HOME | EUMANS.EU
The European Way for Legal CannabisLet’s build up a European Citizen Initiative for health and individual freedoms!The issue of cannabis policy reform is crucial to the construction of a safer, modern Europe that protects health and individual freedoms. In recent years, legal regulations of cannabis have multiplied around the world: Uruguay legalized adult use in 2013 and Canada in 2018; in the US, nine states legalized over the past six years; elsewhere policies evolve like in Thailand, Zimbabwe, Mexico; with Luxembourg and New-Zealand on the horizon.A new wind blows for cannabis regulation on the other side of the Atlantic. On the other hand, the tide doesn’t seem to have reached the european shore. The Netherlands’ unfinished policy of tolerance for commercialization through decriminalized coffee shops goes back nearly 40 years ago; in Portugal 15 years of decriminalization still don’t address the regulation of illicit markets; in Spain, non-for-profit cannabis users clubs have extended among the last 20 years, but only thanks to a legal vacuum. Most of EU Member States are still pursuing outdated prohibitionist policies.Despite polls showing that in a growing part of the European countries public opinion is ready to legally regulate cannabis, the issue still remains outside the agenda of national governments.But what would happen if a huge citizen mobilization rose on cannabis regulation in Europe?Today, a network of activists is working on launching a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to change European regulation on cannabis. The focus is the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA of 25 October 2004, laying down minimum provisions on the constituent elements of criminal acts and penalties in the field of illicit drug trafficking.There is currently a common legal standard of punishability as regards cannabis use in the EU. The exclusion of cannabis from the Framework Decision will allow Member States to end the persecution of activities related to the production, manufacturing, transit, distribution, cultivation, possession and intentional personal use of the plant and its derivatives. It would invite the public and governments to a broader reflection on the way other drugs declared illicit are being dealt with in European policies.This new regime could pave the way for Member States to harmonize, across the EU, policies of non-criminalization and harm reduction regarding cannabis use and possession, and to eventually legally regulate cannabis according to health, sustainable, social and democratic aspirations, building upon regulatory models previously experimented.This initiative is still under preparation. A transnational round table with European cannabis policy reform advocates and activists will be a first opportunity to discuss it. The goal will be to share different perspectives and experiences on cannabis policies, and identifying new collaborations on the ECI, as well as on connected side-activities.The round table on cannabis will take place in Brussels, at the European Economic and Social Committee (Rue Belliard), on the 13th of December at 11 am, in the framework of the meeting "Eumans2020: how citizens can change Europe", aiming to promote ground-up democracy within the EU.We look forward to your participation. Let’s join forces on a citizens’ action and pave the way for Member States to end the status quo on cannabis! ................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.