European 420 this year is an interesting time on the cannabis front. While there is much to celebrate because reform here is on the march, it is also clear that there is still a long road ahead, almost everywhere, before full and final cannabis reform is the law of any land, much less region. Even on the medical front, patients are still struggling to get access, even in Germany. In other places, the situation is much worse. However, there are some bright spots—and it is clear that legalization is now in process, no matter how slowly.

Here is a brief overview of where the most influential countries stand on the issue—and the challenges yet ahead.

Switzerland

The non-EU country in the middle of Europe is absolutely leading the pack on implementing a federal recreational cannabis trial. Recreational users will be allowed to purchase high THC cannabis at pharmacies. The first orders are now being dispatched to apothekes all over the country. While the trial will be conducted on a canton-by-canton basis (the Swiss equivalent of states), its impact will be felt across Europe. It is very likely that Germany will adopt a plan that is similar to the Swiss. There will also be some form of the “cannabis club” that will take root here. Definitely the leader of the European pack.

Germany

The country will certainly be in a position to drive recreational reform when the new government gets around to it (as it has promised to do). However, on the ground right now, as the Traffic Light Coalition downplays the urgency of at least formal decriminalization, things are still pretty dire. Over 200 businesses in the hemp business are facing criminal prosecution. There are also close to 200,000 criminal cases pending against individuals. There is a reason that the Hanf Parade in Berlin is being organized this year, not to mention similar protests across the country. Perhaps there will be something to celebrate on this front as of April next year. 

Holland

The country is now in the process of creating a national system for the cultivation and distribution of cannabis, although on the slow track (it has been repeatedly delayed and is expected to take effect in 2023). In the meantime, the mayor of Amsterdam is still pushing ahead with her unpopular plan to close down as many as two-thirds of the city’s coffeeshops and ban cannatourists from the remaining ones.

U.K.

The country has formalized its CBD market recently, and this is a big step in a world where people can still get busted for even CBD flower. However, medical reform is still a far-off dream, as is recreational reform. There is another national medical trial now in the offing for chronic pain, but again, this will be highly limited.

Luxembourg

Despite a pending promise to create a recreational market by the beginning of 2023, plans have largely stalled here, in part thanks to COVID as well as the continuing anti-cannabis voices at a regional level. This is not to say that some kind of cannabis market will not be in the offing next year, but don’t hold your breath that this is going to be particularly impactful on the overall debate. 

Portugal

Portugal currently is one of the largest feeder markets for German medical cannabis—either grown domestically or as a passthrough product. Beyond this, the country’s last government promised recreational cannabis reform, but such promises have been decidedly muted since the new government took power earlier this year.

Greece

The country’s political leaders are angling to obtain as much foreign investment as possible, and of course, the cannabis industry represents all sorts of possibilities. As of this month, the Greek government finally announced that Greek patients can obtain cannabis from local pharmacies and tourists will be allowed to purchase it from such establishments as long as they have a doctor’s prescription. The country is absolutely on track to create a strong medical cannabis tourist sector—especially as this represents another form of foreign income.

Malta

The country beat Luxembourg to the punch on announcing that it had indeed legalized the first recreational market in Europe. However, Malta is an island, far away from mainland Europe, and while this is a great first step, there are clearly other countries who will move the needle a bit more. Users are allowed to carry up to seven grams and store up to 50 grams at home. People can also grow at home and will eventually be able to organize nonprofits to distribute the plant via cannabis associations.

Spain

The country is in an interesting place right now. Cannabis clubs are more or less tolerated, but there still has been no federal reform. Things are clearly sticky here still on all fronts, however, as the local police have just proved. They moved in on a farmer drying over $100 million in hemp flowers bound for other European countries and destroyed the crop, citing Spanish law on the extraction of CBD. 

Italy

In Italy, the situation is in an interesting place. Small amounts of cannabis are essentially decriminalized. Recent court cases have established the legality of cultivating for personal use when patients are severely ill. Beyond this, cannabis for medical use is legal although patients are running into the same issues as Germans when it comes to insurance reimbursement, which is one of the reasons that there is still a large push for reform. The cultivation of hemp with under 0.2% THC is also legal. The legalization effort was set back recently, however, when the high court overturned the right of its citizens to hold a national referendum on full legalization.

Denmark

The country is currently in the middle of a four-year medical trial, begun in 2018 and ending this year. Cannabis exports are also beginning to show up in other European countries for medical use. There has been a discussion about allowing a recreational trial, but nothing is crystallized yet.

France

It is highly unlikely that the next four years will see any major movement on the recreational front legislatively, even if the current president, Emmanuel Macron wins a second term in office. The country is in the second year of a highly limited medical trial. The best that can happen here is that the medical program will be expanded. If Macron’s challenger, Marine Le Pen, wins the election, expect France to be on one of the slowest boats forward, as she has suggested reigniting the Drug War. That said, as Europe’s largest hemp producer and the place where the KanaVape case was launched and won (allowing cross border CBD sales), it could be that reform here comes on the CBD front first, and further, via legal challenge.

Et cetera

There are several other European countries who are advancing albeit slowly. Poland’s highest court just overruled the main public health agency, the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, in allowing hemp flowers as food. The Czech Republic continues to power forward on both the CBD and medical cannabis front. North Macedonia, although not in the EU, continues to try to enter the European market, even exporting cannabis oil through other Eastern European countries, starting with Poland. 

Austria is also in an interesting place right now, although not much has moved in the last several years. Possession has been decriminalized and the sale of seeds and plants is legal. However, the country seems to be in a holding pattern before taking the next steps. It is highly likely however that it will follow Switzerland and Germany’s lead as it shares a trading alliance with them. 

The post European Cannabis Reform as of 4/20/2022 appeared first on High Times.

The post European Cannabis Reform as of 4/20/2022 appeared first on Paradise Found.

A new survey studying the consumption habits of participants in the European Union (EU) reveal that cannabis use has increased, and the use of ecstasy has decreased considerably.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) recently found that cannabis and ecstasy saw the strongest changes in consumption habits. The European Web Survey on Drugs was conducted online between March and April 2021 with the intention of illuminating patterns of drug use to consider in future regulation. Throughout 21 EU countries and nine non-EU countries, the survey recorded answers from those who were 18 or older and had used drugs.

The survey results, published on January 20, recorded the drug use breakdown of the 48,469 participants. “Cannabis was the drug used most, with 93 percent of survey respondents reporting to have used it in the previous 12 months and with little variation between countries,” the survey results state. “MDMA/ecstasy (35 percent), cocaine (35 percent) and amphetamine (28 percent) were the next most reported illicit substances, with the order of the three drugs varying by country. Around a third of respondents (32 percent) reported using more (herbal) cannabis and 42 percent using less MDMA/ecstasy.” The results also show that a group of participants had used LSD (20 percent), a new psychoactive substance (16 percent), ketamine (13 percent) and heroin (three percent).

Furthermore, participants from the Western Balkans (which is made up of a Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo) also echoed the high consumption of cannabis, and decreased use in other substances—especially ecstasy. “Most respondents (91 percent) reported using cannabis in the previous 12 months, followed by cocaine (38 percent), MDMA/ecstasy (22 percent) and amphetamine (20 percent). Again, around a third of respondents (32 percent) reported using more (herbal) cannabis and 34 percent using less MDMA/ecstasy.”

In terms of where these substances were consumed, 85 percent of participants in the EU and 72 percent of the Western Balkans used these substances at home, rather than at public venues. It also takes into account that the motivation for cannabis use at home was because of a multitude of reasons. Participants wanted to relax, get high in order to improve sleep, but their use of MDMA or ecstasy was used to attain “euphoric and socialising [sic] effects.”

The study result breakdown states that the information shared by the 50,000 people included in the survey is just a small portion of the EU, but still offers a useful glimpse into the changing habits of residents. “While web surveys are not representative of the general population, when carefully conducted and combined with traditional data-collection methods, they can help paint a more detailed, realistic and timely picture of drug use and drug markets in Europe. Over 100 organisations [sic] took part in the initiative, including the Reitox national focal points, universities and NGOs.”

EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel shared a statement regarding the goal of this survey, and the amount of participation needed from organizations to sort and analyze the data. “Web surveys are a key ingredient in our monitoring of Europe’s shifting drugs problem,” Goosdeel said. “They help us reach an important target population through innovative online methods. Today’s results reveal the wide variety of drugs available across Europe and provide valuable information on emerging trends and changing patterns of use during the COVID-19 pandemic. An impressive 100 organisations [sic] joined us this time in building, translating and disseminating the survey, ensuring that this is now an invaluable tool to help tailor our responses and shape future drug policies.”

Other studies in the U.S. have shed light on other topics related to cannabis, such as targeting teens with ads on social media or an updated Gallup survey that shows that a majority of Americans support legalization.

The post EU Cannabis Consumption Increased and Ecstasy Use Decreased in 2021 appeared first on High Times.

The post EU Cannabis Consumption Increased and Ecstasy Use Decreased in 2021 appeared first on Paradise Found.

For those watching the European cannabis discussion develop, one of the most interesting places to be right now is the island of Guernsey. Located between France and the UK, the island has been going gangbusters on the medical reform question for several years now.

Now, there is a call for the island to go whole hog on the recreational reform discussion—and even more interesting, the petition is being championed by a political leader who also, not coincidentally, just resigned from the island’s Home Affairs Committee over its cannabis laws. Apparently, Marc Leadbeater’s role as a director of a local hemp company caused other members of the committee to question his perspective on drug reform.

Leadbeater is now proposing a specific political process—namely a requete—to discuss full legalization. If put forward by seven of the States members, the issue must go before the Guernsey government.

This flurry of interest from government officials follows, within days, a statement by the former Chief Minister of the island, Gavin St. Pier. St. Pier shared that he believes cannabis should be legalized to better regulate, license and tax the industry for the benefit of the island’s economy.

Cannabis cultivation license opportunities have been available since July of this year. The island is also home to extraction companies.

The concept of cannabis as an economic redevelopment tool for the acres of empty greenhouses that dot the island has been hot here for a while. 

Why is the Furore Significant?

There are several reasons that the timing of these contretemps is so interesting. 

The first of course is that both Luxembourg and Switzerland are moving forward with recreational markets, even of the trial variety, within the next two years. As a small island, Guernsey could well follow this trend and at this point, have a major impact on the debate no matter how big its native market ends up being.

Here is why—beyond becoming potentially the third (or fourth if Portugal continues to also move forward) country in Europe to go fully recreational. The island is on the British side of Brexit. As a result, Guernsey would also become, if all of this pro cannabis fervor pans out, the first part of the UK to embrace adult use reform. 

That would be a truly major step.

The State of Cannabis Reform in the Guernsey UK

Sadly, despite a lot of noise, the government in the UK has not stepped up to the cannabis discussion in the same way that Germany has. While it is technically possible to receive medical cannabis (in very limited forms) under the National Health Service (or NHS), forward reform has come very slowly. Even patients who are approved for use (including those with MS) are not obtaining their cannabis.

On top of this, the main condition cannabis is used to treat in Germany, chronic pain, has been left out of the discussion so far by the British medical authorities.

The only disease (and population of patients) that has also managed to capture public and as a result political imagination, is children with epilepsy. And while this has been very good at moving political will, by inches, and highly reluctantly, in favor of more medical reform, this has not, so far, created a patient base on public health at least.

In Germany, in contrast, there are now an estimated 130,000 patients four and a half years after the government mandated that cannabis be covered under public health insurance as a drug of last resort and backed a domestic cultivation bid.

Germany’s cannabis discussion is far from sorted either—even on the medical front. However, in contrast to the UK, the country is light-years ahead.

The only sure-fire way to get access to medical cannabis in the UK right now is to see a doctor in a private medical clinic. Of course, this option is off limits to most just because of cost. So is the practice of obtaining a personal import license.

As a result, reform in the UK has been stalled, although not for lack of enthusiasm on the part of the budding industry. Cannabis conferences in the UK are selling out this fall. The CBD business has proceeded like gangbusters. There are private specialty cannabis clinics for those who can afford it. And, despite all the flurry and fervor, the British cannabis press is certainly making noise.

Regardless, real reform is unlikely to happen first on the mainland.

That is why this move on Guernsey is now so politically important—not just on the island itself—but set against a much broader backdrop of regional reform on both sides of Brexit.

No matter what happens, in other words, the horse has certainly left the barn—and is unlikely to be the last one to do so.

The post European Recreational Cannabis Reform: Will Guernsey Go Next? appeared first on High Times.

The post European Recreational Cannabis Reform: Will Guernsey Go Next? appeared first on Paradise Found.