International
Germany launches the partial legalization of cannabis between celebrations and criticism
The law that partially legalizes the use and recreational consumption of cannabis in Germany entered into force today after difficult debates within the political, police and health, which hundreds of people took advantage of to meet in Berlin and celebrate – smoking marijuana – the measure, criticized by some doctors and part of the opposition.
About 1,500 Berliners gathered around midnight in front of the Brandenburg Gate along with a one-meter-high model of a hemp leaf and posters on which you could read slots such as “precaution, smokers” or “we don’t want to be criminals.”
More actions of this type are expected this Easter Monday in other places throughout the country.
“I think the legalization of cannabis is right and arrives late. In my opinion, it is important to allow the use of cannabis, especially if its effects are compared with those of alcohol consumption. I also hope that decriminalization will reduce the desire for consumption among young people,” Christian, a native of Hamburg, told EFE.
From today, people over 18 years of age will be able to grow a maximum of three cannabis plants at home for self-consumption or have 50 grams of dried flowers in their private space. 25 grams will be allowed in the public space.
Smoking is prohibited in playgrounds, schools, sports facilities, including soccer stadiums, and facilities for children and young people, and in sight of them. It will also not be possible to consume cannabis between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in pedestrian areas.
From July 1, it will be legal to create clubs with up to 500 members who will be able to grow cannabis collectively and non-commercially and exchange it between them for private consumption.
Distribution and sale are still prohibited, as is driving a motor vehicle under the influence of the drug.
There is no legal limit for cannabis behind the wheel as with alcohol. Given the legal vacuum, a commission of experts proposed a maximum concentration of 3.5 nanograms per milliliter of blood serum for the active ingredient THC.
Anyone who exceeds the grams allowed for personal use faces penalties of up to 30,000 euros or in the worst case prison sentences.
From the perspective of those who oppose legalization, the limit of cannabis possession allowed by law is too high.
The German Medical Association considers that 50 grams per month “corresponds to high-risk consumption and leads to cannabis-related disorders.”
The Ministry of Health argues that legal cannabis must also be available in larger quantities if the illegal black market is to be undermined.
The Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann, also argues that the legalization will ease the pressure on justice and the police in the medium term. Currently, more than 100,000 criminal proceedings are open against cannabis users.
The road to the partial legalization of cannabis was not easy in the Central European country, where the main opposition party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has already said that it will reverse the law if it reaches the Government.
The measure, proposed by the Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, in April of last year, obtained – in a strongly modified version – on February 23 the approval of the Lower House, with the vote in favor of the government coalition of social democrats, greens and liberals, as well as the left.
But the measure was about to derail in the Upper House, in which the governments of the 16 federal states are represented and where several of them had shown their opposition.
A commitment offered by Lauterbach at the last minute to regularly introduce controls in cannabis clubs and the promise of federal support for prevention measures made it possible to carry out the measure on March 22.
Meanwhile, the Government Commissioner for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Burkhard Blienert, has already asked that a decision now also be made on the pilot projects for the cannabis trade.
“It’s the only way to ensure that occasional consumers don’t have to go to camels either,” he says.
Initially the Government also wanted to allow the sale of cannabis in stores with a state license, but it ruled out the idea after the concerns expressed by the European Commission
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Internacionales
Sinaloa security secretary resigns amid wave of violence and cartel infighting
The Secretary of Security for the Mexican state of Sinaloa (in the northwest), which has been shaken for over three months by a wave of criminal violence that has claimed more than 600 lives, resigned from his position, Governor Rubén Rocha Moya confirmed on Saturday.
The local leader confirmed to AFP the resignation of Secretary Gerardo Mérida, and shortly after, he swore in the new head of the department, General Óscar Rentería. The newly appointed secretary has previously served as the commander of a military zone in the also troubled state of Michoacán (in the west) and led another military region in Mexico City when the current president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was mayor (2018-2023).
The wave of killings that is hitting the state is due to an internal war between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, the “Chapitos” and the “Mayos,” named after their leaders, the sons of drug lords Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “Mayo” Zambada.
Both criminal bosses are imprisoned in the United States on drug trafficking charges, but their sons are fighting for control of the legendary cartel in Sinaloa. The cartel is identified by Washington as the largest producer of illegal fentanyl in Mexico.
Mérida’s departure comes amid ongoing clashes, which have left over 600 people dead and another 700 missing in just over 100 days, according to state prosecutor data.
The resignation also follows the murder last Wednesday in the capital of Sinaloa of Halexy Guadalupe, one of the members of the investigative team leading the government’s anti-crime strategy under Sheinbaum.
The president is scheduled to visit the state on Sunday to lead a Security Table meeting to address the ongoing violence crisis.
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Sinaloa security secretary resigns amid wave of violence and cartel infighting
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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