A few weeks ago,the first marijuana vending machine opened in L.A. These machines supply marijuana to people who are prescribed marijuana for health reasons. First the patience need to get a prescription from a doctor; then the patience is fingeprinted; then a prepaid card is issued, that also contains information about the dosage and type of drug prescribed. Once a patience has a card, whenever he need a new supply, he can access the Anytime Vending Machines. The first one of this machines was positioned at the Herbal Nutrition Centre in Los Angeles. There are strict security measures to avoid that someone else can pickup the presciption, included a live fingerprint scan.

A professor of the professional institute Marco Polo of Florence, Italy, is in trouble for an amateur video that is finished on Youtube. In the video (that you can see here) the professor smoke a big handmade sigarette. Further, the girl that is shooting the video with her mobile phone is saying “even a joint now…if somebody enter now they arrest you”. No doubt that the prof has received the help of all its student: now that the prof is suspended and under accuse, all of them have answered that it was not a joint. We haven’t had any doubt.

The creativity of the nederlanders is second to none, and this news confirm it 100%. A few days ago, two employees of the energy company, have found an illegal cable stealing 10000 v electricity. Following the cable, the police have found that the whole inside of a bridge, the Prins Willem Alexanderbrug, long about 1 km, was prepared as a giant growroom. The bridge is located  between Echteld and Beneden-Leeuwen, in the province of Gelderland. Such a growroom was able to generate, according to the experts, a minimum of 1 million euro per harvest. However it seems that the operation was discovered even before that the production could start.

There are many people coming from the mountain area of Kashmir that every day reach Mumbai with cannabis cultivated in their backyard. The big city represents a fast way to get money out of it. Even the police is aware of it, as an officer says that they have filed three to four cases against Kashmiris this year. 6 months ago, a man has been catched with 21 kg of hashish. Some other man, a repeated offender risks even the death sentence. According to the official UN records, cannabis herb seizures made in Asia account for 5 % of the world total. And in the meantime, Mumbai gets high.

It seems that Marc Emery, Vancouver’s  Prince of Pot, has  agreed to a five-year prison term in a plea bargain over U.S.  marijuana seed-selling charges and money laundering. Emery has faced the prospective of a long (life) enprisonement, and now it seems that he close a deal  with with US authorities to spend 5 years in a Canadian jail. Many Canadian have seen this decision as a matter of indipendence for Canada as country. Emery haven’t even been in USA, and Canadian laws aren’t so strict about cannabis seeds.Before being arrested under request of the USA, Emery was just once fine 2.000$. His tax declaration stated “marijuana seeds vendor”. We have read a beautiful reflection about this case, written by a canadian, have a read here

Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary of the government of Gordon Brown, has announced that she wants to reserve the the choice of his predecessor to downgrade the prducts derived from Cannabis from class C back to class B. In this way every offender risk up to 14 years of jail. Ms Smith said: “Though statistics show that cannabis use has fallen significantly, there is a real public concern about the potential mental health effects of cannabis use.” Question: what are the scientific evidence of these potential mental health effects? Which data about consumers, increment or decrement of the use etc have been used and why aren’t they released to the public? You know the answer. And if you live in UK,you know what to do.

Unlucky day for a student, probably a minor: the militaries of the italian Guardia di Finanza of Milan have catched the guy during a control using  a dog. The animal went crazy once arrived close to the guy. The police then found 40 gr of hashish hidden in his underwear. Later, at home, they have found other 170 gr. and 1000 euro cash. Periodical check with the use of dogs are becoming more and more popular in Italy. And just yesterday the Corte di Cassazione, the italian higher court, have changed his opinion, deciding that growing one plant on the balcony is a crime. During the last half year instead, the same supreme court stated that a few plant are equivalent to personal user (so not punishable).

An 81 years old woman has been arrested and charged wit growing and selling marijuana. The website cnn.com reports that the old woman, living in eastern Australia, in the little city of Young, around 250 kilometers south-west of Sydney. The woman has been now released, but in one month she will have to appear in front of the judge. She as been charged for both cultivation and sale. Good luck grandma!

The war on drug is a term that define an artificial phoenomena created in USA 70 years ago. It has been a failure ever since and it didn’t help one single person on the planet to fight his problem with a substance. The war in Iraq in an artificial  phoenomena too. It has been created in 2003 in violation of the UN conventions, for the only reasonto support the gluttony of the friends of a  president of the country that invaded Iraq. 1937, 2003, 2008 what is changed? Nothing. There is a man that is the only one between all the american candidates that is proposing to leave Iraq instantly, to end the war on drugs instantly, to close the CIA instantly. And what Americans do? Support all the other candidates except him. Like that Barak Obama,that admitted to use weed and coke when he was younger, but that wanna drug users still in jail. Like over 1 million person in this very moment, injail for being drug users. Mostly with black skin, like him. What a squalor!

Singapore is well know in the world as a fast growing Asian miracle. A little country that in a few decades became an important actor in the international scene, at economical, medical, social and sometimes legal. We says legal because the system of laws, that are the toughest in the world, especially about drugs but not only: if  our memory is not failing, you can be imprisoned in SIngapore as turist we you bring into the country bubblegum, yes ladys and gentlemen, not the famous strain of weed, the bubblegum that we buy for 1 euro per package and we chew. With this premises, nobody would expect to find any drug user in the country.Instaed the scene is really active. High-flying foreign bankers and other expatriates use ecstasy and snort cocaine and smoke marijuana. They risk up to 10 years of jail, and a fine up to 20.000 USD. But the real risk is for their suppliers. In Singapore, anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine, 500 grams of cannabis or 250 grams of methamphetamines faces a mandatory death sentence by hanging. Singapore defends its position by saying it needs tough laws to deter drug traffickers. We believe that it’s all another lie. If you care for someone, why would you send him to jail for 10 years, once you have admitted that he has a problem? If you are going to visit Singapore, please take the maximum care and go there clean and stay clean.