A challenge to the marijuana laws of the southern African nation Swaziland is going all the way to the High Court. Dr. Ben Diamini wants cannabis legalized, and he has also called upon the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade to grant him a 10-year exclusive license to grow "dagga," as the herb is called locallly.

Dr. Diamini pointed out that in the past 5,000 years, no one has died of cannabis anywhere in the world. He wants to High Court to help him get an order allowing him to operate a cannabis processing factory and set up a marketing company, with all dagga growers in Swaziland as suppliers, reports Mtheto Lungu at Africa News. He said that his factory will then solicit orders from local and international pharmacies.

africanews.com

Despite widespread allegations about his involvement in Afghanistan's drug trade and other illicit activities, the US government has never taken steps to prosecute Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger half-brother of the Afghan President—though a leaked diplomatic cable suggests American officials may have come very close.

This revelation was contained in one of a series of Afghanistan-related communiqués released by WikiLeaks on Thursday. The document in question is a confidential summary of a February 4, 2010, meeting of an interagency group known as the Next-Corruption Leadership Board. The board—which was co-chaired by Kabul embassy official Earl Anthony Wayne and Major General Michael Flynn, then the top military intelligence official in Afghanistan—had convened to review potential anti-corruption measures. Specifically discussed were "possible courses of action ("COAs") that U.S. military and Embassy personnel may employ against criminal and corrupt Afghan officials in an effort to change their behavior." During the meeting, board members agreed to "apply a set of minimum COAs against high-profile corrupt officials to signal a change in U.S. policy on corruption" and to "begin a series of high-level demarches to persuade the Karzai government to follow through on promises to tackle corruption."

motherjones.com
old zack

Der afghanische Präsident Hamid Karsai hat laut den von Wikileaks veröffentlichten US-Geheimdokumenten die Freilassung zahlreicher gefährlicher Krimineller und Drogenhändler angeordnet. Die Straftäter seien von den internationalen Truppen in Afghanistan festgenommen und von Karsai ohne Prozess wieder freigelassen worden, heißt es in den am Dienstag von der Enthüllungsplattform veröffentlichten Dokumenten.

balkanblog.org
bild.de

Internet whistleblower WikiLeaks has begun releasing a quarter of a million confidential US diplomatic cables, detailing embarrassing and inflammatory episodes in what the White House called a “reckless and dangerous action”.

In the August 2009 cable, American officials said that since 2007, 150 of the 629 detainees transferred from coalition to Afghan custody had been released without trial.

It said Karzai had pardoned five border policemen in April 2009 who were caught with 124 kilograms (273 pounds) of heroin in their police vehicle and had been sentenced to terms of 16 to 18 years in prison.

khaleejtimes.com
huffingtonpost.com
rawstory.com
570news.com

After his third pot possession bust in five years, country music legend Willie Nelson has had enough. He told former High Times editor Steve Bloom's CelebStoner web site Sunday it is time for a new, pro-marijuana political party.

"There's the Tea Party. How about the Teapot Party? Our motto: We lean a little to the left," Nelson said. "Tax it, regulate it and legalize it, and stop the border wars over drugs. Why should the drug lords make all the money? Thousands of lives will be saved."

stopthedrugwar.org
facebook.com
examiner.com
celebstoner.com
norml.org

The question was considered by the Refugee Review Tribunal when a Cambodian man, jailed for smuggling drugs into Australia, applied for a protection visa after he was transferred to a detention centre on parole.

The man was carrying drugs when he was arrested on his arrival in Australia in 2006.

He feared that if he returned to Cambodia, he would be harmed by his co-accused because he informed on them, and that his conviction for drug smuggling put him at risk of harm from the local authorities.

parramattasun.com.au

Serbia has been implementing the law that provides for the confiscation of property acquired through criminal means. The value of properties seized so far has been estimated at 200m euros.

This includes facilities owned by Milorad Lukovic Legija -- convicted of organising the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic -- and drug lord Darko Saric, wanted for smuggling cocaine from Colombia.

setimes.com

Vereinten Nationen, Generalversammlung:

Dokument A/65/255

6 August 2010 Original in Englisch

Zusammenfassung

Die gegenwärtige internationale System der Drogenkontrolle hatte zum ziel, die Schaffung einer drogenfreien Welt, dies fast ausschließlich durch den Einsatz der Strafverfolgung und von strafrechtlichen Sanktionen. Das Scheitern dieses Ansatzes ist jedoch immer deutlicher, vor allem weil es die Realitäten von Drogenkonsum und-abhängigkeit ignoriert.

Während Drogen einen nachteiligen Effekt auf das Leben des Einzelnen und der Gesellschaft haben hat auch das repressive Regime seine Ziele der Förderung der öffentlichen Gesundheit nicht erreicht und führt zu zahlreichen Verletzungen der Menschenrechte.

Die Androhung strafrechtlicher Sanktionen können Menschen, die Drogen benutzen vom Zugriff auf die verfügbaren Dienste abgeschrecken, oder sogar den Zugang zur Gesundheitsversorgung insgesamt verwehrt werden.

chanvre-info.ch