Life in Serbia, the largest and most populous country to emerge after the breakup of communist Yugoslavia in 1991, can still be a challenge for some. The nation’s drug laws are strict, as made clear recently when a leading cannabis advocate, scheduled to give public testimony on the plant’s therapeutic powers, was jailed before he could make his legalization plea.

Patient and activist Dragan Alargić, known by many as the “Balkan cannabis hero,” has been fighting for legalization for several years. When arrested, he was gearing up for what appeared to be a big step forward in Serbian perceptions of medical cannabis.

Medicinal Cannabis Sativex and Bedrocan are now available in many European countries, and several have infrastructure in place to supply patients with medicinal cannabis. So which countries are moving with the times, and which are dragging their heels? Where are medicinal and recreational users most (and least) free to utilize their drug of choice? Let’s take a look at the facts.

As countries around the world have started to relax their laws on medical marijuana, cannabis is still completely outlawed in Serbia. While studies show that the drug—specifically in the form of cannabis oil—can have positive health effects for people suffering from terminal illnesses, doctors in the country remain skeptical. 

Serbians looking for an alternative way to treat terminal illnesses like cancer and multiple sclerosis are forced to illegally obtain the highlyexpensive cannabis oil or attempt to make it themselves, despite the threat of jail time.

Someone in Serbia is spicing up motorists’ journeys by turning traffic lights into colourful marijuana symbols, a Serbian media outlet has claimed.

The lights were reportedly spotted at a main intersection in a small village called Ljubic, Serbia and on another set of lights further down the road.

The green light was turned into a marijuana leaf, the yellow featured the sun symbol and the red light was turned into a heart.

Local resident Andjelka Stojkovic noticed the lights and said: ‘Although I am middle-aged, all this looks sweet.

Hemp or cannabis oil was used by numerous people for centuries, but it was banned in the second half of the 20th century, as a result of the rise of the billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry.

Rick Simpson is a mechanical engineer and a self-taught doctor, who was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2002 and fought this disease using this miraculous oil. Nowadays, he is one of the greatest world activists for legalization of hemp oil. Using this treatment, he has cured over 5,000 people.

The BBC, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, countless international publications, blogs and websites have published this ridiculous story.

Apparently, Novak Djokovic felt “dizzy” because he could smell cannabis during his Rogers Cup semi-final win over Jérémy Chardy in Montreal.  Now let’s be clear, the smell of cannabis comes from terpenes, not from cannabinoids.  It cannot get you high or dizzy.

Novak Djokovic complained of being put off by the smell of cannabis on court during his Rogers Cup semi-final win over Jérémy Chardy.

After winning the first set 6-4 on Saturday, the world No1 approached the umpire’s chair and said: “Someone is smoking weed, I can smell it, I’m getting dizzy. Somebody is getting high. Can you smell it? The whole place smells of it.”

Nonetheless Djokovic went on to win the second set 6-4 and reach Sunday’s final, where he will resume his rivalry with Andy Murray.

Belgrade
Serbian government is to start the process of changing the law on cannabis use in medicine and industry in November, head of NGO “Lekalizacija” Vladan Golubovic said today.
“According to our plan, the process of changing the law should start in November and free selling of it (medical marijuana) should be introduced next summer”, Golubovic told journalists at the panel on legalization in Belgrade.
Golubovic underlined that the trade of the drug should be under tough government control.