Portugal suffers from a strange contradiction. Despite being Europe\u2019s second largest producer of legal cannabis for the global medical industry and having a tolerant decriminalization policy, personal use and possession of cannabis remain technically illegal outside of a tightly regulated medical program. Now, two initiatives to change that have been put before the Iberian country\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n
This month, the\u00a0Left Bloc\u00a0and People-Animals-Nature (PAN) parties each submitted their bills to the Portuguese parliament, known as the\u00a0Assembly of the Republic. As\u00a0Portugal News Online<\/a>\u00a0notes, both measures are currently under debate.<\/p>\n The Left Bloc\u2019s\u00a0version, entitled \u201cLegalizing Cannabis for Personal Use,\u201d was introduced on Jan. 12. It calls for regulated cultivation and marketing of cannabis for \u201cnon-medicinal use.\u201d The statement of intent submitted with the legislation reads: \u201cThe main objective of responsible and safe legalization of recreational cannabis should always be the reduction of\u00a0problem consumption<\/a>, the effective fight against drug trafficking and associated crime.\u201d<\/p>\n This version would allow adults to cultivate up to five plants for personal use, and would divide tax revenues from legal sales equally between drug treatment programs and funding for the country\u2019s National Health Service. Retail outlets would be nationally registered, with the sale of alcohol prohibited at such establishments. Cannabis edibles and synthetic \u201cmarijuana\u201d<\/a>\u00a0products would both be prohibited, as would advertising, promotional coupons and giveaways.<\/p>\n The PAN\u00a0version, introduced on Jan. 7, is entitled \u201cRegulating Adult Use of Cannabis.\u201d It\u00a0similarly cites as its aim the \u201cprotection of public health and safety.\u201d It describes the goals of a regulated cannabis market as \u201cto protect people from the risks of illegal trade and drug-trafficking, as well as the health, social and economic consequences that the irresponsible and uninformed use of psychoactive substances can have on society.\u201d<\/p>\n The PAN bill would allow personal cultivation of up to six plants, but it includes more measures to appease the fears of conservatives, such as barring consumption\u00a0in the workplace or medical facilities and prohibiting sale to those with a history of mental illness. Tax revenues from legal sales would likewise go to drug treatment and prevention programs. The bill would also require the government to set the price of cannabis \u201clower than the average prices charged on the illegal market.\u201d<\/p>\n Both bills would set the age of legal sale at 18, and bar use in proximity of youth-oriented places such as schools or playgrounds.<\/p>\n A vote on either of these bills could be imminent. However, even with such cautious language, gaining enough support from other parties for passage could be difficult. Politics in Portugal has long been dominated by the center-left\u00a0Socialist Party\u00a0and center-right (despite its leftish-sounding name)\u00a0Social Democratic Party. The latter may be presumed to oppose any legalization measure, while the Socialist Party has indicated that it will abstain from a vote on the bills. The\u00a0Portuguese Community Party\u00a0and right-populist\u00a0People\u2019s Party\u00a0are also said to oppose the proposals.<\/p>\n Socialist Party lawmaker Jamila Madeira told Lisbon\u2019s\u00a0Publico<\/a>\u00a0newspaper that he considers legalization a \u201cnatural evolution\u201d in drug policy, but nonetheless said the government must take more time to \u201cevaluate some of the critical points in the control of consumption\u201d among young people.<\/p>\n In 2001, Portugal adopted a \u201cdepenalization\u201d policy for personal possession of personal quantities of all illegal drugs. This has been widely hailed as a success by drug policy reform advocates across the world \u2014 indeed,\u00a0looked to as a model<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are, however, still possible consequences for personal possession and use. As a\u00a0primer by the Drug Policy Alliance<\/a>\u00a0explains, those found in possession of personal-use quantities of any illegal drug \u2014 including cannabis \u2014 are no longer arrested, but ordered to appear before a local \u201cdissuasion commission,\u201d made up of officials from the legal, health and social service spheres. The commission then makes a judgment on whether the individual is addicted to drugs and may refer the offender to a \u201cvoluntary\u201d treatment program, or impose an \u201cadministrative\u201d fine or other sanctions.<\/p>\n Portugal has a fast-growing legal cannabis cultivation industry for the international medical market, the\u00a0third biggest in the world<\/a>\u00a0after the United Kingdom and Canada.\u00a0In a deal just\u00a0announced this week<\/a>, a joint Canadian-Israeli venture is investing 16 million euros in local company Sabada Portugal to cultivate high-grade cannabis on four hectares at Campo Maior in the country\u2019s southern Alentejo region. Such enterprises are licensed and overseen by the National Authority of Medicines and Health Products (INFARMED<\/a>).<\/p>\n But a law permitting domestic use of medical marijuana was only\u00a0passed last June in a legislative effort likewise spearheaded by the Left Bloc and PAN. But in a (successful) bid to win enough support for passage, it included no provisions for personal cultivation.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/b>, do you think decriminalization or legalization is better?<\/p>\n The post Portugal Considers Legal Cannabis, After Years of \u2018Depenalization\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Portugal suffers from a strange contradiction. Despite being Europe\u2019s second largest producer of legal cannabis for the global medical industry and having a tolerant decriminalization policy, personal use and possession of cannabis remain technically illegal outside of a tightly regulated medical program. Now, two initiatives to change that have beenContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[159,50,216,94,7251,592,687,81,1514],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32324,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32323\/revisions\/32324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cautious Language for Cannabis Legalization in Portugal<\/h4>\n
\u2018Depenalization\u2019 and the Medical Industry<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Portugal Considers Legal Cannabis, After Years of \u2018Depenalization\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"