Germany’s government officially legalized weed last week, making it the third European country to do so.
Under the new law, adults over the age of 18 can legally possess up to 25 grams of pot in public and 50 grams at home. Purchases at non-profit weed clubs will be limited to 25 grams a day and to residents over 21. Purchases will also be limited to 50 grams per month. Adults under 21 are limited to 30 grams per month.
The law passed on a 407-226 vote, with German Conservative Party members opposed to legalization.
The only other two European countries to legalize marijuana are Malta and Luxembourg. The drug is decriminalized in the Netherlands.
The European Union has long opposed legalization of recreational marijuana but has eased its policies toward medical cannabis in recent years. Members of the European Parliament adopted a 2019 resolution to research medical cannabis and ways to implement a regulatory system for it. The resolution called on member states to consider revisiting cannabis policies with their eyes on reform and provide patients with access to the drug.
Jamaica Sends First Legal U.S. Weed Import
A Canadian-Jamaican company reportedly shipped the first federally-approved cannabis import to the U.S.
According to a new release from Pure Jamaican and its cannabis manufacturer, Seven-10 Pharmaceuticals, the company sent small amounts of eight different types of tinctures and three different distillates to researchers in the U.S.
The samples will reportedly be used for study purposes by DEA-licensed research facility ACS Laboratory in Sun City Center, Florida.
The companies say they plan to start shipping products to U.S. medical marijuana patients if the Biden administration reschedules cannabis. The company already ships products directly to patients in Brazil.
Weed May Raise Odds For Heart Attack and Stroke
A new study found that cannabis use is associated with higher risk of heart attack and stroke.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association last week. Researchers analyzed the data of about 434,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 74 who had smoked cannabis or hashish in the previous month. The data was collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 2016 and 2020.
According to their analysis, daily weed users were 25 percent more likely to suffer from a heart attack and 42 percent more likely to suffer a stroke, compared to non-users.
While people who used cannabis less often decreased their chances of heart attack and stroke, those who used only once a week were still three percent more likely to suffer a heart attack and had five percent higher risk of a stroke, compared to non-users.
The study was based on survey results.