domestic schedules, noting that a move to Schedule III does not mean cannabis is decriminalized, as per his campaign promise, or lessen the harms of federal prohibition.”


This blog post was first published on ICEERS' website and is available here.

More than 20 years ago, a groundbreaking approach to cannabis regulation and consumption emerged in Barcelona with the creation of Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs). CSCs operate as non-profit organizations, providing safe spaces for adults to responsibly consume cannabis and create a safer alternative to the unregulated market. This innovative model has become an inspiring example for international drug policy reform, attracting international interest from countries like Uruguay, Malta, and Germany. Despite operating in a legal gray area, the CSCs in Barcelona and Catalonia have become instrumental in shaping a more inclusive and informed approach to cannabis legislation.

With the arrival of a new mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni (PSC) and his governing team, there has been a 

 in the city’s policy towards Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs). This change occurred after the Catalonia Superior Court of Justice suspended a municipal ordinance enacted by the previous administration led by Ada Colau. This suspension left the clubs operating as private entities lacking specific regulations.

In contrast, the new administration has embraced this court ruling and started inspecting CSCs, specifically looking for cannabis-related activities. They cite the ordinance’s repeal as their reason, arguing that it limits their ability to deal with cannabis-related issues. However, this is an overreach of their authority since CSCs are private spaces, and City Hall should therefore not impose arbitrary restrictions.

 several CSCs are considering legal action against City Hall due to these ongoing impositions and changes. What’s most notable is that with this new government, explicit statements against the established CSC model have been made without clear distinctions. This position contradicts international drug policy trends and two decades of the CSC’s existence, which could drastically harm a referential model for international governments and policymakers.

ICEERS is based in Barcelona and has spent almost 14 years advocating for the rights of CSCs. Numerous international experts and organizations have come to the city to study the CSC model and explore ways to implement it in their own regions. In light of recent events, ICEERS sent a letter to the Third Deputy Mayor’s Office, Albert Batlle, to urge City Hall to adopt a well-informed and respectful approach to cannabis regulation in Catalonia. The goal is to let Barcelona continue to lead by example as a compassionate, evidence-based approach to cannabis regulation on a global scale. The letter received 179 signatures from over 53 different countries that support the Barcelona CSC model.

The letter includes various ways the Barcelona City Hall can support the CSC model:

Advocate for laws that respect and tolerate CSCs, such as the Catalan municipalities of 

 and Granollers, to ensure equal rights and freedoms for cannabis consumers.

Engage in dialogues for a stable legal framework that ensures safety for the members and workers of CSCs.

Initiate parliamentary debates to remove discriminatory laws against cannabis consumption and decriminalize the plant in all forms.

Establish medicinal cannabis access programs that mandate the protection of health as a fundamental right.

Develop international alliances with other municipalities committed to drug policy reform, centered on defending human rights and upholding scientific evidence.

Cannabis social clubs in Barcelona: A model worth defending

This study delves into the demographics, behaviors, and social dynamics of members of Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) in Barcelona from 2017 to 2020. Analyzing data from 2007 members across five CSCs, it reveals that most members are young men, with an average age of 36.1 years, and shows gender differences in cannabis procurement patterns. The study also highlights the longer membership duration among women, older adults, and medical users, despite their lower cannabis use compared to young, recreational male members.

Key findings include the average daily cannabis use of 0.44 grams, with men procuring more than women, and members visiting CSCs approximately once a week. The average membership duration was around 1 year and 10 months, with longer memberships observed among men, older members, and residents living near the CSCs. Importantly, the study underscores the role of CSCs as social spaces beyond mere cannabis procurement, noting that they foster community building and harm reduction.

The study concludes that CSCs in Barcelona serve as more than just cannabis supply points; they are crucial for community care and socializing. Despite the unstable legal status of CSCs in Spain, which poses challenges for their operation, the research highlights their potential in harm reduction and community well-being. This comprehensive analysis contributes significantly to understanding the CSC model, especially in terms of its social dimension.

Who is in, for how long and what for. Exploring the social dimension of cannabis social clubs in Barcelona, 2017-2020

Japan has passed a bill to legalize cannabis-based medicines in a landmark revision of its stringent drug laws, while toughening its ban on recreational use of marijuana. This is a win for patient groups that have campaigned for access to these medicines.

However the changes amount to a tightening of Japan's already tough cannabis policy. Marijuana consumption was criminalized, closing a loophole that officials partly blame for a recent rise in cannabis-related arrests. Prior to the revisions, inhaling marijuana had been technically legal, as opposed to a jail term of up to five years for possession. Under the revised laws, those caught using or possessing marijuana can face a prison sentence of up to seven years.

Still, decades of a strident government crusade against illegal drugs, synonymous with the mantra of "dame zettai" (absolutely not), have led to marijuana being heavily stigmatized in Japan. Just 1.4 percent of people in Japan say they have tried marijuana, compared to more than 40 percent in France and around half in the United States, data compiled by the health ministry show.

Japan's tough anti-cannabis laws have ensnared international stars including Beatle Paul McCartney, who spent nine days in detention in 1980 after the drug was found in his baggage.

Cannabis & related

Ukraine legalises cannabis for medical use

Legal weed in New York was going to be a revolution. What happened?

As cannabis regulation becomes a reality in Europe, racial justice must be at the centre of our movement’s advocacy

Saint Lucia to host Caribbean Cannabis Symposium

Moroccan hashish dealers reportedly boycott Israel, citing Palestinian suffering

New approaches to cannabis culture

German cannabis legalisation explained

DEA considers rescheduling cannabis: What this means for U.S. and global policy

DEA considers rescheduling cannabis: What this means for U.S. and global policy

Cannabis social clubs in Barcelona: A model worth defending

Who is in, for how long and what for. Exploring the social dimension of cannabis social clubs in Barcelona, 2017-2020

Japan to legalize cannabis-based medicines