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Swiss health agency publication devotes an issue to cannabis.
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health has a magazine, called Spectra, that has published stories about the agency’s work since 1995.
The latest issue, for the month of December, is all about cannabis. (Read it here.)
The country is one of several that have opted to explore cannabis reform through pilot programs, along with places like the Netherlands (adult use) and France (medical use).
So far, the FOPH has approved six adult use pilots, to which Spectra devotes an article in the cannabis issue.
These pilots, wrote FOPH director Anne Lévy, “will show what impact controlled access to cannabis has on consumption, purchasing habits and users’ health and which measures find acceptance. In this way they will contribute substantially to making discussion of the right steps towards legalisation more objective and provide scientific backing for possible cannabis legislation of the kind called for by a parliamentary initiative.”
She continued: “This is a unique opportunity. Let’s seize it!”
Wisconsin: Republicans’ strict medical use bill arrives, as promised.
Assembly Republicans in Wisconsin held a press conference yesterday to announce their plan for medical cannabis in the state.
As expected, it is stricter than many medical cannabis programs. For example, the plan envisions five state-run dispensaries (run by state employees) and allows only for non-smokable products. Growers and processors would be licensed by the state.
“For the last 6 to 8 months, we’ve really been digging into medical here in Wisconsin and we’ve come up with a program I think is going to be very beneficial to a lot of Wisconsinites,” said Rep. Jon Plumer.
Rep. Tony Kurtz also spoke and focused on veterans.
“I think for particularly veterans, and those that suffer PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, so many other horrible effects from wartime, medical cannabis is something that can help,” he said.
As we reported in yesterday’s newsletter, Gov. Tony Evers has been pushing for both medical and adult use legalization for years, but has faced opposition with the Republican-controlled legislature.
This plan represents a compromise, though it remains to be seen how the bill, which has yet to be released, changes as it moves through the legislature, and whether it can make it to Evers’ desk.
Half of Australian voters support bill that would legalize home grow.
Half of Australian adults polled support a bill introduced in the NSW Parliament that would legalize the ability to home cultivate up to six cannabis plants, according to YouGov data released last week.
Polling data show that 50% of Australian voters would support the measure being “implemented” in their own state, with only 31% in opposition and 19% undecided.
Support was higher (54%) for decriminalizing cannabis.
+ Separate but related: At the national level, the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee of Australia’s Parliament collected public comment on an adult use bill titled the Legalising Cannabis Bill 2023, as Cannabis Wire reported in this newsletter in November, and a public hearing is scheduled for next month.
