Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton plans to reschedule marijuana if she is elected in November, according to a statement issued by the campaign.

While the Drug Enforcement Administration denied a petitionearly Thursday to remove marijuana from its Schedule I list under the Controlled Substances Act, leaving the drug lumped in with heroin, LSD and other elicit substances, the Clinton campaign thinks that rescheduling the drug serves a higher purpose.

“Marijuana is already being used for medical purposes in states across the country, and it has the potential for even further medical use,” Maya Harris, a senior policy advisor to Clinton’s campaign, said in a statement, reported by 

. “As Hillary Clinton has said throughout this campaign, we should make it easier to study marijuana so that we can better understand its potential benefits, as well as its side effects.

The DEA’s decision to keep pot as a Schedule I drug affirmed the federal government’s belief that there is insufficient evidence to show that any “specific benefits” the drug might offer would outweigh any of the “known risks.”

Clinton, however, seems to disagree and the campaign contended that if elected, she would reclassify the drug to a Schedule II substance, which would mean acceptance that marijuana has a medical use for treatment.

“As president, Hillary will build on the important steps announced today by rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance. She will also ensure Colorado, and other states that have enacted marijuana laws, can continue to serve as laboratories of democracy,” Harris continued.

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Hillary Clinton campaign says she would reschedule marijuana

The US government will announce on Thursday that it will allow more research into marijuana but rejected requests to loosen the classification of the substance as a dangerous drug with no medical use, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The decision, to be announced by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), is an answer to a 2011 petition filed by two former state governors who asked federal agencies to reclassify marijuana as a drug with accepted medical uses, said two people who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

The DEA declined to comment, and the Food and Drug Administration did not immediately respond.

But the DEA, in an email sent by its public affairs division to stakeholders on Wednesday, said the agency would be making “important announcements regarding marijuana-related topics” on Thursday.

For decades, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”, on par with heroin.

The expected change would show that the Obama administration is open to expanding legitimate research into pot’s effects, even though the administration and Congress appear to be far from endorsing its broader use or legalization.

Twenty-five states have sanctioned some forms of marijuana use for medical purposes. Four states – Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado – and the District of Columbia have gone even further, allowing its recreational use for adults.

US said to allow more weed research but won't loosen its drug classification 

China has consistently taken an incredibly hard-line stance against people who use illegal drugs. As the government enforces strict punishments, often in the name of rehabilitation, both human rights abuses and drug addiction rates are worsening.

There are an estimated 12 million regular drug users in China, and illegal production ofmethamphetamine and ketamine is surging in the country. President Xi Jinping has described illegal drugs as "a menace for society [that] severely harm health, corrupt will, destroy families, consume wealth, poison society, pollute the social environment, and lead to other crimes". As a response to this perception, authorities are detaining thousands of people in squalid conditions for drug use or possession.

Under Xi’s presidency, the government has also begun cracking down on the rising numbers of affluent users, including government officials and even Jackie Chan’s son. Meanwhile, those found to be trafficking drugs face even harsher penalties; thousands of people are executed annually for such offences, although precise numbers are unknown due to government secrecy. Such policies have been described as having "solid support among sections of the Chinese population" by Shen Tingting of Asia Catalyst, a regional NGO.

Despite a handful of therapy-based rehabilitation clinics, some new methadone programmes, and asocial acceptance of cannabis use in certain provinces, China remains one of the worst places in the world to be a drug user. Until 2013, the government operated highly controversial forced labour camps for a variety of offenders. Following heavy criticism, inmates who had committed non-drug related crimes were released early, and replaced by people who had been found to use or sell drugs. The camps have been rebranded as drug detention centres, in which people are incarcerated for up to seven years without trial, and continue to undertake forced labour for no pay.

Thousands held in brutal Chinese drug detention centres 

Cape Town, 3rd August 2016 – The Director of Social Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC), Amb. Olawale Maiyegun, presided over the opening ceremony of the Technical Consultation on drug demand reduction which kicked off on Wednesday 3rd August 2016 in Cape Town in the presence of representatives of partner organisations in the area of drug control as well as Experts on drug use epidemiology from AU Member States.

Director Maiyegun underscored the need for balanced and integrated responses towards drug control. He said the issue of drug control is beyond just being a security problem, it is also a public health issue. He recalled that the theme of this year: 2016, African year on Human Rights with a particular focus on the Rights of Women ties with the objectives of combatting drug use while respecting the rights for access to drugs and harnessing the demographic dividend which will be the AU theme for the year 2017.

The Director emphasised on the importance of involving the youth in all efforts done at national, regional and continental levels given that, according to statistics, they are the largest population to be affected by the different types of drug abuse. “The focus of the consultation is to review where we are at with improving access to comprehensive, evidence-informed, ethical and human rights based drug use prevention, dependence, treatment and aftercare services; as well as to plan for the development of systematic, structured and sustainable drug use epidemiology systems underlined Amb. Maiyegun.”

Continental consultation on drug demand reduction opens in Cape Town 

President Obama commuted the prison terms for 214 federal inmates Wednesday, the most by a president in a single day in at least a century and brings his communication total in 71/2 years to greater than the number granted in the previous 48.

Among those granted clemency by Mr. Obama were 67 inmates serving life prison terms, mostly for drug crimes and not always from small amounts.

The action brings the number of commutations by Mr. Obama to 562, more than the previous nine presidents combined, from John F. Kennedy onward. It’s coupled with his push to reform federal sentencing guidelines for drug crimes.

White House counsel Neil Eggleston said the president isn’t nearly finished, with more than five months remaining in office. “I expect the president will continue to grant clemency in a historic and inspiring fashion,” he said.

Obama commutes sentences of 214 convicts, including 67 in prison for life 

The UNAIDS PCB held its 38th meeting last June 28-30, 2016.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe’s report highlighted the recent milestones in the Joint Programme, including the recently concluded UN High Level Meeting (HLM), as well as the challenges relating to the financial crisis affecting UNAIDS Secretariat and the Joint Programme. Our post-HLM reflections reflect the diverse and mixed reactions of civil society, on what was achieved and not. The exclusion of some key population organizations from participating at the HLM was deemed unacceptable by the NGO Delegation.

Contentious issues at the PCB included the NGO Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Key Populations in the context of Development Rights and the revised Unified Budget Review Accountability Framework (UBRAF). The NGO report, which was postponed from the 37thPCB meeting, still encountered severe resistance from some Member States, prompting us to reframe our decision points. Indeeed, if the language issue around SRHR puts people more at risk than the actual HIV burden, there is need to refocus our engagement to reach the goal of ending AIDS. The NGO Delegation affirmed the call to fully fund the UBRAF so that the Fast Track Strategy gets meaningfully implemented.

Leaving out community will not make any impact in this fight against HIV globally.

Thumbnail: Flickr CC Executive Learning Conference Center Foll

The NGO delegation’s communique for the 38th PCB meeting 

 (marijuana bonanza). In the 1970s and 1980s smokers in the United States were especially partial to Santa Marta Gold, a variety of cannabis grown on the slopes of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada. It has “a sweet, intense aroma” and “powerful psychedelic effects”, says WeedWiki, a website. But government fumigators, plus competition from American-grown weed, ended the Santa Marta Goldrush. Farmers switched to coca, the raw material of cocaine.

Now Colombia hopes to cash in on a new cannabis-based bonanza, set off by legalisation in parts of the United States and elsewhere. The government recently licensed three companies to process extracts, resins and oils for treating such ailments as cancer, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. Its ambition is to build medical marijuana into a business as big as cut flowers, which bring in more than $1 billion in export revenue. Colombia could be “the winner of this emerging global market”, said Alejandro Gaviria, the health minister.

Weeds of peace

While marijuana, magic mushrooms, and ayahuasca have all found their way into research labs, coca leaf, the mother of cocaine, seems to be off-limits, despite evidence that the plant is a nutritional powerhouse and potential wellspring of medical cures.

This should come as a surprise to no one, says Pien Metaal, a researcher at the Transnational Institute, an Amsterdam-based think tank that advocates for drug policy reform. Policymakers purging the world of its vices, after all, have always been exceptionally thorough — often unnecessarily so.

“In theory, coca would be eligible for medical uses,” Metaal tells 

. “But it has never been seriously recognized because of the stigma it has, caused by its content of the alkaloid cocaine.” Obviously, cocaine the drug is a very legitimate public ill, causing some 5,500 deaths in the U.S. each year and thousands more wherever it’s trafficked and produced. But there are no such statistics to justify the demonization of coca leaf, Metaal points out. In fact, there never were.

Why is coca leaf left out of the drug research renaissance

In the past few weeks, a spate of horrific killings have taken place across the Philippines. Murders of people who use drugs, people who sell drugs, and people who have simply been assumed to do either. No trials, no due process, these are state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings encouraged by the new President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte.

Upon assuming presidency, Duterte made a public call for police and citizens alike to execute people who use or sell drugs, promising medals for citizens who comply, and pardons for police if they are charged with human rights violations while carrying out the executions. Since making this harrowing call to action, over 700 people suspected to have been involved with drugs have been murdered.

A further 114,000 people who use drugs have turned themselves in to authorities - undoubtedly out of fear for their lives - and who will now face time in overcrowded prisons and likely be subjected to inhumane and involuntary drug treatment programs.

This sudden outbreak of extrajudicial killings represents grave human rights violations, yet it has been met with silence from the United States. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with President Duterte and vowed to commit $32 million to support law enforcement training and efforts in the Philippines, making no mention of the unlawful killings currently taking place at the President’s behest.

Why is the U.S. silent on massacre of drug users in the Philippines? 

H17 is a new drug consumption room that was opened yesterday. It is partly funded by the City of Copenhagen. 1000 m2 space for people who use drugs where they can smoke and inject drugs in a sterile, supervised, supportive environment, not disturbing the neighborhood. People can access other services here as well, nurses can take care of their wounds and abscesses, the staff provides psychosocial support and consultation. The drug consumption room works in very close cooperation with a nearest drug treatment centre, so if people feel motivated to quit they can do so quite easily. H17 is the result of many years of advocacy work and it opens a new chapter in the history of drug consumption rooms.

Largest drug consumption room of the world opens in Copenhagen 

The following statement comes as a response to an open letter drafted by IDPC and supported by over 350 civil society organisations that asks the UNODC and the INCB to call upon the Phillipines to take immediate action to stop ongoing extrajudicial killings targeting alleged drug users and dealers.

VIENNA, 3 August (UN Information Service) - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) remains greatly concerned by the reports of extrajudicial killing of suspected drug dealers and users in the Philippines. I join the United Nations Secretary-General in condemning the apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killing, which is illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Such responses contravene the provisions of the international drug control conventions, do not serve the cause of justice, and will not help to ensure that "all people can live in health, dignity and peace, with security and prosperity", as agreed by governments in the outcome document approved at the UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem.

UNODC supports balanced, people-centred, evidence- and rights-based approaches to drug control, rooted in the agreed international conventions and standards.

UNODC stands ready to further engage with the Philippines and all countries to bring drug traffickers to justice with the appropriate legal safeguards in line with international standards and norms, and promote prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration approaches based in evidence, science, public health and human rights.

Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime: Statement on the situation in the Philippines

The Italian government has postponed a vote on cannabis legalisation to September after a right-wing parliamentary group purposefully derailed it, but public support for reform remains high.

On Monday July 25, a bill was introduced in the Italian Chamber of Deputies to legalise and regulate the cannabis trade. Currently, the cultivation or sale of cannabis may result in a prison sentence, while possession is likely to garner a fine.

Inter-gruppo Parlamentare Cannabis Legale 

(IPCL), a cross-party group of parliamentarians, was postponed after opposing politicians introduced hundreds of amendments. Over three-quarters of the amendments – around 1,300 of 1,700 – were introduced by the 

 (Popular Alliance), a right-wing splinter group of Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party.

Marco Perduca, former Italian senator and coordinator of the 

 (Let’s Legalise) campaign, claims that many of the proposed amendments were spurious and deliberately time-consuming. Requests to “delete paragraphs or move words around” were made with “the intent of delaying or derailing the process”, Perduca told TalkingDrugs.

The derailing attempt was somewhat successful, as mere hours after its introduction to parliament, the vote on the bill was postponed until September.

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