An expectedly low turn out for the proposal of amendments to a bill that advances prohibitionist drug policies – one that seems like a step backwards when compared to the progress being made around the world. While many countries are realising they need evidence-based, harm reducing policies and are relaxing their drug laws, the United Kingdom’s policy makers seem wary of making similar steps.

(Source: parliament.tv)

The list of human rights organizations and UN agencies that recommend decriminalization is growing. So strong is the pressure for less punitive drug policies, that it has become impossible for states to ignore. Real change has started happening as well. Cannabis has been legalized in five American states, and Canada is set to become the first G7 nation to regulate the drug. Countless others are decriminalizing personal use and possession. We have come to the realization that punitive policies infringe upon basic rights and prevent people from seeking help.

"The government will introduce legislation that will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana."- Governor General David Johnston, December throne speech

The Liberal government has not yet indicated when, and how, it will make marijuana legal to Canadians but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has asked MP Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief, to be his point man on the file.

Texas will begin to prepare to issue licenses to retailers for the sale of marijuana-based products, reported MySanAntonio. The licenses will enable certain dispensaries to sell products with low levels of THC, such as cannabis oil.

The state has approved the products for people diagnosed with intractable epilepsy, a form of the disease where seizures cannot be treated with traditional drugs. The program was slated to be launched Jan. 10, but the first dispensary will not be licensed until June 2017. License applications will not be finalized and available to companies until this summer.

Mexico will hold its first national forum debating the legal use of marijuana on Jan. 26 in Cancun, an Interior Ministry official said this week.

President Enrique Peña Nieto ordered the discussion, with four more forums to follow throughout the winter and into the spring, The Yucatan Times reports.

Costa Rica took a step towards becoming the next Latin American country to decriminalize cannabis this week, when attorney Mario Alberto Cerdas Salazar was cleared of cultivation charges on grounds of individual liberties.

Cerdas Salazar was arrested at his home in the city of Alajuela in August, after publicly advocating for a personal right to use and cultivate cannabis for medicinal and gastronomic purposes. He was charged with "drug trafficking," and has been held since.

Republican lawmakers are trying to amend Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act to make it more difficult for patients to access medication.

Their proposals include limiting which types of doctors can issue medical marijuana referrals, tightening restrictions on who can receive referrals and requiring patients to get new referrals more often.

But the proposals could conflict with the Arizona Constitution, which prevents the legislature from altering voter-approved initiatives such as the Medical Marijuana Act, which has nearly 88,000 qualified patients.

In most states getting caught with marijuana is FAR more harmful than consuming marijuana. That used to be true of every state, but more and more states are legalizing marijuana, thank goodness. Kansas is a state in which marijuana is still very much illegal. Kansas’ largest city, Wichita, voted to decriminalize marijuana in April of last year. Whereas state law carries a possession penalty of a $2,500 fine and a year in jail, Wichita wants to hand out a $50 fine for the first offense.