Talk:Legal issues of cannabis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
This article is part of the WikiProject on Psychedelics, Dissociatives and Deliriants, set up to organize and expand entries on Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants as well as related subjects according to chemical type, effects, organic carriers, and cultural/historical uses. Please feel free to participate by editing this article and visiting the project page.


Contents

[edit] Legal status

Wouldn't it be nice with a map of the legal status of cannabis throughout the world? A map for the practical minded, using three color: No amounts ok, small amounts ok, completely legal. A world map with each country (or any other appropriate domain) colored for a quick and easy overview. In my opinion it should show the application of the law, rather than the law itself.

I was thinking that myself-it would be nice if someone would find or make a map showing that. In the line that says, "however, these shops must be supplied through illegal channels.", did you mean 'legal channels', or did you mean 'are most certainly supplied through illegal channels.' I'm slightly miffed-guess I don't know enough. Pax 08:49, Nov 15, 2004 (UTC)


I made a decriminalization section and wrote briefly about decrim in america. I got the dates from a great book called The War on Drugs II by J.A. Inciardi (ISBN 1559340169). --Howrealisreal 17:07, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Good work! Rhobite 17:20, Feb 4, 2005 (UTC)

No reason to put (hemp) on the end of the article. Generally we like to keep 'em short. Rhobite 14:20, Feb 17, 2005 (UTC)


Do you think links to the articles Prohibition_(drugs) and Arguments for and against drug prohibition would be appropriate for this article? I realize that this article is very topical, however much of the content of that discussion is appropriate. The risk is that the 'arguments' article is fairly subjective, as it is an active discussion. If there is a link added to this article to the Arguments article, it probably should be tagged with some sort of disclaimer (?) --Overand 17:52, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] New articles

I created a few new articles, namely:

Any ideas on how best to tie it to the existing body of cannabis-related information here? Rad Racer 23:13, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Sure. Add a summary under the "..in the UK" heading, and we'll link to the main article from there. Similarly for the international article, although there's not a heading for it yet. Ojw 21:06, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] History of Criminalization in the US

I think there needs to historical context for the illegalization of cannabis in the US. Currently the article has one sentence "Some claim that the U.S. laws may have been in response to lobbying by makers of synthetic fibers that competed with hemp." The role of the dupont family, William Randolph Hearst, and agitprop films like reefer madness. I want to avoid an edit war. There was also a supreme court ruling that facilitated the tax (have to look that one up) There should also be a link to Harry J. Anslinger. It would also be interesting to cover the cover up with AMA legislation.

I added in a section about the history of marijuana in the U.S., although it only really talks about the past 100 years or so. I talked about Hearst and Anslinger, though I don't know how to cite my sources. If somone can direct me on how to do so, we can avoid having to delete the entire additon. I got most of this stuff from the webpage titled "Why is marijuana illegal?" You can find this page at "http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html" --Pyromancer102 13:34, 7 Feb 2005.

[edit] Death Penalty?

so am i write in interpreting: In 1996 in the United States, Newt Gingrich, who was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives at the time, planned to introduce a mandatory death penalty for a second offense of smuggling 50 grams of marijuana into the United States, in the proposed law H.R. 4170. The proposal failed. Under the 1994 Crime Act, the threshold for sentencing a death penalty in relation to marijuana is the involvement with the cultivation or distribution of 60,000 marijuana plants (or seedlings) or 60,000 kilograms of marijuana. as meaning that in the united states, cultivating over 60,000 plants is a crime punishable by death? i've never heard this before. can it be cited? (and perhaps i'm misunderstanding the paragraph . . . ) what's going on here? --Heah 08:29, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)


http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=April2006&file=Local_News20060429104323.xml Two men were sentenced to death for hashish smuggling. Kevin143 04:27, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Sounds like 60,000kg of marijuana is the minimum amount that must be involved for the death penalty to be applied, but I've never heard of anyone being executed for any drug crime in the US. In fact, I'm inclined to doubt the accuracy of that quote.Emmett5 23:11, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

It's accurate. The penalty isn't mandatory, though, so for obvious reasons, no judge has chosen to apply it yet, I believe - that seems like the kind of thing that would cause a scandal. (That is, if anyone's actually been caught with SIXTY THOUSAND KILOS since 1994, which I'm not sure of.) Twin Bird 06:03, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Evolution of international control of cannabis

I would like to point out that the International Opium Convention did not end up prohibiting cannabis, as Legal issues of cannabis implies. India and other countries objected to the proposed prohibition on cannabis that was made at 1925 conference. Instead, the final treaty required parties "To prohibit the export of the resin obtained from Indian hemp and the ordinary preparations of which it forms the base (such as hashish, esrar, chiras, djamba) to countries which have prohibited their use"; thus, it was still legal to produce, trade, and use the drug, although international trade was subject to the usual import certificates, etc., and you could only export to a country that allowed the drug. The treaty did require the import certificate to state that the drug was for scientific or medical use. See [1] for an excellent history of international control of cannabis. It was the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs that first prohibited the drug. 24.54.208.177 19:36, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] State-by-state summary of cannabis laws

What happened to the state-by-state (UK, US, Netherlands, etc) summaries of cannabis laws? Why did we get rid of them? This article seems rather short now. 24.54.208.177 19:58, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

Can we retrieve them, so that somebody can colour-in a blank map for it? Ojw 21:10, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

I wonder what type of key we would use for it? There are many overlapping legal issues of cannabis, including mandatory minimums, conditional release, decriminalization, "possess a joint, lose your license," etc. For instance, possession is still criminalized in Virginia, but Virginia has lesser penalties for cultivation than California, which has decriminalized possession (in Virginia, if the cultivation is for personal use, it counts as simple possession). It almost defies mapping, unless you were to have a map for each issue. 24.54.208.177 21:58, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Hemp and relation to cannabis policy

Some claim that the U.S. laws may have been in response to lobbying by makers of synthetic fibers that competed with hemp. Is there a source for that? How did the early U.S. regulations control hemp cultivation (i.e. was there a distinction made cannabis grown for fiber and cannabis grown for drugs)? I know that the international treaties made a clear distinction between the two:

This Convention shall not apply to the cultivation of the cannabis plant exclusively for industrial purposes (fibre and seed) or horticultural purposes. - Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs

24.54.208.177 22:12, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Are Cannabis Prisoners Political prisoners?

Issues regarding the Constitutional guarantee of the right to Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have at times been raised in the debate, arguing that those imprisoned for cannabis use are de facto political prisoners. [2]

LSD prisoners presumably would be, as that drug wasn't banned for any other reason than "people were using it recreationally and we'd prefer they didn't" as far as I recall... Is it a political opinion though? Ojw 23:24, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

You would have to source that there is a serious stream of thought that thinks they are or should be political prisoners, SqueakBox 02:22, August 3, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Map

I uploaded a map. It's very incomplete, but you are welcome to update it and add any more color categories. Right now I have green = legal, blue = illegal, orange = legal for medical purposes, and gray = no information Revolución 23:15, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

Since when is cannabis legal in Canada? I thought it was decriminalized for recreational use and only legal for medical purposes, but definitely not legal all-around. --Howrealisreal 14:55, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

--FYI cannabis remains illegal at this moment in Canada for recreational use (though theoretically legal for medicinal uses), the liberal gov't has promised to bring in a decriminilization bill but as of today (Sept 22 2005) they have not and it doesn't look to be on the radar screen at the moment, especially since it was former PM Jean Chretien's idea. dj

I've had this argument at Cannabis cultivation. Cannabis is not fully legal anywhere. In Holland the supply side is illegal, making it most definitely not legal, SqueakBox 16:00, August 3, 2005 (UTC)

  • Why remove the map? If something is wrong with it, why not change it? Revolución 00:04, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

Not that I did remove it, but I wouldn't know how to change it. good idea, but most of the world should be under illegal, eg all ogf Latin America, UK, etc. How about red for illegal, and anything just unknown should be red by default and cancel the grey, SqueakBox 00:08, August 5, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Marc Emery and Decriminalization campaign in Canada

I'm dropping a link to Marc Emery here, both to draw attention to his situation to watchers of this page, as well as to suggest that someone add a section Decriminalization campaign in Canada to this article. What is happening in Canada is amazing, and could be a major turning point in decriminalization efforts globally. It merits significant weight in this article. After reading Marc's entry, see also my comment on the talk page. -SM 02:08, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] 420 Statisticians

I'm not going to change it, but I just wanted to point something out that was probably intentially written and calls into question biases: Ten people are arrested for marijuana every 420 seconds. --Dylan

Someone finally noticed it and deleted it. I've restored it, as sourced, at one ever 42 seconds.

-SM 15:40, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Haha, 420, the irony astounds me totally.

[edit] Canadian legalization efforts

Please see Talk:Cannabis legalization in Canada

[edit] Dropped Taiwan from death penalty against cannabis trade table

An anonymous editor put this in the table. The link is in Chinese, but I could see that cannabis was in class two, not one. I'd like a Chinese speaker to confirm this, but for now I'll trust it and so have removed Taiwan from the table of Really Really Unpleasant Places to do Cannabusiness.

Death penalty is possible for drug offences under Taiwanese law, but only for the creation, smuggling, and vending of "Class 1 Drugs," [3]. Cannabis is a "Class 2 Drug," the creation, smuggling, and vending of which can be punishable by life sentences or any sentence of more than 7 years, as well as a maximum fine of NT$70,000.

-SM 22:41, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Colombia, Switzwerland and Germany

In Germany, Switzerland and Colombia, the consumption of cannabis is legal, although it is illegal to possess, sell or distribute it.

I would like to see some good sources to support this. --Sampi 21:50, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I have heard that possession of up to 10 grammes is legal in Colombia. I know consumption has never been illegal in the UK or a whole host of other countries, and to describe the situation as that consumption is illegal everywhere would be false, in need of rectification and lacking sources (inevitably, it not being true), SqueakBox 02:32, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

I have removed the names of individual countries as allowing the consumption of cannabis. What was there was inaccurate as it implied this is a rare thing pertaining to these specific countries, which is not the case. As I say, consumption has never been illegal in the UK but this does not reflect a softly-softly approach. It does mean in the UK the police have to find you in possession to charge you, as anyone who knows the country well can confirm and nobody has ever been charged with consuming cannabis, SqueakBox 02:37, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

In Switzerland, possesion of cannabis is not legal unless you have a medical condition and you're on prescription.

[edit] New Pro-cannabis userbox

This user is pro-cannabis.

If you would like to have this on your userpage, just add {{User:Disavian/Userboxes/pro-cannabis}} to your userpage, and the box at right will appear on it. Also, if used in your user space, the page will be listed on Category:Pro-cannabis Wikipedians. If you would like to share it with someone else, type {{User:Disavian/Userboxes/pro-cannabis|stamp|right}}

Also, consider weighing in on the Wikipedia:Userbox policy poll.

Stand up and be counted while you still can,

StrangerInParadise 20:38, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Another Link Needs Correction

(moved to the bottom to conform to custom) The link to smokedot.org just goes to a forum page -- useless for reference

They were probably referring to the article originally brought to the web on my site at http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm


[edit] Link Needs Correction

The link to The National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, Marihuana - A Signal of Misunderstanding. 1972 is to an incorrect site. I put that report on the net and it should be linked from its original source - http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/nc/ncmenu.htm

Additional references that need to be included are:

The Forbidden Fruit and the Tree of Knowledge - the legal history of the marijuana laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/vlr/vlrtoc.htm

The short history of the marijuana laws, by the professor who wrote the legal history at http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm

[edit] Update to Link Correction

The link, above, to the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse doesn't even work. It goes to some other page entirely. I have corrected the link to the original source, where it should have been all along. Just FYI, my correction is to the same link used on the Wikipedia page about the commission.

The link has been there for as long as the page has been up, and I didn't put there originally. I am just correcting it so the link actually works, so certain editors who haven't caught up yet should not get their tender parts in a wringer because I am "spamming".

Wolfman97 19:18, 27 August 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Germany?

If I'm understanding it correctly, this section of the Hemp article from the Japanese Wikipedia says that personal possession is legal in Germany. Perhaps someone could find a source for that statement per WP:RS and add a section to this article? I was suprised that it would only be mentioned in the Japanese version. ergot 21:27, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Link error

I cannot find the history link here:

How Marijuana Became Illegal Smokedot.org's on the history of criminalisation.

KS


[edit] EDIT

Criminalization

---

The above paragraph makes a pretty serious claim without offering any evidence to support it. In the USA, what is described is clearly not the case (unless someone can offer evidence to the contrary) and is at odds with every official source, e.g. the Department of Justice and the Office on National Drug Control Policy.

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/whos_in_prison_for_marij/beyond_the_claims.pdf

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/marijuana_position.html#incarceration

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/amer%5Fknow%5Fmarij/myths.pdf

While incarceration for simple possession may be the case in some nations, it is clearly not the case in the USA, and the use of such a "broad brush" in this Wikipedia article makes this reader suspicious that the authors of such are biased.

Also, since this is the second time this reader has attempted to bring some accuracy and perspective to this particular Wikipedia article, it is becoming apparent that the editors of Wikipedia are perhaps sympathetic to said author's position. This is unfortunate, as it casts Wikipedia's role as an objective, open-source encyclopedia in a dim light, and may merit wider public scrutiny.

---

[edit] Update

This map needs to be updated. According to the page, Massachusetts passed a law that decriminalized marijuana.

"On February 16, 2006, the Herald News Online reported that the Joint Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee of the Massachusetts General Court voted 6-1 in favor of a bill that would decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. Rather than face criminal charges, offenders would face a civil fine of $250. [4]"

However, the state is not highlighted in the map. Jumping cheese Cont@ct 07:54, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Colorado Amendment 44

Sadly Colorado's amendment 44 which proposed to decriminalize marijuana did not pass. This means the map need to be updated to show that in colorado medical use is legal, but recreational use is not. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 1950salvador (talk • contribs) 04:02, 22 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Decriminalization campaign in Spain

1."Personal consumption and home cultivation of cannabis have been decriminalized"

2."Cannabis is still illegal to grow"

So is home-growing legal, or not? Those two sentences are condradictory. 17:28, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Of course home grown is legal once its off the plant and there is no evidence of any live plants, that is plain logic. Growing implies a living plant or strong evidence there was one, SqueakBox 18:24, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

It's a civil offense. Twin Bird 19:03, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] High Times?

Why is this section on this page, I understand high times wants to decriminalize marijuana, but to my knowledge it is only sold in America and maybe a few other english speaking countries. Does it really belong on this page about the whole world? I think it should be taken off, what do others think? -ChristopherMannMcKay 05:41, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Potential Effect of Legalization on the US Economy

This section is out of place. It does not cite sources and has some other problems. Again, it is on this page about the whole world--not the U.S. It shouldn't be on here; why not create a seperate article and do a 'see also'. Also some things like "the drug would most likely lose its hip, rebellious stigma and become more normalized and less dramatized" should be removed. I do not think that is a legal issue, but rather a change in culture that would result from a legal issue changing. -ChristopherMannMcKay 05:53, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merger Proposal

  • Agree. stub-article does offer some substantial sourced information, not enough to have its own article, but enough to keep.--Vox Rationis 01:12, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
  • Agree, SqueakBox 01:19, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

(The following was recovered from talk page of History of US Cannabis Law by Vox Rationis 15:48, 10 February 2007 (UTC))

  • Agree. this article is not notable enough and is questionable in verifiability as it is. Wikipedia does not need this as a stand-alone. I say that we should merge it into Cannabis (drug), so that we can be rid of one more stub.--Vox Causa 01:41, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
  • No opinion one way or the other but would have no problem with merging. The original author said he would expand the article and it's a notable topic and I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, but there's also the likelihood this will remain a stub or a soapbox. There is a lot of notable material that could be covered under this topic if expanded, provided it isn't already covered elsewhere in Wikipedia. No strong opinion here either way. Dragomiloff 01:48, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

I changed the tag as it should, if so, be merged with Legal issues of cannabis, SqueakBox 18:06, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Merger Performed!--Vox Rationis 15:42, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

(End recovered section)

[edit] OR

Two massive sections without sources and what reads to me entirelty like origin al research ahve bbeen removed. The first section title was The Potential Effect of Legalization on the US Economy, I mean how is that NPOV? SqueakBox 18:58, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Peterson's Guide

I don't know if this is appropriate for this page, the main page or for Wikipedia in general (i.e., if this violates the policy of neutrality Wikipedia ascribes to) and I don't have the specific page number (or the exact quote, so if somebody has this book, please help to confirm this), but I know that the Peterson's Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs (see Roger Tory Peterson) has a statement from the editors voicing their professional displeasure at the illegal classification of cannabis. Thought it should be confirmed, and at least discussed.

[edit] United States section

I want to merge the information under the section United States, because the section is way too long to not have it's own article and I think the information would fit well if it is merged into Legality of cannabis in the United States with a summarized version this article. Does anyone have any objections? -ChristopherMannMcKay 19:59, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/e/g/Talk%7ELegal_issues_of_cannabis_789d.html"