Seven Canadian farmers received licenses to legally grow cannabis during the
1995 growing season. Last year only one such license was granted. This is
the most legal cannabis that has grown in Canada for about five decades. For
a complete story, see
Canada's Cannabis Farmers.
The European Parliament debated their Action Plan to Combat Drugs.
Their decision recommends that the European Council "evaluate possible
alternatives to the traditional strategies", and also advises a serious
consideration of harm reduction "as it is followed by the cities of
Frankfurt, Hamburg, Amsterdam, and Zurich, which have signed the Frankfurt
Resolution."
A study group set up by Germany's federal states suggested that cannabis and
other "soft drugs" be sold in pharmacies along with other drugs and
medicines. The federal government in Bonn strongly opposes any attempt to
liberalise drug policy.
This situation reflects a policy split that runs along political lines. The
regional states are dominated by the Social Democrats, who favour a more
liberal policy, in opposition to the Conservatives which form the federal
government in Bonn.
Todd McCormick was arrested for possession of thirty-one pounds of cannabis
buds, which he was transporting to the San Diego Compassion Club. The club
distributes low-cost and free medical marijuana to those in need, and has
its headquarters in McCormick's home.
McCormick uses cannabis to ease the symptoms of Histiocytisis X, a disease
which attacks bone marrow, blood, and liver. He is being held in prison, and
is petitioning to be able to use cannabis medicinally while awaiting trial.
McCormick was approximately the ten millionth person to be arrested for
possession of cannabis in the United States since 1965.
Victoria became Australia's third state to grant licenses for the legal
cultivation of industrial cannabis. Over one hundred farmers had already
applied for licenses before the announcement was made. Along with South
Australia and Tasmania, Victorian farmers will be sowing cannabis seeds next
spring.
National media reported on fields of marijuana growing on both federal and
native reserve land in and around Oka, Québec. Initial reports of one
million plants were exaggerated, but reasonable estimates range closer to
fifty to seventy thousand.
The status of all of the plants is uncertain, but many were destroyed by
both Mohawk Peacekeepers and the Sûreté de Québec. The
RCMP and federal government did not interfere or involve themselves in the
situation. For the complete story,
read The Grass Cage.
Three activists who publicly planted four thousand cannabis seeds on July 4,
1994, with the announced intent to harvest the crop for industrial and
medicinal purposes, were found not guilty by a jury in Madera County,
California, on charges of felony cultivation of marijuana.
The men were defended by former Libertarion party vice presidential
candidate Nancy Lord. The verdict is also a victory for the power of the
jury. Under US law, a jury can find an accused to be not guilty if it
decides that the law in question is unjust.
A rally to end prohibition was held in the Porta Portese market, and
presided over by European MP Marco Pannella, founder and leader of the
Radical Party. Pannella and other executive members of the Radical Party
handed out plastic bags of hashish and marijuana labeled with their party
symbol. Police made arrests, and have charged the six with trafficking in
illegal substances.
 | |  | 
|
|