The sun is shining on VolteFace Towers today as another week comes to a close. Here’s the highlights: [Features] Transatlantic Lessons by Mark Kleiman Mark Kleiman takes a cold look at the US model of cannabis legalisation and suggests the UK learn from the mistakes of under-regulation. Cannabis prohibition unduly limits personal liberty and needlessly fosters … Continued
Medical Cannabis will be available on prescription in Germany by next year, according to a draft bill approved by their cabinet yesterday. The bill, proposed by Hermann Gröhe, the German Health Minister, will allow doctors to prescribe herbal cannabis and extracts to patients, for them to collect at pharmacies. Speaking in Die Weld, Gröhe stated “Our goal is … Continued
It’s been another busy week here at VolteFace, but fear not, our Friday selection is here again to ensure you don’t miss out: [Features] The Life Lysergic by Cole Moreton Cole Moreton meets the inimitable Amanda Feilding and discovers what it takes to become the ‘Queen of Consciousness’. A Rich Heritage: Part II by Laura Gozzi Max … Continued
The logic is simple. You legalise a substance, more people consume it, and consequently more people get addicted to it, or suffer negative health effects from using it. This seems obvious, one only has to look at the amount of people that consume alcohol or tobacco, the two substances we legally regulate, to see that they are consumed … Continued
De Facto decriminalisation of cannabis has gradually been occurring in England and Wales in recent years. This is what can be concluded from figures collected by BBC Breakfast that were reported this morning. The figures, collected from police forces following a Freedom of Information request, show that since 2010 arrests for cannabis possession have fallen by … Continued
The veteran activist and cannabis campaigner Lee Harris will appear on the ballot for the London mayoral election on 5th May, it has been confirmed today, having secured the requisite nominations from each of London’s 33 boroughs. Harris, who is 79, is representing CISTA – the Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol party – and is calling for … Continued
Six months. It has been barely six months since legalisation of cannabis was debated in parliament – in a side room, with fewer than 20 MPs in attendance. That debate was the result of an online petition that collected more than 200,000 signatures, and yet at the time the vast majority of our MPs did not … Continued
Responding to last week’s letter by the ACMD, the Home Office have today issued an acceptance statement that the Psychoactive Substances Act will not ban poppers. When the final vote on the Psychoactive Substances Act took place in January, and despite advice to the contrary from the ACMD, the Government voted not to provide an exemption for … Continued
The Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs has today issued a letter to the Government stating that the new Psychoactive Substances Act does not ban poppers. According to the expert analysis of the ACMD, the definition of psychoactivity given in the Act does not merit the inclusion of poppers – alkyl nitrites – in … Continued
Treatment for children with a rare and severe form of epilepsy, known as Dravet syndrome, may soon be within reach following the results of a phase III clinical trial, released this week. What’s more, the drug is Epidiolex, a liquid formulation of cannabidiol (CBD), one of the main cannabinoids found in cannabis besides the psychoactive … Continued