Cannabis and Chile

 

Chile appears to have a medical cannabis market with sales of cannabidiol (CBD) based products. This is now the case in many countries around the world, after CBD was removed from scheduled lists by the UN, I think, around the same time that it rescheduled cannabis from its most restrictive Schedule IV lists to its least restrictive Schedule I list in December 2020 based on the recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the most serious side effects of cannabis are laughter and talkativeness. 

There appear to be 'counterfeit' CBD products available in Chile, prompting its Public Health Institute to warn the public against these products. 'Counterfeit' here appears to mean those products that have not been endorsed by the Public Health Institute. What one sees here is all the drama that comes along with trying to make a natural herb like cannabis into a pharmaceutical product like the junk that is synthesized in laboratories and sold to the public as 'medicine'. The Institute acknowledges that CBD has therapeutic properties. It probably is trying to say that unregistered products may contain delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the most therapeutic compound in the cannabis plant. 

This is a typical example of how the medical industry and pharmaceutical industry are trying to appropriate and profit from a natural herb that has been used by countless humans for thousands of years across the world. By positioning cannabis as a pharmaceutical product, these industries hope to milk the elite classes of society into contributing to their growing wealth and scare the public that smoking natural cannabis is dangerous. Cannabis is, first and foremost, the herb of the poorest classes of society, the indigenous communities and the working classes. It was first banned by the elites of the world in order to peddle their opium, tobacco, alcohol and synthetic pharmaceutical medicines. The world's poor ended up in prison when they tried to access cannabis, while the elites procured their cannabis from the black market while constantly opposing its legalization stating that it was harmful and addictive. As overwhelming scientific proof of the medical qualities of cannabis emerged and flooded the world, forcing the WHO and the UN to revise their stands on cannabis, the elites of the world decided that their stand on complete prohibition of cannabis was scientifically untenable and so decided that the next best thing was to try and control it as a pharmaceutical medicine. After decades of crushing the global systems of natural medicine that kept humans healthy for thousands of years and creating systems that are completely aligned to the synthetic pharmaceutical drugs that are synthesized in labs, the elites of the world are now trying to retrofit the natural herb cannabis into their regulatory systems for synthetic medicines. Through this, they hope to package cannabis as a pharmaceutical medicine that pharma companies have created and sell it to the elites at costs that no common man can afford and with regulations that ensure that nobody from the poorest classes can access it. By this, the elites of the world hope to profit from the very cannabis that they prohibited, destroyed and imprisoned countless people from the depressed classes for. By endorsing cannabis as pharmaceutical medicine, the elites hope to add a price tag to it that shows their value add to the natural herb. 

So, if the Public Health Institute of Chile is really concerned about public health, what it would do is push the government to legalize the natural herb cannabis completely so that it can be grown in the country as a commodity at scales that mean that enough cannabis is cultivated to enable the poorest person in Chile to access and afford it. The amount of regulatory oversight that natural cannabis requires is about the same amount of oversight that any other cultivated crop in Chile requires. While neighbours Uruguay legalized cannabis for adult recreational purposes in 2014, Chile, like most other South American countries, is completely in the hands of the ruling elites that get rich from the industries opposed to cannabis. These industries contaminate air, water and land, destroy large swathes of natural green cover and then peddle their tobacco, alcohol, synthetic pharmaceutical drugs and illegal synthetic drugs like heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. All the money that is generated by these industries flows into the pockets of the elites in industry and the politicians while entities like the Public Health Institute make statements that fool the public into thinking that they exist for the good of the people.

Legalizing cannabis completely, so that natural cannabis - with its natural balance of cannabinoids, including THC and CBD - is available for the people should be the focus of the government. Through this, not only will public health benefit greatly, but there will be immense benefits to the overall economy, business and the environment. The use of cannabis for a diverse range of sustainable industries such as biofuels, biodegradable plastics, construction, natural medicine, natural intoxicant, fabrics, footwear, food, beverages, wellness, tourism, research, automobile parts, animal feed, paper and packaging and so on will set Chile on a path of sustainable economics that can help counter the damage caused by the synthetic pharmaceutical industry, the petrochemical industry, the chemical pesticide and fertilizer industry, the mining industry, the paper and packaging industry, the alcohol industry, the tobacco industry, the opioid industry, the medical industry, and so on, that have enabled the elites in Chile to amass wealth, subjugate the poor and greatly increase the gap between the rich and the poor. Legalizing cannabis completely will protect the public from dangerous synthetic drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, etc. It will shrink the black market that peddles these illegal and dangerous synthetic drugs working in collusion with law enforcement, drug enforcement and politicians. It will give the elderly, the sick, women, indigenous communities, the poor and the youth a safe medicine and intoxicant that will improve their health. It will protect the youth from getting sucked into organized crime after being lured in, using cannabis and the dangerous synthetic drugs, by the criminals who operate the black market. It will reduce violent crime, homicides and domestic violence that are induced by alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine. It will rejuvenate the soil, sequester carbon, provide nutrition for animals, birds and insects and help in the cross-pollination of natural flora. The natural climatic conditions of Chile will enable it to grow high quality cannabis at scales that ensure that there is not just enough cannabis for the entire population - especially the poorest of the poor and the indigenous communities - but also ensure that there is surplus cannabis that can be exported to North America, Europe and Oceania where the elites have realized that cannabis is probably the safest, most effective medicine and intoxicant in the world after decades of opposing it. In these elite countries now, the people seek cannabis but cannot grow it due to the adverse climatic conditions there. Therefore, their only option is to import it from the countries that have been traditional cannabis cultivating and consuming countries like those in South America, Africa and Asia. The large scale cultivation of cannabis in Chile will reduce the smuggling inwards of cannabis from neighbouring countries, meaning that law and drug enforcement can focus on addressing violent crimes and financial crimes. Legalizing cannabis will release all the people in prison or facing trial for cannabis, thus freeing up the judiciary to address real crimes. Some of these are the reasons why Uruguay, Canada, South Africa, Germany, Malta, Luxembourg and 24 out of 50 US states (at the time of writing) have legalized cannabis for recreational use so far.

Legalizing cannabis completely is what is required today, not frivolous attempts at portraying to the people that the government is concerned about public health. Legalizing cannabis will, of course, be a significant setback for the elites who control and oppress the people through the current governments and industries. Does the government of Chile have the spine to legalize cannabis completely or will it continue with the posturing that most governments the world over do who function for their own selfish interests betraying the trust that the people bestowed on them? The best way to avoid counterfeiting is to go natural because nature cannot be counterfeited, unlike the synthetics that humans create...

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'“Any product” with CBD “that currently does not have a health registration granted by this Institute is a counterfeit pharmaceutical product and its quality, safety and efficacy cannot be guaranteed to the population,” Juan Roldán of the Public Health Institute of Chile said in the press release.

According to the health authority, after a “rigorous” evaluation of CBD, the institute determined that because of its therapeutic properties – analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant are mentioned – products with the active ingredient must obtain a premarketing sanitary registration like any other medicine.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/chile-health-authority-warns-of-counterfeit-cannabis-medicines/

'Methamphetamine trafficked from Canada has been reported in the United States, South America (Chile), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and a few countries in Europe (Iceland and Latvia).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

Cannabis and Bolivia

In a US White House media brief in September 2021, it was stated that 'The United States is committed to working together with the countries of the Western Hemisphere as neighbors and partners to meet our shared challenges of drug trafficking and use. My Administration will seek to expand cooperation with key partners, such as Mexico and Colombia, to shape a collective and comprehensive response and expand efforts to address the production and trafficking of dangerous synthetic drugs that are responsible for many of our overdose deaths, particularly fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and methamphetamine. In Mexico, we must continue to work together to intensify efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and their networks, increase prosecutions of criminal leaders and facilitators, and strengthen efforts to seize illicit assets. In Bolivia, I encourage the government to take additional steps to safeguard the country’s licit coca markets from criminal exploitation and reduce illicit coca cultivation that continues to exceed legal limits under Bolivia’s domestic laws for medicinal and traditional use. In addition, the United States will look to expand cooperation with China, India, and other chemical source countries in order to disrupt the global flow of synthetic drugs and their precursor chemicals.'

This statement was made by a country that is the world's largest market for cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine and the country most responsible for global cannabis prohibition today. When the obvious approach to reduce cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine trafficking and use is to legalize cannabis so that it is available to the people in place of these dangerous drugs that thrive in its absence, the US makes regular statements of this nature to portray itself as a victim of the global drug crisis that it was largely responsible for creating. 

The apparent concern to protect Bolivia's legal cultivation of coca appears to stem from the fact that the elites of the US love cocaine and will do all they can to obtain it from legal sources in Bolivia or illegal sources in Colombia and Mexico. US President Joe Biden's real concern about the global drug menace from opioids, cocaine and methamphetamine can be gauged from the fact that he has pardoned his cocaine associated son Hunter facing felony charges while ignoring the hundreds of thousands of cannabis users who are imprisoned or face trial for using a herb that has been completely legalized in 24 states, legalized for medical use in 38 states, and enjoys overwhelming support for legalization among the American public. Successive US governments have stalled all efforts to legalize cannabis federally and do all they can to ensure that it is not legalized in South American nations like Bolivia. Bolivia is another of the South American countries that the US has used to outsource the production of the drugs of choice of the American elites - heroin and cocaine. It appears that in countries like Colombia and Mexico, the US works with the drug cartels to ensure production and supply of these drugs, while in Bolivia the US works with the Bolivian government itself. 

Bolivia has a history of being subservient to the mining, petrochemical and synthetic drug industries that have made the elites of both Bolivia and the US rich and the working classes and indigenous communities of Bolivia even more poor. The revolutionary Che Guevara focused some of his attention on trying to liberate the people of Bolivia from the elites who worked hand in hand with the US. Even as Uruguay - the first nation in the world to legalize cannabis for adult use in 2014 since its global prohibition - took the bold step, almost all other South American countries continue to operate under the influence of the US. 

For Bolivia to work as a free and independent nation, it must legalize cannabis for all purposes so that it is available to the people who need it the most - the poorest classes, the indigenous communities and the working classes. Legalized cannabis for all purposes can enable Bolivia to reach economic sustainability, provide universal health care, fight the menace of legal and illegal synthetic pharmaceutical medicines, besides creating a number of cannabis-related industries that heal the nation and combat environmental destruction. If sufficient cannabis is produced in Bolivia, it can meet the local needs of the people as well as be available for export to nations like the US and other countries that cannot grow sufficient cannabis to meet their needs. Instead of being an outsourcing destination for the US' cocaine needs, it is much better for Bolivia to be an independent nation using cannabis as its basis for economic growth and independence. Countries like Brazil and Argentina are starting to show signs of moving towards cannabis legalization. Mexico's Supreme Court ruled a few years ago that cannabis prohibition violates an individual's fundamental rights. All these South American nations are blocked in their progress to economic development through cannabis legalization by the US, working hand in hand with local politicians to ensure that the supply of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to the ruling upper classes in the US and these South American nations remains unaffected. The fact that a decade has passed since Uruguay legalized cannabis for adult use and no other South American nation has followed shows the extent of control the US exercises over the South American nations even today.

The Bolivian flag bears the three colors of cannabis - red, gold and green - but its governments appear to be more inclined to the white color of powdered cocaine that fuels American efforts to keep cannabis prohibited globally in order to ensure the supremacy of the ruling and elite classes of every nation. The resulting destruction of the planet and suffering of the inhabitants of this earth are not matters that concern these entities too much...

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'The United States is committed to working together with the countries of the Western Hemisphere as neighbors and partners to meet our shared challenges of drug trafficking and use. My Administration will seek to expand cooperation with key partners, such as Mexico and Colombia, to shape a collective and comprehensive response and expand efforts to address the production and trafficking of dangerous synthetic drugs that are responsible for many of our overdose deaths, particularly fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and methamphetamine. In Mexico, we must continue to work together to intensify efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and their networks, increase prosecutions of criminal leaders and facilitators, and strengthen efforts to seize illicit assets. In Bolivia, I encourage the government to take additional steps to safeguard the country’s licit coca markets from criminal exploitation and reduce illicit coca cultivation that continues to exceed legal limits under Bolivia’s domestic laws for medicinal and traditional use. In addition, the United States will look to expand cooperation with China, India, and other chemical source countries in order to disrupt the global flow of synthetic drugs and their precursor chemicals. '

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/09/15/a-memorandum-for-the-secretary-of-state-on-presidential-determination-on-major-drug-transit-or-major-illicit-drug-producing-countries-for-fiscal-year-2022/

Cannabis and Bermuda

Bermuda appears to be more concerned about what its colonial master Britain thinks rather than what is good for itself. Licensed cannabis production related legislation faced opposition in 2021 with the reasons being cited as Britain would be offended. Licensed cannabis production went apparently went against Britain's international obligations. The Royal Gazette reported that 'The Premier said last night Bermuda’s relationship with the UK would suffer serious damage if a law to license cannabis production failed to get Royal Assent. David Burt said there were indications that the Governor would be unable to give assent to legislation that contravened Britain’s international obligations.'

Obligations is a strange word. Britain is largely responsible for global cannabis prohibition which it started in Burma (today's Myanmar) and then enforced in India, the land of ganja. Using incorrect statistics from India of cannabis and its alleged link to insanity, Britain spread the message of cannabis prohibition to all its colonies. Britain's offspring - the US - took it a step further by creating the Marihuana Act in 1937. The US used its clout in the UN to include cannabis in the Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs in 1961 and make most nations signatory to the treaty. This treaty is what is commonly cited by nations who are unwilling to listen to the voices of their people when the people demand cannabis legalization for use as safe intoxicant, valuable medicine and sustainable means of income and livelihood. 

The reason why Britain and its allies pushed forward cannabis prohibition globally is so that they could sell their preferred drugs - opium, alcohol, tobacco and synthetic pharmaceutical medicine - and gain far greater revenue than they could if cannabis - the herb of the poorest classes, indigenous communities and the working classes - was available freely at little or no cost. Bermuda will do well to shake off its colonial legacy that threatens to further enslave its people through these harmful substitutes for cannabis. In the process, Bermuda will see vast improvements in public health, increase in sustainable livelihoods and income, boost to tourism and the possibility of including the precious cannabis to its bouquet of international export commodities if it is able to produce surplus cannabis.

Bermuda's flag still sports the British flag in addition to its own coat of arms showing the influence that Britain still has on a group of islands thousands of miles away that the British used for growing their tobacco. The local indigenous communities and black population who were brought in as slaves from Africa were used for cultivating tobacco in plantations. Today, Bermuda faces the direct impact of global warming and rising sea levels. The cultivation of cannabis and the shedding of British influences in its existence will mean that Bermuda is a free nation once again. Two other British colonies that had the British flag embedded in their national flag - Canada and South Africa - have both shed their colonial legacies by legalizing cannabis and removing the British emblem from their flags. It remains to be seen if and when Bermuda will do the same...

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'The Premier said last night Bermuda’s relationship with the UK would suffer serious damage if a law to license cannabis production failed to get Royal Assent.

David Burt said there were indications that the Governor would be unable to give assent to legislation that contravened Britain’s international obligations.'

https://www.royalgazette.com/politics/news/article/20210219/cannabis-legalisation-up-for-house-debate

Cannabis and Belize

The last I came across news on Belize and its cannabis legalization initiatives was in 2021 at the height of the fake pandemic Covid. In February 2021, Breaking News Belize reported that marijuana legalization discussions were heating in the first virtual town hall of the government, with plans to complete regulations in two months. The next I heard was that an amendment had been introduced in the House of Representatives in July 2021 by the Minister of New Growth Industries. The amendment sought to establish regulations for businesses in the cannabis industry. Licensing and registration with oversight from a Commission would allow persons to cultivate, process, distribute and deliver cannabis across the country for adult use.

Belize is a beautiful country, as I have heard, with tourism being one of its major industries. The tropical climate of Belize will surely produce good quality cannabis that as a sustainable renewable crop can spawn multiple sustainable industries through sustainable economics, provide vast benefits in combating climate change and bringing precious revenue to the country which I assume is under threat from global warming and rising sea levels, besides the threat of synthetic drugs and alcohol.

The fake pandemic Covid, created by the industries opposed to cannabis, may have put the pause button on the cannabis legalization initiatives of many nations, and may have taken humanity a few steps backwards in its battle against global warming, specifically with the flooding of the world with synthetic pharmaceutical drugs and non-biodegradable petrochemical based plastics used for packaging synthetic medicines, besides masks, sanitizers, PPE kits, and so on...Nations like Belize, who are directly in the line of impacts of climate change, must push for complete legalization of cannabis as it is one of the last hopes to save humanity from human induced climate catastrophe, especially the most vulnerable nations and peoples of the world, besides the millions of other life forms that suffer for the folly of the few.

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https://www.breakingbelizenews.com/2021/01/28/discussion-marijuana-legalization-heats-up-in-first-virtual-town-hall-ministry-to-complete-regulations-within-two-months/

'During the sitting of the House of Representatives last Friday, the Minister of New Growth Industries, Hon. Kareem Musa, introduced a historic amendment to provide for the legalization of marijuana in Belize.

The act amends the Misuse of Drug Act, 103, to establish provision for the licensing and registration of enterprises operating in the cannabis industry. These special licenses, which will be granted by an Industrial Hemp and Cannabis Control Commission, will allow persons to cultivate, process, distribute and deliver cannabis across the country for adult use.'

https://amandala.com.bz/news/bill-to-legalize-it-introduced/

Cannabis and Bahrain

Bahrain is one the Middle East countries that has a US military base for the US Navy. This makes Bahrain a country where the sins of the flesh - alcohol, prostitution, and even hashish, are said to be relatively easier to access than most Middle Eastern countries with their strict Islamic laws as laid down by the religious orthodoxy who work hand in hand with the king and the rich businessmen who form the upper classes. It is for this reason that hordes of people are said to flow into Bahrain from surrounding countries over the weekend to put aside the orthodoxy and indulge in a bit of good times before returning back to their countries.

Bahrain typifies the hypocritical behavior of most Islamic countries. While the elites have every drug that they wish for, the poor and the working classes are likely to be imprisoned, deported or even put to death for their association with these drugs or sins of the flesh. In this way, the elites keep a tight grip on the working classes. Besides alcohol, prostitution and hashish, I am sure that heroin and cocaine does the circles among the upper classes. The Middle East is reported by the United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC) to be preferential to amphetamines as a stimulant. UNODC states that 'The type and form of amphetamines used vary considerably between regions and subregions. In North America, the non-medical use of pharmaceutical stimulants and methamphetamine is most prevalent; in East and South-East Asia and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), it is methamphetamine; and in Western and Central Europe and the Near and Middle East, it is amphetamine. In the latter subregion, amphetamine is commonly known as “captagon”.' UNODC says 'In the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, the quantities of methamphetamine seized increased markedly in 2018. However, the marked decline in the reported quantities of amphetamine seized in recent years (-37 per cent in 2017 and -80 per cent in 2018) seems to be largely a statistical artefact. Some of this decline may have been related to changes in the categorization of stimulants seized, for example, “prescription stimulants” instead of “amphetamine”. Even more important has been the hiatus in the reporting of seizures to UNODC by some countries known to be affected by major amphetamine trafficking activities. There is plenty of evidence that trafficking in amphetamine, in particular of “captagon” tablets, has also continued in the Near and Middle East in recent years. INCB, for example, in its most recent annual report noted the following: The manufacture and trafficking of counterfeit “captagon” continued to seriously affect the countries of the Middle East, which not only are destination markets for those drugs but are also increasingly becoming a source of counterfeit “captagon”…Political instability and unresolved conflicts, poverty and the lack of economic opportunities in some parts of the subregion have contributed to increased trafficking in…“captagon”' There is the likelihood that many persons seeking cocaine, and paying for cocaine, receive methamphetamine or at least cocaine laced with methamphetamine, is my guess.

It is likely that heroin, cannabis and methamphetamine flows in from Afghanistan on the one hand, and cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin flow in from Mexico through the US on the other. The presence of the US Navy in Bahrain facilitates the movement of all these drugs between Bahrain and other countries. In the Middle East, UNODC reports that 'Methamphetamine appears to have emerged in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia as the main ATS used in the Islamic Republic of Iran (2009– 2018) as well as in Iraq (2016 and 2017), Lebanon (2014–2017), Bahrein (2016), Afghanistan (2015 and 2016), Israel (2014 and 2015) and Kuwait (2003, 2009, 2013)'. Regarding the Middle East, UNODC reports that 'In the past few years, the manufacture and use of methamphetamine have emerged in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, subregions that until recently were dominated by use of “captagon”. Methamphetamine manufacture and consumption used to be largely unknown in those subregions. Initially reported by only one country in the subregion (Israel), the number of countries reporting seizures of methamphetamine has increased in subsequent years. Overall, eight countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia reported seizures of methamphetamine in the period 2000–2009, rising to 14 countries in the period 2010–2018. The bulk of the methamphetamine seized, however, continued to be seized by the Islamic Republic of Iran.'

Regarding the hypocritical behavior of the clerics who make the laws along with the king so as to suit the rich businessman and oppress the working classes, we see that there is a particular fear of cannabis in these countries. It is cannabis that the king-priest-businessman hierarchy fears the most since cannabis is the herb that is most likely to empower the working classes, making them speak about dangerous subjects like equality and democracy. Opium does not seem to be such a concern for the upper classes, most likely because it is mostly they who can afford the opium. This is also the case with amphetamines and other legal and illegal synthetic pharmaceutical drugs. Alcohol is most likely used only by the westerners, primarily because of the religious sanction against it in Islam. The religious sanctions prohibiting smoking ensures that cannabis is kept banned, while the drugs that one injects, snorts or pops as pills do not face much religious resistance. This perfectly suits the upper classes and castes. Also, the association of cannabis with Siva, the god of ganja, may be a factor that makes the clerics say that ganja is evil.

In general, the hypocrisy of the world's elites when they use religion to prohibit cannabis from the people who form the working classes and the poor is quite absurd. In the Islamic countries, cannabis is prohibited for the working classes possibly due to the fear that the Hindus use it for spiritual purposes. In India, cannabis is banned primarily due to the belief that Muslims are the key consumers. Many of the Indian Muslims from the poor and working classes, as well those belonging to the Sufi sects, are cannabis consumers. The note submitted to the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1894-95 by Mr. J. M. Campbell, C.I.E., Collector of Land Revenue and Customs and Opium, Bombay, on the subject of the Religion of Hemp, says, 'In this devotion to bhang, with reverence, not with the worship, which is due to Allah alone, the North Indian Mussalman joins hymning the praises of bhang. To the follower of the later religion of Islam the holy spirit in bhang is not the spirit of the Almighty. It is the spirit of the great prophet Khizr or Elijah. That bhang should be sacred to Khizr is natural. Khizr is the patron saint of water. Still more Khizr means green, the revered colour of the cooling water of bhang. So the Urdu poet sings 'When I quaff fresh bhang I liken its colour to the fresh light down of thy youthful beard.' The prophet Khizr or the Green prophet cries 'May the drink be pleasing to thee.' Nasir, the great North Indian Urdu poet of the beginning of the present century, is loud in the praises of his beloved Sabzi, the Green one. 'Compared with bhang spirits are naught. Leave all things thou fool, drink bhang.' From its quickening the imagination Musalman poets honour bhang with the title Warak al Khiyall, Fancy's Leaf. And the Makhzan or great Arab-Greek drug book records many other fond names for the drug. Bhang is the Joy-giver, the Sky-flier, the Heavenlyguide, the Poor Man's Heaven, the Soother of Grief.'

The fact of the matter is that it is not the religious beliefs that determine cannabis policy in every country, it is what should be done to ensure that the poor and the working classes are subjugated that drives cannabis policy. In all places around the world, the fear of cannabis legalization by the ruling classes is a fear of losing their grip over the lower classes.

We can see Bahrain's hypocrisy during the vote to remove cannabis from the UN's Schedule IV in 2020. Morocco, another Islamic country, but one with some of the finest cannabis, and a much more liberal attitude towards cannabis voting in favor of removing cannabis from Schedule IV, but Bahrain, and all other Islamic nations in the Middle East and North Africa voted against it. Morocco World News reports that 'The statement does not provide further details on the bill. However, the announcement about the bill comes just a few months after Morocco voted in favor of removing cannabis from the list of the UN’s Schedule IV category of drugs that have limited or no therapeutic use. Morocco was the only member of the UN Commission on Narcotics Drugs (CND) in the Middle East and North Africa region to give a nod to the removal of cannabis from the list of toxic substances. Algeria, Bahrain, and Egypt have all voted against the move.'

One of the biggest problems for Bahrain, and the Middle East in general, is the presence of the US in this region though the US military, and the US association with petrochemicals, opioids, methamphetamine and synthetic pharmaceutical drugs. While the US claims to be in Bahrain for the protection of its allies, I think the fact of the matter is that it is there to protect its own interests, which include the trafficking of various drugs around the world using its military. For Bahrain, and the Middle East, in general, getting out of the influence of the US - the world's biggest opponent of cannabis legalization - and adopting the path of sustainability that cannabis legalization brings. This will make the nation stronger and move towards independence and maturity. The people of Bahrain need to understand that the king-priest-businessman hierarchy only want to suppress the majority and lead the nation down the path of economic, environmental and public health ruin...

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The following list of articles taken from various media speak about the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of yours truly at the time of reading the article.

'The statement does not provide further details on the bill. However, the announcement about the bill comes just a few months after Morocco voted in favor of removing cannabis from the list of the UN’s Schedule IV category of drugs that have limited or no therapeutic use.

Morocco was the only member of the UN Commission on Narcotics Drugs (CND) in the Middle East and North Africa region to give a nod to the removal of cannabis from the list of toxic substances.

Algeria, Bahrain, and Egypt have all voted against the move.'

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2021/02/335770/moroccos-government-to-discuss-bill-on-legal-use-of-cannabis/

Cannabis and the Bahamas

In October 2020, The Tribune 242 reported that 'Speaking in the House of Assembly, Dr Minnis revealed several recommendations from the Economic Recovery Committee, adding the body was instructed to be bold and specific with its suggestions to combat the current economic crisis. The group’s recommendations include the full legalisation of marijuana for medicinal, religious, and recreational purposes coupled with a regulatory regime that oversees the production and manufacturing, sale, consumption and export of marijuana.' Since then, I did not come across much in terms of the progress made in this direction. The Economic Recovery Committee's recommendations for the full legalization of cannabis for medicinal, religious, and recreational purposes was in line with what I have said is most needed to make cannabis available to the people, especially the poorest sections of society, and for a nation to fully experience the full benefits of cannabis. Complete legalization enables farmers to grow cannabis as a valuable sustainable additional crop to boost their incomes. It provides sufficient cannabis for various businesses across the board to utilize cannabis for a range of applications - medicinal, recreational and industrial. Full legalization ensures that sufficient cannabis is available at the lowest prices, enabling the poorest sections of society who need cannabis the most to access the precious herb. Full legalization also makes it possible for a nation to export cannabis and earn valuable revenue. 

Somewhere along the way these recommendations by the Economic Recovery Committee appear to have been binned. We must not forget that by the end of 2020, the powers opposed to cannabis legalization had unleashed the fake pandemic Covid 19 on the world, resulting in a flooding of the world with synthetic pharmaceutical drugs and petrochemical-based medical equipment. The fake pandemic greatly increased the wealth of the industries opposed to cannabis legalization. It enabled autocratic governments to tighten their grip on the people. Cannabis legalization initiatives across the world were affected by all this. The additional wealth gained by the entities opposed to cannabis enabled them to mount fresh challenges against cannabis legalization and pay corrupt politicians and lawmakers greater sums of money to ensure that cannabis remained prohibited.

The next thing I heard about cannabis legalization in the Bahamas was that a judge had overturned a petition by a citizen to legalize cannabis. The citizen stated that its prohibition went against the citizen's rights to practice religion. Cannabis was, until it was prohibited, one of the foremost entheogens used by different communities across the world in their pursuit of spirituality. The king-priest-hierarchy of various religions including Christianity, Islam and Hinduism wish to suppress cannabis so that the communities that used cannabis for spirituality can be absorbed into the hierarchy as the lowest classes - the working classes - to toil for the upper classes in the hierarchy. The king-priest-businessman hierarchy also wished to replace cannabis with opium, alcohol, tobacco and synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, products from which the hierarchy could reap vast profits and further enslave the lower classes. All this is clearly evident in the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's report of 1894-95. The Hemp Commission was set up by the British colonizers of India to justify cannabis prohibition and promote opium, tobacco and distilled alcohol. The British colonizers along with the Indian upper classes and castes who constituted the king-priest-businessman hierarchy in India wished to enslave and subjugate the indigenous communities that consumed cannabis and worshipped gods other than those that the British colonizers and Indian upper classes and castes worshiped. The indigenous communities who were considered as the lowest classes formed a majority of the people in India, and still do. They cultivated cannabis extensively and it was available to them at almost no cost. This was a hurdle for the ambitions of the elites to convert them to the harmful alcohol, tobacco and opium. The followers of the god, Siva, were among the largest cannabis using communities in India and it was this community that was the most affected by cannabis prohibition. Myths such as cannabis caused insanity, cannabis users were the lowest classes, cannabis users were criminals, and that cannabis was more harmful than alcohol or opium were propagated by the ruling classes to justify cannabis prohibition. These actions by the elites were replicated everywhere where communities used cannabis as entheogens. Only a few communities exist today where the law has permitted them to consume cannabis for religious purposes - the Rastafarian community in a few places being the most prominent one.

The Bahamas citizen who moved the court for cannabis legalization for religious purposes was a Rastafarian but the judge refused to grant him reprieve, citing that there was little evidence that cannabis was used for religious purposes. This is most absurd given the mountains of evidence available, including freely on the internet, on this matter. The judge passed the buck to parliament stating that it was for the parliament to decide. Most governments and judiciary the world over are in the pockets of the entities opposed to cannabis and will do everything possible to prevent cannabis legalization, despite all the harms that this has resulted in. EW News reported that 'Indian hemp is classified as a dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Act 2000 with its possession being banned, except for very limited scientific and medical purposes by authorized personnel. Stubbs however contended that the drug is a ‘sacred herb’, used as a sacrament in manifesting his faith as a Rastafarian and that he has a constitutional right to possess and use it. Stubbs also contended that to the extent that the DDA does not contain an exemption for religious use, its blanket criminal sanctions on the possession of cannabis infringe on his right to practice his faith freely. In the 40-page decision, Justice Klein differentiated between Indian hemp and marijuana, stating that while they belong to the same cannabis genus, they are of different varieties of the hemp family. He also highlighted that hemp has been used lawfully for medicinal and other purposes in India and China for thousands of years until its international criminalization following the International Opium Conference in 1925. In his judgment, Klein said that he found nothing anti-democratic or anti-rights in Parliament’s decision not to make allowances for the religious or recreational use of marijuana....The judge accepted that the failure to make provision for the religious use of marijuana amounted to an interference with Stubbs’ rights to observe and manifest his religion. “I also find that there is sufficient evidence and other material before the court to establish that the impugned provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) are reasonably required to attain public policy objectives, whether for public health or safety. “Furthermore, in my judgment, the applicant has not provided any evidence or other material to satisfy the court that the failure to make an exemption for religious use is not justifiable in a democratic society, or that the legislative measures in the DDA are disproportionate to their objectives,” the judge noted. The move comes almost three years after the country’s Economic Recovery Committee called for the establishment of a regulatory body to oversee businesses engaged in the production, wholesale and retail of a potential cannabis industry. The Bahamas government said the “central component” of the 11 proposed measures is Cannabis Bill 2023, which would establish a legal framework for local marijuana cultivation to address medical demand and create economic opportunities for the country. The draft legislation’s primary goals are to decriminalize cannabis for medical and therapeutic use and to “bring relief to Bahamian patients facing various chronic and painful diseases and conditions,” according to the announcement.' 

There are a number of concerns that I have with the judge's statements. 

Differentiating Indian hemp - which I assume refers to cannabis indica - with marijuana - which I assume refers to cannabis sativa - is absurd, much like differentiating French wine with Chilean. The essential cannabis plant is the same though there may be variations in the proportions of compounds present. Over time we have seen that the main factors influencing the proportions of cannabinoids in a cannabis plant are related to the variety (there are possibly thousands of varieties in the world) which in turn are influenced by the soil, water and climatic conditions in which the cannabis plant grows. The cannabis indica/cannabis sativa division was created by Carl Linnaeus when he named the different plants but over time this classification has rapidly blurred given the scientific evidence from the discovery of cannabis plant varieties in many nations across the world.

When the judge states that cannabis was used as medicine and for other purposes in India and China before it was prohibited, he seems to miss out that the biggest use of cannabis in India was for spiritual purposes, after which came intoxication and then medicine. Regarding the use of cannabis for spiritual purposes, the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1894-95 wrote that "It is chiefly in connection with the worship of Siva, the Mahadeo or great god of the Hindu trinity, that the hemp plant, and more especially perhaps ganja, is associated. The hemp plant is popularly believed to have been a great favourite of Siva, and there is a great deal of evidence before the Commission to show that the drug in some form or other is now extensively used in the exercise of the religious practices connected with this form of worship. Reference to the almost universal use of hemp drugs by fakirs, jogis, sanyasis, and ascetics of all classes, and more particularly of those devoted to the worship of Siva, will be found in the paragraphs of this report dealing with the classes of the people who consume the drugs. These religious ascetics, who are regarded with great veneration by the people at large, believe that the hemp plant is a special attribute of the god Siva, and this belief is largely shared by the people. Hence the origin of many fond epithets ascribing to ganja the significance of a divine property, and the common practice of invoking the deity in terms of adoration before placing the chillum or pipe of ganja to the lips." It is not just Shaivism, but most animistic and nature worshipping indigenous communities in India used cannabis for spiritual purposes, besides Sikhs, Muslims and high priests of the Hindu religions. Also, taking a strong stance against cannabis prohibition, the Hemp Commission recommended that cannabis not be prohibited, as it would interfere with the religious practices of the people. The Hemp Commission summarized as follows, "The Commission have little doubt that interference with the use of hemp in connection with the customs and observances above referred to would be regarded by the consumers as an interference with long established usage and as an encroachment upon their religious liberty." Despite the Hemp Commission's recommendations, the British Government prohibited cannabis, especially as ganja and charas. This was because cannabis prohibition had already been decided before hand itself, as the resolution that instituted the Hemp Commission states 'RESOLUTION.—In the despatch recited in the preamble, Her Majesty's Secretary of State informed the Government of India that, in answer to a question put in the House of Commons, he had expressed his willingness to request the Government of India to appoint a Commission to enquire into the cultivation of the hemp plant in Bengal, the preparation of drugs from it, the trade in those drugs, the effect of their consumption upon the social and moral condition of the people, and the desirability of prohibiting the growth of the plant and the sale of ganja and allied drugs. In accordance with the announcement thus made, Lord Kimberley requested the Government of India to appoint a Commission for the purposes stated, and to issue such instructions as would ensure that the enquiry should be thorough and complete. His Lordship is of opinion that the investigation can hardly be confined to Bengal, but should extend to the whole of India, and that the Commission should be instructed to ascertain to what extent the existence of the hemp plant all over India affects the practical difficulty of checking or stopping the consumption of ganja, as distinguished from other narcotic drugs prepared from the hemp plant, and whether there is ground for the statement that bhang is less injurious than ganja to consumers.'

Also, the 1925 International Opium Conference that the judge cites was, as its name itself shows, a conference in which the benefits of opium were greatly promoted, and the harms of cannabis was greatly amplified. Most of the attendees in the conference were significant stakeholders in the opium business, including the British government that had converted China and Burma to opium growing countries from where the produce was taken to Britain to be traded with the rest of the world. As stated earlier, the British wished to prohibit cannabis in India and replace it with opium since opium brought in far greater revenues for the state than cannabis. 

Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel Crombie who had served as head of the Dacca Lunatic Asylum for some time appeared before the Opium Commission around 1892. Mr. Crombie showed statistics from the Dacca Asylum that linked cannabis use with insanity and this became one of the primary drivers for justifying its prohibition. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1894-95 found that there was almost no association between cannabis usage and insanity when it studied the situation in Indian lunatic asylums. It was found that cannabis as the cause of insanity was entered primarily by police officers arresting the lunatic because the magistrate before whom the lunatic was produced demanded that cause of insanity be recorded. The police officers had absolutely no medical experience to do this assessment. Through laziness, this cause of insanity was copied into the asylum registers and ultimately used to beef up the argument that cannabis caused insanity and hence needed to be prohibited. The Hemp Commission states that this particular myth is what influenced most nations to subsequently prohibit cannabis, even though there was no scientific or medical truth behind it. At the time that the Indian Hemp Commission was conducting its work in 19th century India, Burma (now Myanmar) was the only place where cannabis insanity had been stated as the justification for cannabis prohibition, based on the statistics from the Dacca Asylum. These statistics were produced and quoted by the asylum superintendent, Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel Crombie, in numerous instances, including before the Opium Commission, to emphasize that cannabis was most deleterious. Burma (now Myanmar) was, and still is, a vital conduit for opium trade between China and Britain and there were more than a few Chinese and British who viewed cannabis as a threat. The Commission states that 'Although these [lunatic asylum] statistics have been discussed seriously from year to year, they have not been much used as the basis of measures of ganja administration except in the case of Burma. In this case the Commission found that the measures taken in Burma were ostensibly based on the lunatic asylum returns which were quoted by more than one Chief Commissioner, special reference being made to the figures for the Dacca Asylum. This special reference to this asylum and the fact that it is situated in the most important ganja-consuming tract in India were among the reasons why the Commission summoned Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel Crombie (Bengal witness No. 104) as a witness; for he had been seven years Superintendent of that asylum. Before the Opium Commission also, and in an interesting discussion on opium published as a Supplement to the Indian Medical Gazette of July 1892, Dr. Crombie had incidentally spoken strongly of the evil effects of hemp drugs as seen in his asylum experience. The Commission hoped therefore that Dr. Crombie might be found to have devoted special attention to his asylum work, and to be able to speak with exceptional authority. He informed the Commission in his written evidence that "nearly thirty per cent. of the inmates of lunatic asylums in Bengal are persons who have been ganja smokers, and in a very large proportion of these I believe ganja to be the actual and immediate cause of their insanity." On oral examination by the Commission of Dr. Crombie, who used the Dacca asylum statistics to justify cannabis as a cause for insanity, it was found that 9 of the 14 cases attributed to cannabis insanity were inaccurate, and the remaining 5 appeared doubtful. Even if one considered the 5 cases, it only constituted 9% of the total cases and not the 30% that Dr. Crombie stated in his written evidence to the Commission.'

The judge appears to have ignored the harms caused by alcohol, tobacco, dangerous synthetic drugs like heroin and methamphetamine, and the misuse and abuse of synthetic pharmaceutical drugs when he states that cannabis prohibition is required for public health and safety. The above-mentioned drugs kill tens of millions of people every year. He also ignores the fact that cannabis is non-addictive and has been used for thousands of years safely as intoxicant and medicine by cannabis communities without any adverse effect to public health. Cannabis is universal natural medicine that can be administered to all age groups, using different modes of administration, and for a variety of diseases. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commision stated, in its study of medical uses of cannabis in 19th century India, that "Cannabis indica must be looked upon as one of the most important drugs of Indian Materia Medica.' This was, especially, the case for the poorest sections of society who could not access or afford any other medicine, even if they trusted in that medicine. These factors alone should have been sufficient to legalize cannabis, let alone its religious use. 

Subsequently, I read an article in MJBizDaily that Bahamas was looking to establish a medical cannabis industry. This seemed to explain all that had happened up to this point. It seems to me that the ruling elites of the Bahamas and the industries opposed to cannabis were alarmed by the Economic Recovery Committee's recommendations to fully legalize cannabis as it would greatly affect the businesses of alcohol, tobacco, opioids, petrochemicals, synthetic pharmaceuticals, chemical fertilizers, construction, medical, non-biodegradable petrochemical based plastics, synthetic fibers, etc., and these industries had lobbied the government to put a hold on the initiative. Bahamas is a key tourist destination and I suspect that a significant part of its revenue comes from tourists belonging to the elite classes. The elite ruling classes probably fear that cannabis legalization will see dreadlocked Rastafarians smoking pot in all the tourist destination seducing their women. The decision by the judge appears to have been the judiciary doing its bit to ensure that the common man did not get his hands on the precious herb easily without the elites extracting a sufficient price.

Finally, the decision of the government to establish a medical cannabis industry shows that the elites realized that they could not keep cannabis at bay for much longer, especially given the harms to public health that its prohibition was causing. The elites decided that the best way to handle the situation was to control the cannabis industry by positioning the natural herb cannabis as another pharmaceutical drug i.e. medical cannabis, that could be priced and packaged in such a way that only the elites had access to it and both the pharmaceutical industry and the government profited from it. For the common man, this is as good as cannabis remaining prohibited. The common man will have to continue consuming alcohol, tobacco, opioids, synthetic pharmaceutical drugs and all the other poisons that made the elites rich, if he can access and afford these elite drugs, that is, while only the elites would benefit from cannabis as medicine. Thus, the existing class hierarchy can be maintained, with the common man not getting dangerous ideas about spirituality, equality, liberty, etc., and attaining the level of self-sufficiency resulting in his refusal to be slotted into the lowest class of the class hierarchy as the working class...

Cannabis legalization for all purposes in Bahamas, as recommended by the Economic Recovery Committee, would have boosted not just public health, industry, agriculture, spirituality and the environment in economically sustainable ways, it would have been a big incentive for tourism that the Bahamas is heavily dependent on. Amsterdam is one of the top tourist destinations in the world precisely because of its cannabis. Cannabis legalization would have enabled the Bahamas to walk down the path of sustainability in a world of increasing human-induced climate change. The inclusion of the natural herb cannabis in the Dangerous Drugs Act of the Bahamas is itself a travesty and not removing it based on all the evidence available shows that the persons responsible are still in charge...

As far as I know, this is where the story of cannabis legalization in the Bahamas currently stands...

Related articles

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article. 

https://mjbizdaily.com/bahamas-looks-to-establish-medical-cannabis-industry/

Indian hemp is classified as a dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Act 2000 with its possession being banned, except for very limited scientific and medical purposes by authorized personnel.

Stubbs however contended that the drug is a ‘sacred herb’, used as a sacrament in manifesting his faith as a Rastafarian and that he has a constitutional right to possess and use it.

Stubbs also contended that to the extent that the DDA does not contain an exemption for religious use, its blanket criminal sanctions on the possession of cannabis infringe on his right to practice his faith freely.

In the 40-page decision, Justice Klein differentiated between Indian hemp and marijuana, stating that while they belong to the same cannabis genus, they are of different varieties of the hemp family. He also highlighted that hemp has been used lawfully for medicinal and other purposes in India and China for thousands of years until its international criminalization following the International Opium Conference in 1925.

In his judgment, Klein said that he found nothing anti-democratic or anti-rights in Parliament’s decision not to make allowances for the religious or recreational use of marijuana.

....

The judge accepted that the failure to make provision for the religious use of marijuana amounted to an interference with Stubbs’ rights to observe and manifest his religion.

“I also find that there is sufficient evidence and other material before the court to establish that the impugned provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) are reasonably required to attain public policy objectives, whether for public health or safety.

“Furthermore, in my judgment, the applicant has not provided any evidence or other material to satisfy the court that the failure to make an exemption for religious use is not justifiable in a democratic society, or that the legislative measures in the DDA are disproportionate to their objectives,” the judge noted.

https://ewnews.com/judge-marijuana-religious-exemption-for-parliament-to-decide

'Speaking in the House of Assembly, Dr Minnis revealed several recommendations from the Economic Recovery Committee, adding the body was instructed to be bold and specific with its suggestions to combat the current economic crisis.

The group’s recommendations include the full legalisation of marijuana for medicinal, religious, and recreational purposes coupled with a regulatory regime that oversees the production and manufacturing, sale, consumption and export of marijuana.'

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/oct/21/emergency-powers-continue-til-november-30/

Cannabis and Argentina

'Yes, the medicine has been used since time immemorial by American Indians from Canada to Brazil. They always knew that there was ‘medicine’ and ‘drugs.’ Medicine — Mother Nature makes with the help of photosynthesis, which is the sun. Drugs are made in a laboratory by a man. So there’s drugs and then there’s medicine. And my mom always knew about herbs for tea and ointment and all kinds of stuff.'

 - Carlos Santana

Argentina is the land of Che Guevara, Diego Maradona, Carlos Santana and Lionel Messi. What little I know about Argentina comes from what little knowledge I have about these iconic legends. Reading about Che Guevara in Jon Lee Anderson's A Revolutionary Life and Guevara's autobiographical Motorcycle Diaries, the impression I got of Argentina was that it was a society with a clear demarcation between the rich elites and the vast majority of people who formed the working classes. Argentina, like most South American countries, has been greatly exploited by the mining companies of the US who worked hand in hand with the local elites to exploit the land and the people and get rich. Guevara, traveling through the South American continent, as a medical student, saw the vast suffering that the lop-sided politics of the elites had wrecked on the people and the land. This experience fueled him to take up arms and become the most dreaded enemy of dictators and despots who ruled South American nations in partnership with the US. Diego Maradona moved to Naples to play for the club Napoli and brought great success to the club. His love for cocaine and his associations with the authorities and the Italian drug mafia, I believe, were vastly instrumental for his being banned from what he loved the most, playing football, after testing positive for ephedrine. This was also a possible fallout of his playing a large part in the victory of Argentina over Italy in the World Cup. Carlos Santana introduced me to the vibrant music and culture of Argentina through his fusion of indigenous music with rock. I was fortunate enough to see him perform when he toured my hometown, Bengaluru, in India a few years back. Santana's music is something I grew up listening to and it leaves me spellbound every time I listen to it to this day. 

South America became a cannabis world when the Asiatics crossed over through the land bridge connecting Asia with the Americas about 12,000 years ago. The societies that settled down throughout the Americas came to be referred to as Native Americans. These societies flourished until the advent of European colonizers in the 16th century. Cannabis, tobacco, peyote, ayahuasca and coca were the primary intoxicants, medicines and entheogens that the indigenous communities of South America used till the advent of the Europeans. Over time, opium and distilled alcohol that the white man found to be lucrative were introduced and the traditional medicinal intoxicants were banned and replaced. Opium was weaponized into heroin and coca into cocaine. The methods that the British used to convert nations from cannabis to opium is clearly evident in the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's report of 1894-95. This report deals primarily with India, but it is obvious that the methods that they tested and fine-tuned in China and Burma were the same that Europeans used to remove cannabis from all countries that had a history and culture of cannabis consumption. The methods used to convert people from the harmless, medicinal, spiritual and intoxicating cannabis in the 19th century in India, the land of cannabis, were as follows: regulating and curbing the cultivation of cannabis; imposition of licenses, taxes, increasing prices and use of law enforcement; spreading of anti-cannabis myths such as - cannabis was addictive, cannabis caused insanity, only the lowest classes consumed cannabis, cannabis was against the religious sanctions, only criminals used cannabis, cannabis was more harmful than opium or alcohol, and so on. It was specifically the myth that cannabis caused insanity that probably had the most profound influence in global cannabis prohibition. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission found that there was no justification in cannabis prohibition. It stated that "Over and over again the statistics of Indian asylums have been referred to in official documents or scientific treatises not only in this country, but also in other countries where the use of these drugs has demanded attention. Other alleged effects of the drugs have attracted but little attention compared with their alleged connection with insanity."  In all the global efforts to prohibit cannabis, the British and their descendants, the Americans, were aided by the upper classes and castes of all nations who were willing to sell their own mothers for a slice of the European power pie. The use of cannabis, peyote, coca, ayahuasca, etc., was termed as pagan, even as large sections of society were converted to the king-priest-businessman hierarchical structures of class-based societies that the Europeans practiced. A majority of the indigenous communities were either decimated with war and disease or recruited to form the working classes that served the ruling elites.

In 2014, Uruguay became the first nation in the world to legalize adult recreational cannabis after it was globally prohibited by the Americans working in conjunction with the ruling elites of other nations. It is quite surprising that since Uruguay, no South American nation has legalized cannabis for adult recreational use in the past decade. This shows the dark shadow that the US casts over the entire South American continent, and the entire world. The US exploits South America for its oil, minerals, opium and cocaine. Recently, it has also started exploiting it as an outsourcing manufacturing destination for methamphetamine. Politicians of most South American countries work hand in hand with US politicians and together they work for the opioid, synthetic pharmaceutical, petrochemical, alcohol, tobacco, mining and construction industries that have laid the world to waste. The South American drug cartels that span Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have their tentacles in possibly every South American country, including Argentina. 

All the entities that exploit Argentina have a combined interest in keeping cannabis prohibited as it would drastically impact their businesses and profits. The elected governments of Argentina are strongly influenced by these entities, and this is clearly evident in the way that cannabis legalization has made little headway in this country. Like Mexico, whose Supreme Court ruled that cannabis prohibition violates a citizen's fundamental rights but whose legislature has managed to delay cannabis legalization for years since, we see that successive Argentine governments have tried to stall progress on cannabis legalization as much as possible. In 2017, the Argentine government approved medical cannabis laws but the legislature delayed making this a concrete reality. MJBizDaily reported in November 2020 that, 'This would be four years after Argentina’s approval of its medical cannabis law in March 2017, a sign of how legislative reform does not always translate into immediate – or even near-term – business opportunities.' A week later, MJBizDaily reported that the Argentine government was taking steps to allow cannabis home growing for medical purposes, when it stated that 'The 2020 decree will allow individuals to register to grow marijuana at home for medical use, a move that was welcomed by patients and activists. It’s possible this could lead to ancillary business opportunities for entrepreneurs catering to the niche home cultivation market – as their counterparts have in Canada. Roberto Padilla, a local regulatory advisor, sees the news as “a victory of pro-cannabis activists that now found a government more receptive to decriminalization proposals.” Patients with a “medical indication” will be able to register with the government program to grow at home or have a third person or an association grow for them. However, the requirements to register and other details, such as how much patients will be able to grow, remain unknown.' NORML reported at around the same time that 'The policy change expands upon a 2017 law that provided a legal exemption under the law for qualifying patients with epilepsy to possess cannabis extracts. However, that law provided to legal source to provide patients with access to plant-derived extracts. Under the new law, pharmacies will also for the first time be able to provide specific cannabis products to qualifying patients. “We are replacing a black market that already exists with quality control that is key in all medical products, particularly those that are given to children,” said Argentina’s health minister, Ginés González García.' Since then, I do not think any significant progress has happened in terms of complete cannabis legalization in Argentina. Most government actions appear to be stalling tactics employed to delay complete legalization which is what is needed to make cannabis available to the people in society who need it the most - the poorest classes of society and the working classes who constitute the majority.

All actions towards cannabis legalization everywhere went into limbo for two years, post November 2020, due to the global efforts mounted by the anti-cannabis-legalization forces through the fake pandemic Covid-19. The fake pandemic enabled governments across the world, including in Argentina, to do nothing in terms of cannabis legalization for two years. It also stifled and quelled all cannabis legalization related activism as the whole world fell for the fear and deception that the fake pandemic unleashed. The fake pandemic vastly increased the wealth of the elites and the anti-cannabis forces and at the same time, pushed hundreds of millions into poverty, alcohol and synthetic drug addiction. It tremendously boosted synthetic pharmaceutical sales and sale of petrochemical-based medical equipment. Three years after the fake pandemic, most people continue to be distracted and swayed by the efforts of anti-cannabis forces, losing their focus on the damage that the anti-cannabis forces have unleashed on the planet.

Medical cannabis legalization is itself a deceptive tactic practiced by many governments the world over. Medical cannabis legalization only benefits the rich upper classes. This is because cannabis, a natural herb, is then labeled as a medicine that is sold by pharmaceutical companies (one of the biggest opponents of cannabis legalization) on prescriptions obtained by physicians (another of the biggest opponents of cannabis legalization). The price of medical cannabis and the process of becoming eligible for it is something that only the upper classes have the means for. One must be suffering from a specific medical condition for which all other forms of treatment have failed before one can access medical cannabis. Most people suffering from these conditions will be dead long before that after being dosed with lethal amounts and cocktails of synthetic pharmaceutical medications. For the poor, who will not even be diagnosed with the condition in the first place since they do not even have access to a physician or laboratory capable of making the diagnosis, all this will remain out of reach. Medical cannabis legalization enables the upper classes to legally access cannabis, besides all their other pursuits - alcohol, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, opioids and synthetic pharmaceutical medications - and also to start businesses connected with medical cannabis that they can profit from. The majority of the people who form the poorest classes remain outside its ambit.

The moves by the Argentine government to show interest in legalizing cannabis for medical use seem to have been driven by a number of factors, none of which have anything to do with the welfare of the people. The legalization of cannabis for adult use in Uruguay has resulted in giant medical cannabis companies - primarily from Canada which legalized cannabis for adult recreational use in 2018 - that utilize Uruguay as a cannabis-growing outsourcing destination supplying the cannabis crop for medical cannabis which is then exported to other rich countries in Europe and Oceania. It has also led to the possible increased trafficking of cannabis through the black market and an increased flow of cannabis into Argentina from across international borders. 

One of the ways of obtaining cannabis for one's own elites is to seize the cannabis that external players traffic and then divert it into one's own black market. The increased flow of cannabis through Argentina, primarily for the purposes of the black market, possibly as a result of Uruguay's legalization, has resulted in an increase of cannabis seizures by Argentine authorities, as reported by the United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC). In its World Drug Report 2020, UNODC reported that 'In 2018, the largest quantities of cannabis herb seized worldwide continued to be those reported by Paraguay, followed by the United States and India. Cannabis herb produced in Paraguay is reported to have been mainly destined for neighbouring Brazil (77 per cent) and Argentina (20 per cent).' The report states that 'The quantity of cannabis herb seized in 2018 declined by 16 per cent compared with a year earlier, falling to 4,303 tons, the lowest level since 1999. As compared with 2010, the quantity seized fell by 34 per cent at the global level, largely due to decreases reported in North America (-84 per cent), with marked declines being reported by Mexico, the United States and Canada. Discussions and policies aimed at liberalizing the cannabis markets, including changes in the drug’s legislation in Canada and some jurisdictions of the United States, legalizing the production, distribution and the recreational use of cannabis, seem to have played a key role in this respect. By contrast, the quantities of cannabis herb seized almost doubled in the rest of the world over the period 2010–2018 (South America: +194 per cent; Oceania: +94 per cent; Europe: +73 per cent; Asia: +71 per cent; Africa: +53 per cent). The global cannabis herb trafficking index, based on qualitative information reported by Member States on trends in cannabis herb trafficking, also increased over the same period, although the trend appeared to be stabilizing in 2018.'

The proximity to the opium, cocaine and methamphetamine-producing nations of Colombia and Mexico means a heightened danger for the people of Argentina. Argentina claims that Paraguay is responsible for flooding its black market with cannabis. Argentina also says that medical cannabis is important for its people, especially its children. Then why does Argentina not legalize cannabis to negate all these harms? The answer, I think, is that Argentina is still very much in the grip of the pharmaceutical, petrochemical, mining industries, as well as the illegal trade of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine that has the US itself by its testicles, clearly evident from the recent re-election of Donald Trump, one of the most disastrous presidents that the US has ever seen, and a key culprit in the fake pandemic Covid-19.

By taking steps to completely legalize cannabis without any form of regulation, countries like Argentina will be able to grow and trade in cannabis and boost its economy in sustainable ways, besides improving the health of their people. The vast amounts of money spent in the subterfuge that currently occurs with all drug trafficking - the political maneuvers, the militia, drug cartels, drug enforcement, excise and so on - can all be eliminated. The rich countries that depend the most on cannabis, but cannot grow it because they do not have the climatic conditions to do so, can import them legally from countries like Argentina. Cannabis can revolutionize not just medicine and intoxicant in Argentina, but can also spawn a whole plethora of sustainable industries in the areas of  agriculture, fabrics and textiles, construction, biofuels, food, beverages, wellness, tourism, biodegradable plastics, sustainable paper and packaging, and so on. Sustainable cannabis industries can provide employment for vast numbers of the people of Argentina. If the decision makers of Argentina recognized the value of cannabis, in terms of medicinal, recreational, business, industrial, agricultural, environmental and economic value, as well as the reasons for the suffering of the people and the harms that the prohibition of cannabis has caused to its indigenous communities, they would do well to legalize the plant, allow farmers to grow it, enable its people to consume it like any other commodity, and allow its international trade to vastly boost the Argentine economy, besides reviving sustainable industry and vastly boosting public health. 

In 2024, South Africa and Germany legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, albeit in their own limited ways. Germany, had up to that point, been Europe's largest importer of medical cannabis. The difficulty in accessing sufficient cannabis for its needs is probably one of the prime factors for Germany taking the step, as it was greatly dependent on Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark and Israel for its supply of medical cannabis. Legalizing cannabis for adult recreational use, with the permission for individuals to home grow cannabis and set up cannabis clubs of up to 100 members are some of the measures that Germany has taken to try and boost its supply of and access to cannabis. But given the climatic conditions in Germany, one is not sure how much high-quality cannabis it will be able to internally produce for its domestic needs. It is here that traditional cannabis growing nations from South America, Asia and Africa can be beneficial as their export of high-quality cannabis can meet the needs of Europe, North America and Oceania. This is ironical, considering that Europe was largely instrumental in bringing about global cannabis prohibition, along with the US. Germany's Health Minister Karl Lauterbach cited protection of the youth and reducing crime as the main reasons for legalizing cannabis for adult recreational use. These are themselves potent reasons to legalize cannabis. Argentina, along with Brazil, is one of the powerhouses of South America. Its act of legalizing cannabis completely will energize other South American nations to do the same, and together they can emerge from the dark shadow that the US has cast on it for a long time now, dragging the South American nations along with it in its addiction for opium, cocaine, methamphetamine, petrochemicals, synthetic pharmaceuticals, and all things synthetic that has led to the catastrophic destruction of the natural world we all share. 

In December 2020, the UN voted to remove cannabis from its most restricted schedule of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Cannabis does however still remain in its least restrictive schedule, thus more or less maintaining the current status quo around cannabis prohibition and access for the common man. This one move by the UN itself should be sufficient to bring about the recreational legalization of cannabis in every nation and an overhaul of national drug laws. It must be noted that in most places where cannabis legalization has happened it took the efforts of the people who mobilized themselves through grassroots-level movements to bring about this change. Left to lawmakers legalization would have been impossible, as the main interests of lawmakers concern the protection of the big industries opposed to cannabis such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, medical, alcohol and tobacco. For something that truly benefits the people, the people themselves have had to make the change.

Carlos Santana launched his brand of cannabis products, Mirayo, in the recent past. I am not sure how many of these products are available in Argentina, or if it is only available in recreational-cannabis-legal parts of the US. To legalize cannabis in Argentina for all purposes, completely, will be adding an Argentine flavor to global cannabis that will vastly enrich humanity and the natural world, much like the enrichment that Santana's music has brought to millions of his fans the world over, not to forget the magic that Messi weaves around all of us...

Related articles

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.   

https://www.eldiarioar.com/sociedad/60-argentinos-favor-legalizacion-cannabis-adultos_1_8222027.html

https://radiomitre.cienradios.com/el-gobierno-impulsa-el-desarrollo-de-la-industria-del-cannabis-medicinal/

https://www.ambito.com/politica/cannabis/senado-continuo-el-debate-del-proyecto-regular-la-produccion-y-comercializacion-n5213043

https://rosario.telefe.com/informacion-general/la-corte-suprema-le-ordeno-a-una-obra-social-proveer-aceite-de-cannabis-a-paciente-con-epilepsia/

'Yes, the medicine has been used since time immemorial by American Indians from Canada to Brazil. They always knew that there was ‘medicine’ and ‘drugs.’ Medicine—Mother Nature makes with the help of photosynthesis, which is the sun. Drugs are made in a laboratory by a man. So there’s drugs and then there’s medicine. And my mom always knew about herbs for tea and ointment and all kinds of stuff.'

https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/carlos-santana-mirayo-interview

'This would be four years after Argentina’s approval of its medical cannabis law in March 2017, a sign of how legislative reform does not always translate into immediate – or even near-term – business opportunities.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/argentina-inches-closer-to-first-locally-made-cannabis-medicine/

'The 2020 decree will allow individuals to register to grow marijuana at home for medical use, a move that was welcomed by patients and activists.

It’s possible this could lead to ancillary business opportunities for entrepreneurs catering to the niche home cultivation market – as their counterparts have in Canada.

Roberto Padilla, a local regulatory advisor, sees the news as “a victory of pro-cannabis activists that now found a government more receptive to decriminalization proposals.”

Patients with a “medical indication” will be able to register with the government program to grow at home or have a third person or an association grow for them.

However, the requirements to register and other details, such as how much patients will be able to grow, remain unknown.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/argentina-redraws-medical-cannabis-rules-allowing-home-cultivation/

'The policy change expands upon a 2017 law that provided a legal exemption under the law for qualifying patients with epilepsy to possess cannabis extracts. However, that law provided to legal source to provide patients with access to plant-derived extracts.

Under the new law, pharmacies will also for the first time be able to provide specific cannabis products to qualifying patients. “We are replacing a black market that already exists with quality control that is key in all medical products, particularly those that are given to children,” said Argentina’s health minister, Ginés González García.'

https://norml.org/news/2020/11/19/argentina-presidential-decree-permits-for-licensed-home-cultivation-of-medical-cannabis

https://elplanteo.com/argentina-que-dijo-alberto-fernandez-sobre-cannabis-en-su-discurso/

https://pleno.news/mundo/argentina-abre-registro-de-sementes-de-cannabis-para-cultivo-medicinal.html

'In 2018, the largest quantities of cannabis herb seized worldwide continued to be those reported by Paraguay, followed by the United States and India. Cannabis herb produced in Paraguay is reported to have been mainly destined for neighbouring Brazil (77 per cent) and Argentina (20 per cent). Over the period 2008–2018, the largest cannabis herb seizures worldwide took place in the United States, followed by Mexico, Paraguay, Colombia, Nigeria, Morocco, Brazil, India and Egypt' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020,

https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...

'The quantity of cannabis herb seized in 2018 declined by 16 per cent compared with a year earlier, falling to 4,303 tons, the lowest level since 1999. As compared with 2010, the quantity seized fell by 34 per cent at the global level, largely due to decreases reported in North America (-84 per cent), with marked declines being reported by Mexico, the United States and Canada. Discussions and policies aimed at liberalizing the cannabis markets, including changes in the drug’s legislation in Canada and some jurisdictions of the United States, legalizing the production, distribution and the recreational use of cannabis, seem to have played a key role in this respect. By contrast, the quantities of cannabis herb seized almost doubled in the rest of the world over the period 2010–2018 (South America: +194 per cent; Oceania: +94 per cent; Europe: +73 per cent; Asia: +71 per cent; Africa: +53 per cent). The global cannabis herb trafficking index, based on qualitative information reported by Member States on trends in cannabis herb trafficking, also increased over the same period, although the trend appeared to be stabilizing in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020,

https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf