Last Week In Weed Issue 60
Published May 22ndth 2023
In this issue of Last Week In Weed, we look at Singapore hanging another citizen for trafficking 1.5kg of Cannabis. New research from Canada suggests that ‘legalising’ cannabis doesn’t increase ‘problematic use’, and finally. France is set to become the latest country to consider a ban on the semi-synthetic cannabinoid HHC.
Singapore Murders Another Man For Cannabis Trafficking
The first story this week comes once again from the Southeast Asian island nation of Singapore. Last month the financial centre of Asia executed 46-year-old Tangaraju Suppiah, its first cannabis-related offender of the year.
On May 17th Singapore killed its second prisoner in three weeks for allegedly trafficking cannabis into the country. 37-year-old ethnic Malay man Muhammad Faizal Mohd Shariff was murdered at dawn by the state at the infamous Changi Prison Complex after a last-minute appeal attempt was rejected.
A last-ditch effort to re-open the case based on DNA and fingerprint evidence linking the man to a much smaller amount that he admitted to possessing was dismissed by the court. It was thrown out without a hearing according to local activist Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective.
“Some 60 prisoners are on death row in the city-state, mostly for drug-related offences. If we don’t come together to stop it, we fear that this killing spree will continue in the weeks and months to come. - Kokila Annamalai
Muhammad Faizal Mohd Shariff was arrested in 2016 for the alleged possession and trafficking of 1.5kg of cannabis, over three times the minimum threshold (500g) to apply the death penalty in Singapore, and later convicted in 2019.
This latest victim of governmental murder was one of 17 ethnic Malay death row inmates involved in a historic lawsuit accusing the Singapore government of racial bias over its disproportionate use of capital punishment in cases involving ethnic Malays.
Ravi Madasamy (M. Ravi) the Singapore human rights lawyer and activist who represented the men was suspended from practising law in Singapore for 5 years the maximum possible sanction. M. Ravi, a founding member of the Anti‐Death Penalty Asia Network and the Singapore Anti‐Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) was suspended on March 31st 2023 after making "grave and baseless accusations of improper conduct" against the Attorney-General of Singapore.
The suspended lawyer believes that the Singapore judiciary and government disproportionality targeting ethnic Malay individuals for drug offences. The Malay population in Singapore is around 13% but they make up 55% of the prison population, 49% of all drug arrests, and 64.9% of death row inmates in the country.
These recent judicial killings of individuals convicted of non-violent cannabis-related offences won't be the last. In 2022 Singapore hung 11 individuals for similar offences after a two-year hiatus due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. The current Singapore government has rejected criticism of its use of the death penalty in cases like this saying that ‘it has been effective in controlling the drug menace’.
Research Shows Canadian Cannabis ‘Legalisation’ Not Linked To Increase In ‘Problematic Use’
A recent study from the University of Waterloo in Ontario has found that the 2018 ‘legalisation’ of cannabis in Canada is not linked to an increase in ‘problematic’ cannabis use amongst the population. The paper titled ‘Patterns of problematic cannabis use in Canada pre- and post-legalisation: Differences by neighbourhood deprivation, individual socio-economic factors and race/ethnicity’ was published in the Drug and Alcohol Review journal.
The researchers used ‘cross-sectional data’ from three online International Cannabis Policy surveys to analyse problematic cannabis use pre- and post-legalisation in Canada. They found “no evidence of a change in the proportion of those aged 16–65 in Canada whose cannabis use would be classified as ‘high risk’.
The study also noted that “Problematic use differed by sociodemographic factors” and that “consumers from the most materially deprived neighbourhoods were more likely to experience 'moderate' [problematic cannabis use] vs 'low risk' [problematic cannabis use] compared to those living outside deprived neighbourhoods. Evidence, in my opinion, is that poverty is a primary driving force in the potential development of dependency or problematic consumption.
The authors concluded their paper by stating that “Overall, in the initial period following legalisation in Canada, levels of problematic use have changed very little at the population level. Modest differences in problematic use risk scores were observed based on various socio-economic indicators as well as race/ethnicity.”
“Future research should continue to monitor the prevalence of problematic cannabis use indicators keeping these factors in mind to ensure that any potential drawbacks of legalisation are not disproportionately impacting marginalised populations.”
This new research dismantles, decimates, and disproves the prohibitionist myth that providing lawful access leads to an increase in problematic use. It joins a host of other recent studies exploring the impacts of Canadian ‘legalisation’.
Take for example this 2022 study that found ‘no increase in cannabis in ‘cannabis-induced’ psychosis’ or this 2021 study that found “no evidence of significant changes associated with cannabis legalization on post-legalization weekly counts of drivers’ traffic-injury ED [emergency department] visits.”
Responding to this most recent study the current deputy director of NORML Paul Armentano said that “Canada’s real-world experience with marijuana legalisation, much like the experiences in many US states, affirms that these policies can be implemented in a way that provides regulated access for adults while simultaneously limiting youth access, discouraging misuse, and not compromising public safety.”
For all I have my issues with ‘legalisation’ the more time that passes since its implementation in Canada the more data comes out to strengthen the case for ubiquitous ‘decriminalisation’ of all cannabis-related offences and the ‘de-scheduling’ of Cannabis Sativa L and all its by-products.
France Becomes Latest Country To Consider HHC Ban
The final story this week comes from France. The most recent country to consider banning Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC). Under current European Union (EU) legislation (HHC) is lawful as it is synthesised from the biomass of low-THC cultivars of Cannabis. However, various other EU member nations have already banned or begun the process of prohibiting products containing HHC.
Several EU countries have already banned or considered banning HHC including Austria, Poland, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Czechia, Bulgaria, and Denmark. However, it's not just EU states that have prohibited HHC both Switzerland and Iceland have now criminalised offences related to the controversial semi-synthetic cannabinoid.
In December 2022, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) convened a meeting of experts prompted by the identification of the semi-synthetic cannabinoid in 13 member nations. HHC is being touted as a “legal alternative to THC” in many European tobacconists, supermarkets, and online.
“HHC is sold openly as a ‘legal’ replacement to THC and cannabis in a range of highly attractive branded and unbranded products—some of which are sold as ‘legal highs’. These include hemp sprayed or mixed with HHC—which looks and smells like ‘genuine’ cannabis—as well as vapes and edibles. Marketing and advertising often make direct comparisons to the effects of THC and cannabis” - EMCDDA (2022)
Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) is a hydrogenated derivative of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that while naturally occurring in cultivars of Cannabis Sativa L is only found in minute trace amounts.
It is often sold in edibles, and vape carts, and sprayed onto the cheap and abundant flowers of low-THC cultivars of cannabis grown for industrial purposes. Last year an estimated 28kg of low-THC flower sprayed with HHC was seized by various police and border agencies destined for the EU market.
The new novel semi-synthetic cannabinoid was first documented in the scientific literature in the 1940s however it didn’t become well-known and mass-produced until the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill in the United States of America. With the abundance of low-THC cannabis biomass and the loopholes in federal legislation CBD became a partial precursor to many fully and semi-synthetic cannabinoids including HHC, Delta 8 THC, Delta 10 THC, and THCP.
The US Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced last week that it will soon be proposing new rules to clarify synthetically produced cannabinoids as a prohibited controlled substance. This includes cannabinoids that are found in the plant in minute amounts because they are chemically converted.
Little is known about the cannabinoid's short or long-term effects on consumers but according to its consumers is said to have a similar effect to consuming THC isolate. Scientists in several regions around the world are currently researching the effects of the psychoactive compound.
Last month the (EMCDDA) published a technical report on Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC). Which stated the semi-synthetic cannabinoid had first been reported to its Early Warning System (EWS) in May 2022 and by December 2022 it had been reported in 70% of member nations. Although its report ‘suggests that HHC’s availability and use in Europe is likely much greater than suggested by seizures reported so far through the EWS.’
Written By Simpa For The Simpa Life
