Countries That Permit Recreational Cannabis

vostok

Well-Known Member

Marijuana may be an issue of easy agreement in the ongoing coalition talks between Germany's leading parties. Despite numerous points of contention, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens can find themselves aligned when it comes to cannabis legalization.
The FDP emphasizes the revenue that the state could earn from taxing prerolled joints, cannabis flower and edibles. The Greens say legalization would put an end to illegal sales and reduce organized crime.
On Wednesday, Social Democrat health expert Karl Lauterbach urged the next government to legalize cannabis.
Here is a look at countries that have already loosened their policies.

Famous Dutch coffee shops
The government of the Netherlands insists that, like other soft drugs, cannabis is tolerated but it is not legal. Still, its recreational use has been decriminalized since 1976, bringing fame to the Netherlands for its liberal attitude in handling marijuana.
Dutch coffee shops can sell up to 5 grams (.2 ounce) of soft drugs to each person per day, but they have to follow strict licensing regulations. For example, they are not allowed to serve alcohol.
Advertising the coffee shop or drugs is forbidden, and keeping more than 500 grams of soft drugs in the shops' stock is considered a crime.
Coffee shops are only allowed to sell drugs to the residents of the Netherlands. Dutch authorities have been thinking about reinforcing the latter a bit more strictly; a study commissioned by Amsterdam showed that for 57% of foreigners traveling to Amsterdam, going to such coffeeshops is a "very important reason" for their visit.


Amsterdam has about 250 coffee shops where residents can buy soft drugs

Uruguay: Legal pot for Tourists
In 2013, Uruguay made headlines for becoming the first country to fully legalize the nationwide recreational use of cannabis. Since then, nonmedical users could register themselves to buy marijuana through one of the three legal forms of supply: home growing, clubs, or pharmacies.
Each adult Uruguayan is allowed to grow up to six plants at home, but the harvest must not be more than 480 grams of marijuana per year.
Now, the country is planning to open its weed market to tourists.
The aim, in Deputy Tourism Minister Remo Monzeglio words, isn't to promote Uruguay as a destination for cannabis tourism, but rather to steer tourists away from street sales and into the regulated market.
But a 2018report showed that an estimated majority of marijuana users continued to purchase it from the unregulated market.

Jamaica: limitless ritual joints
The island has long been associated with pot and reggae music but it decriminalized possession of small amounts of weed only in 2015.
Individuals are allowed to cultivate up to five cannabis plants. Smoking ganja, local slang for marijuana, is legal in licensed dispensaries and private residences. People caught with less than about 50 grams of marijuana face no arrest or criminal record — but they are supposed to pay a small fine unless they have a medical prescription.
Followers of the Rastafari religion are allowed to smoke an unlimited amount of ganja for sacramental purposes. Rastafarians consider Ganja the "wisdom weed” and use it to aid in meditation to get closer to their inner spiritual self.


The global cannabis market is booming

Portugal's radical drugs policy
In 2001, Portugal made a radical shift towards drug decriminalization.
Personal possession of any type of substance is considered a mere administrative offense. No prison charges or criminal records will follow those who get caught with drugs, Instead, they are asked to register themselves at a rehabilitation center, pay fines, or do community service, depending on the amount of weed in possession.
Portugal, however, still puts marijuana under the same category as heroin. That means people who do not have a prescription for medical marijuana, and still want to purchase the drug, resort to buying pot from illegal dealers.

Canada: Marijuana legalization and jail populations
The recreational use of cannabis was legalized in Canada in 2018. A state-commissioned 2020study showed that, despite expectations, the daily consumption of marijuana only increased about 1%, for all age groups. Teenagers' daily consumption, which many feared would spike after legalization, rose about 3%.
But legalization made a huge difference in reducing the number of cannabis-related arrests. In 2018, the police recorded 26,402 possession cases until legalization went into effect in mid-October. In 2019, that number dropped to 46, according to Statistics Canada.
Possession of more than 30 grams of marijuana remains a crime.
But legalization brought a huge change in the disproportionate effect Canada's incarcerations have on minorities. A study by the Ontario Human Rights Commission showed that while Black people made up 8.8% of the population of Toronto, they had faced 34% of marijuana possession charges from 2013 through 2017.


Possession of cannabis is illegal under US federal law but at state level policies vary.

A total of 35 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, 16 of which allow adults to legally use the substance for recreational use. The states of Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana nearly 10 years ago. Since then, a bulk of research projects have examined the impacts of legalization on the US economy.
A recent report by Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian think tank, found that in 2020 alone the legal marijuana industry created 77,000 jobs across the US.
The report also highlighted the lucrative tax revenues of the legal marijuana trade. Colorado makes an average of $20 million a month, and California's government — which legalized adult recreational use in 2016 — collects a monthly average of about $50 million.

Georgia, South Africa and Mexico join the club
The countries Georgia and South Africa both legalized the recreational use of marijuana in 2018.
In just one year, Georgia scrapped criminal penalties for marijuana use and introduced legislation to allow marijuana exports.
In March, Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized the private recreational use of cannabis by adults. Although selling marijuana is not legal in Mexico, the country with 129 million residents may become one of the largest marijuana markets in the world.


(dated 15.10.2021 in German)
 
Last edited:

smokin away

Well-Known Member

Marijuana may be an issue of easy agreement in the ongoing coalition talks between Germany's leading parties. Despite numerous points of contention, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens can find themselves aligned when it comes to cannabis legalization.
The FDP emphasizes the revenue that the state could earn from taxing prerolled joints, cannabis flower and edibles. The Greens say legalization would put an end to illegal sales and reduce organized crime.
On Wednesday, Social Democrat health expert Karl Lauterbach urged the next government to legalize cannabis.
Here is a look at countries that have already loosened their policies.

Famous Dutch coffee shops
The government of the Netherlands insists that, like other soft drugs, cannabis is tolerated but it is not legal. Still, its recreational use has been decriminalized since 1976, bringing fame to the Netherlands for its liberal attitude in handling marijuana.
Dutch coffee shops can sell up to 5 grams (.2 ounce) of soft drugs to each person per day, but they have to follow strict licensing regulations. For example, they are not allowed to serve alcohol.
Advertising the coffee shop or drugs is forbidden, and keeping more than 500 grams of soft drugs in the shops' stock is considered a crime.
Coffee shops are only allowed to sell drugs to the residents of the Netherlands. Dutch authorities have been thinking about reinforcing the latter a bit more strictly; a study commissioned by Amsterdam showed that for 57% of foreigners traveling to Amsterdam, going to such coffeeshops is a "very important reason" for their visit.


Amsterdam has about 250 coffee shops where residents can buy soft drugs

Uruguay: Legal pot for Tourists
In 2013, Uruguay made headlines for becoming the first country to fully legalize the nationwide recreational use of cannabis. Since then, nonmedical users could register themselves to buy marijuana through one of the three legal forms of supply: home growing, clubs, or pharmacies.
Each adult Uruguayan is allowed to grow up to six plants at home, but the harvest must not be more than 480 grams of marijuana per year.
Now, the country is planning to open its weed market to tourists.
The aim, in Deputy Tourism Minister Remo Monzeglio words, isn't to promote Uruguay as a destination for cannabis tourism, but rather to steer tourists away from street sales and into the regulated market.
But a 2018report showed that an estimated majority of marijuana users continued to purchase it from the unregulated market.

Jamaica: limitless ritual joints
The island has long been associated with pot and reggae music but it decriminalized possession of small amounts of weed only in 2015.
Individuals are allowed to cultivate up to five cannabis plants. Smoking ganja, local slang for marijuana, is legal in licensed dispensaries and private residences. People caught with less than about 50 grams of marijuana face no arrest or criminal record — but they are supposed to pay a small fine unless they have a medical prescription.
Followers of the Rastafari religion are allowed to smoke an unlimited amount of ganja for sacramental purposes. Rastafarians consider Ganja the "wisdom weed” and use it to aid in meditation to get closer to their inner spiritual self.


The global cannabis market is booming

Portugal's radical drugs policy
In 2001, Portugal made a radical shift towards drug decriminalization.
Personal possession of any type of substance is considered a mere administrative offense. No prison charges or criminal records will follow those who get caught with drugs, Instead, they are asked to register themselves at a rehabilitation center, pay fines, or do community service, depending on the amount of weed in possession.
Portugal, however, still puts marijuana under the same category as heroin. That means people who do not have a prescription for medical marijuana, and still want to purchase the drug, resort to buying pot from illegal dealers.

Canada: Marijuana legalization and jail populations
The recreational use of cannabis was legalized in Canada in 2018. A state-commissioned 2020study showed that, despite expectations, the daily consumption of marijuana only increased about 1%, for all age groups. Teenagers' daily consumption, which many feared would spike after legalization, rose about 3%.
But legalization made a huge difference in reducing the number of cannabis-related arrests. In 2018, the police recorded 26,402 possession cases until legalization went into effect in mid-October. In 2019, that number dropped to 46, according to Statistics Canada.
Possession of more than 30 grams of marijuana remains a crime.
But legalization brought a huge change in the disproportionate effect Canada's incarcerations have on minorities. A study by the Ontario Human Rights Commission showed that while Black people made up 8.8% of the population of Toronto, they had faced 34% of marijuana possession charges from 2013 through 2017.


Possession of cannabis is illegal under US federal law but at state level policies vary.

A total of 35 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, 16 of which allow adults to legally use the substance for recreational use. The states of Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana nearly 10 years ago. Since then, a bulk of research projects have examined the impacts of legalization on the US economy.
A recent report by Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian think tank, found that in 2020 alone the legal marijuana industry created 77,000 jobs across the US.
The report also highlighted the lucrative tax revenues of the legal marijuana trade. Colorado makes an average of $20 million a month, and California's government — which legalized adult recreational use in 2016 — collects a monthly average of about $50 million.

Georgia, South Africa and Mexico join the club
The countries Georgia and South Africa both legalized the recreational use of marijuana in 2018.
In just one year, Georgia scrapped criminal penalties for marijuana use and introduced legislation to allow marijuana exports.
In March, Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized the private recreational use of cannabis by adults. Although selling marijuana is not legal in Mexico, the country with 129 million residents may become one of the largest marijuana markets in the world.


(dated 15.10.2021 in German)
I know Michigan isn't a country but they too legalized in 2018. They have made great progress and sport many rec dispensaries.✋
 

postmanwatching

Active Member
spain is apperently the new amsterdam or thats what some google article said...
i think one person who spanish dude was spying on me and some friends longboarding then he moved back there ince they legalized...
i know he followed them all around with a camera for a while...
hes the head mod of /r/longboarding on reddit...
so yeah what im saying is like it's the amsterdam of weed if your freinds with the rulers of spain...
they would probably put me in some prison dungeon or some shit lol
 

vostok

Well-Known Member
107 marijuana arrests in july...new amsterdam eh hahahahah

you keep $us20.00 in your passport, so when the cop checks your id,
he slips the $20.00 into pocket and
lets you out the back door, just avoid any rank
they like the busts as many normal Spanish cops are poor as fook

a fake press card does wonders too,
 

Montuno

Well-Known Member
107 marijuana arrests in july...new amsterdam eh hahahahah

Estáis hablando de mafias internacionales. Aquí es ilegal llenar un trailer de ganja y enviarlo a Holanda o UK haciéndolo pasar por lechugas, naranjas, tomates o chirimoyas...

You are talking about international mafias. Here it is illegal to fill a trailer with ganja and send it to Holland or the UK passing it off as lettuce, oranges, tomatoes or custard apples....
 

Montuno

Well-Known Member
you keep $us20.00 in your passport, so when the cop checks your id,
he slips the $20.00 into pocket and
lets you out the back door, just avoid any rank
they like the busts as many normal Spanish cops are poor as fook

a fake press card does wonders too,
Espero que nadie haya echo caso a tu mensaje: de ser así, ahora te estará agradeciendo estar detenido. No creo que seas ni siquiera de la Unión Europea ni conocer España para tan estúpido comentario...

I hope no one has paid any attention to your message: if so, they will now be thanking you for being detained. I don't think you are even from the European Union and don't even know Spain for such a stupid comment...
 

Montuno

Well-Known Member
Y si eres de la Unión Europea, o conoces realmente España, es como si estuvieras deseando causar desgracias a posta.

if you are from the European Union, or really know Spain, it is as if you were wishing to cause misfortune on purpose.
 

ColoradoHighGrower

Well-Known Member
Estáis hablando de mafias internacionales. Aquí es ilegal llenar un trailer de ganja y enviarlo a Holanda o UK haciéndolo pasar por lechugas, naranjas, tomates o chirimoyas...

You are talking about international mafias. Here it is illegal to fill a trailer with ganja and send it to Holland or the UK passing it off as lettuce, oranges, tomatoes or custard apples....
Huh, custard apples, learn something every day!
 

Montuno

Well-Known Member
107 marijuana arrests in july...new amsterdam eh hahahahah

Me parece que aquí nadie sabe mucho de que habla... Que tendrá que ver que un estado USA tenga a la marihuana como legal, con detener a las mafias que trafican internacionalmente y de forma ilegal!?
Esto si es real, y es un video oficial del C.N.P. para esos programas policiales televisivos: una patrulla para a un joven que translada por la calle una planta de marihuana, en plena noche de invierno en un suburbio de Madrid: la única consecuencia para el joven es tener que tirar la planta a la basura.

It seems to me that nobody here knows much about what they are talking about? What does it have to do that a US state has marijuana as legal, with stopping the mafias that traffic internationally and illegally?

This is real, and it is an official video of the C.N.P. for those television police programs: a patrol stops a young man who is carrying a marijuana plant in the street, in the middle of the winter night in a suburb of Madrid: the only consequence for the young man is to throw the plant in the garbage.

 

Montuno

Well-Known Member
De lo que si estoy bien seguro es que si el incidente del vídeo policial (además, el joven discute con la policía en plan miembro de Cypress Hill, je) ocurre en muchos suburbios de EUA, el joven acaba con dos tiros y un perro policial agarrado. Y en Francia, Reino Unido o Italia, no hubiera podido irse tan "tranquilamente" a su casa.

What I am quite sure of is that if the incident in the police video (besides, the young man argues with the police as a member of Cypress Hill, heh) happens in many US suburbs, the young man ends up with two shots and a police dog on him. And in France, UK or Italy, he would not have been able to go home so "calmly".
 

ColoradoHighGrower

Well-Known Member
No las has probado? Para mí es una de las frutas más deliciosas; más que el mango, el aguacate o la granada.

Haven't you tried them? For me it is one of the most delicious fruits; more than mango, avocado or pomegranate.
I have not yet- will be looking for sure now! Might try to get a seed or two going for sustainable supply! Recommended varieties? Sounds like they can vary from very sweet to astringent like persimmon fruits depending on cultivator. Me like sugar, not so big on tannins except in my red wines
 

Montuno

Well-Known Member
The only ones I knows are the growed here... Are very sweet, like the most sweet and delicate pulp of the sweetest pears (blanquilla pear) crushed with some rosemary honey/avocado.
Sweeter than mango or avocado, cos it have no citric part.
 
Top