IDPC calls upon the ECDD to carry out an expert review into the scheduling of cannabis: "The classification of substances ... impacts upon people’s lives, on public health and human rights [and] should never be the result of arbitrary or politically driven actions."
With over 20 percent of Americans now living in states that have voted to regulate rather than ban cannabis, the United States is in no position to slam the brakes on similar reform efforts abroad. This opens the door for other countries to explore their own regulatory alternatives to prohibition.
Although the sale of cannabis from licensed coffeeshops is tolerated by the authorities, large-scale cannabis cultivation remains illegal. The recent violence is "seemingly indicative of disputes among the illegal groups that supply coffeeshops with cannabis."
Ghana heads towards a novel drug policy which would decriminalise drug use and possession. This would be a remarkable step within the region - the first country to take such measures outside of Europe and the Americas.
According to the state-sanctioned narrative, the violence is the fault of Mexico's drug cartels. However, evidence suggests that local and federal police and the military are complicit in many killings.
President-elect Donald Trump has been vociferous about the negative effects of legalisation but also said that recreational and medical marijuana should be legislated at the state level.
The city of Warsaw is to implement a two-year program to reform city drug policy and the Polish Drug Policy Network will take further actions to encourage the EU to develop a common drug strategy for use at local level.
Overnight the number of American citizens with access to legal, regulated, recreational weed rose by over 50 million to just under 70 million people but a Trump presidency could potentially have put it all at risk.
Although the Action Plan facilitates the availability of evidence-based treatment options, calls for the implementation of harm reduction programs, and the collation of epidemiological data, key issues remain to be addressed.
President Joko Widodo thinks Indonesians will change their minds on execution laws as citizens in Europe had done in the past. "We are very open to options" he said.
