International
The cannabis business continues its battle with the law in New York
In recent years, cannabis has become one of the hallmarks of the State of New York, where the legalization of this drug led to its massive commercialization and the development of a policy closely related to the social reintegration of disadvantaged groups.
Since March 2021, cannabis use is allowed for adults over 21 years of age, and therefore having a store is also legal, as long as the necessary requirements to obtain a license are met.
The prices – which always include a non-refundable fee of $1,000 – vary depending on the type of license (for example, opening a retail dispensary costs $7,000) and the approval of the permit takes longer than it might seem
Before its legalization, the people who were most affected by having or selling marijuana were black and Hispanic: “(These people) bought and consumed cannabis as much as the white communities, but they were not arrested in the same proportion,” a spokeswoman for the State Cannabis Office (OCM) who prefers not to give her name, explains to EFE.
In this sense, of the 1,485 arrests made in 2020 for possession or sale of cannabis, 898 were to black people, 467 Hispanic, 64 Asian, 49 white and 7 of other ethnic groups, according to official data.
Therefore, the New York State government, through the CAURD program, granted the first 463 provisional retail licenses to entities run by people with previous convictions related to this drug.
“One thing that New York was not going to do was start a billion-dollar industry and not have these people directing it,” says the CMO representative.
In this way, a few years after being arrested for possession of this drug, José Polanco, from the Dominican Republic, fulfilled his dream and opened ‘Polanco Brothers’, a cannabis store located in front of Bryant Park, in the heart of Manhattan.
“For the Hispanic community this store is something important, because we show that we can do great business away from crime,” one of the partners, Pedro Antonio, tells EFE, who receives surrounded by showcases full of gummies, creams, cannabis with cranberry flavor and even tea.
In contrast to the old tobacco shop that he now replaces and that brew together the elites of New York inside – it was often attended by celebrities such as Robert Downey Jr. – Antonio expresses his desire for ‘Polanco Brothers’ to become a place of reference for the popular classes.
The slow licensing process has led many sellers to dodge the law: it is estimated that more than 2,000 premises in the State are illegal, compared to the 180 stores that are regulated by the New York Government.
The clerg of a small store in Manhattan, which does not appear in the catalog of dispensaries published by the government – although she assures that it is fully legal – explains that the place was forced to open without a license due to the delay in processing her permit.
The woman mentions the closure of illegal premises that has been taking place in the city for a few weeks, where the Mayor’s Office of New York began an operation on May 7 to end them: since then a total of 75 have been closed.
In a recent report, the New York Government harshly criticized the ineffectiveness of the Cannabis Office and pointed out that, in April, more than 1,200 people who applied for a license in November were still waiting to be examined.
Cannabis has strongly adhered to the culture of the city and is already part of the daily life of New Yorkers, who are usually seen with a butt between their fingers it rains, thunders or shines, and whether during the day, at night or first thing in the morning.
Its consumption is so widespread that the same mayor of New York, asked one day about the persistent smell of garbage in the summer months, denied it and said: “The first thing I smell right now is marijuana. It seems like everyone is smoking a joint,” and he laughed.
International
Indigenous candidate Leonidas Iza predicts a new social explosion if there is no change in Ecuador
The presidential candidate of Ecuador for the indigenous movement, Leonidas Iza, who was part of the wave of protests of 2019 and who led that of 2022, reveals himself as an “anti-system” politician in the face of “a corrupt system” that he intends to reformulate to relieve the impoverished, because he predicts a new social explosion if there is no change in the Government to meet popular demands.
Iza, 42, is the candidate of Pachakutik, the political arm of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) that he himself presides over, and with which he was at the forefront of the 2022 wave of protests against the government of conservative President Guillermo Lasso, where he was arrested and even labeled a “terrorist.”
“I am one of those who has never lost the ability to be outraged when governments have had policies against their own citizens,” Iza, a native of the Andean province of Cotopaxi, said in an interview with EFE.
“I am not against the private sector, I am against those who do not pay taxes and those who come to the Government only to defend their companies,” said the candidate in reference to the last two presidents (Lasso and Daniel Noboa).
“We fight for social justice, not to be violent. It is a reaction to the injustice to which we have been subjected,” he said.
For Iza, who represents the anti-extractivist left of Ecuador, the country has “a corrupt system, a health system that does not work, a deficient and unfair economic system, and public services that are not helping citizens.”
“And that’s what we want to change. We won’t be able to do it overnight, but the State can give relief to the people,” the candidate said.
To do this, it proposes to fight against tax evasion, which amounts to about 7.5 billion dollars a year, and also against corruption, which is estimated at about 3 billion dollars per year, to balance public accounts without having to follow the current credit program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that asks to cut public spending and raise taxes.
He also aimed to increase agricultural productivity, as well as boost tourism to go from 1 to 3 million visitors a year, and anticipated that he will regulate small and artisanal mining to avoid illegal mining but will not allow large-scale mining because it considers that it can contaminate the country’s large river basins.
Iza anticipated that he will not pay the external debt as long as there are “guaguas (children, in Kichwa) who have no education and are dying of hunger, and colleagues who are dying for lack of health.”
“We will tell the IMF and the other multilaterals that we are going to pay, but first we are going to solve the structural problem we have at the moment: education, health and minimum conditions for security,” he warned.
In that sense, Iza pointed out that “the strength of a popular reaction in the streets is accumulating” that must be resolved by whoever is elected. “Knowing my country, which has been on the streets all its life, there will be a popular reaction if (the discomfort) is not resolved in the following months,” he reiterated.
“The option that understands the people is us, and not the sectors that have always been in the Government,” said Iza, who avoided pointing out whether that reaction will reach the dimensions of the strong protests of 2019 and 2022, both led by the indigenous movement.
In this electoral campaign, Iza has left his distinctive Andean red poncho to put on the bulletproof vest in the face of the persistent wave of violence of organized crime that the country is experiencing, because he warned that the “war” that Noboa declared to the criminal gangs has not worked because its leaders are still free.
Faced with this, he promised “a hard hand for all” and recalled that “state institutions must suffocate everyone (criminals)”.
The candidate also advocated deepening international cooperation: “there must be a responsibility of all countries (producers, consumers and drug transit), especially in the region (of Latin America)”.
Asked if Ecuadorian society is ready to have an indigenous president of rural origin, Iza sees himself with popular support to face “the most reactionary sectors that have support in racism and stigmatization.”
International
Deaths in a hotel fire in a ski resort in Turkey rise to 69
The fire that occurred this morning in a 12-story hotel in a ski resort in northwestern Turkey claimed at least 69 deaths, in addition to causing fifty injuries, according to the latest assessment of the country’s authorities.
The fire originated around 3.30 a.m. local time (0.30 GMT) in a hotel, built entirely of wood, in the Kartalkaya ski center, halfway between Istanbul and Ankara, with almost full occupancy.
The flames were extinguished after about ten hours of firefighters’ work and the authorities found the death of 66 people, in addition to rescuing 51 injured, compared to the 10 dead and 32 injured initially estimated.
The hotel, with 161 rooms, had an occupancy close to 90%, because these days are the winter school holidays in Turkey, says the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
The wooden construction and the location of the hotel at the foot of a ski slope, which only allows vehicle access from the front facade, made the intervention of firefighters difficult, the Turkish newspaper explained.
According to the television network NTV, about 300 people, including employees, were in the hotel at the time of the fire, the causes of which are still unknown.
International
Hamas calls for counterattack on Israeli soldiers during their incursion in the West Bank
The Islamist organization Hamas urged the Palestinians on Tuesday to intensify and support their militiamen in the clashes against the Israeli Army during the military incursion that began today in Yenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank.
“We call on the masses of our people in the West Bank and their revolutionary youth to mobilize and intensify the clashes against the (Israeli) occupation army at all points, and to work to thwart the extensive Zionist aggression against the city of Yenin.”
“This military operation launched by the occupation in Yenin will fail, as did all its previous military operations against our brave people and their tenacious resistance,” the Palestinian group said.
Since the beginning of the operation, nicknamed by the Army “Iron Wall”, at least seven Palestinians have died in Yenin and another 35 have been injured, according to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Hamas accused the forces of the Palestinian National Authority (ANP), President Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling party in the West Bank, of having left Yenin to allow the operation of Israeli troops, instead of defending the Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended on Tuesday that the last assault launched by his forces against Yenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank, seeks to “eradicate terrorism.”
“This is another step towards the objective we have set ourselves: to strengthen security in Judea and Samaria (West Bank),” according to a statement released by its Office.
“We are acting systematically and decisively against the Iranian axis wherever it sends its weapons: in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Judea and Samaria (West Bank),” concludes the Israeli president’s note.
The rail comes shortly after the start of the ceasefire in Gaza, which includes a weekly exchange of hostages in the Strip for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Following the release of the prisoners, the Army increased its presence in this occupied territory with seven companies, claiming to strengthen its “anti-terrorist efforts.”
The images recorded in Yenin show dozens of Army vehicles accessing the local refugee camp, which has also been bombed by Israeli aviation.
The incursions and attacks of Israeli forces in Yenin, considered a bastion of Islamist-like militias, were already constant but they worsened after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
However, since mid-December it has been the security forces of the Palestinian National Authority (ANP), which governs small parts of the West Bank, that have led an offensive in this population, which until last Friday triggered armed fighting against the militiamen.
This exchange of fire has caused at least 15 people dead on both sides, including two minors.
The occupied West Bank is experiencing its greatest spiral of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-05), and in 2024 at least 491 Palestinians have died in the territory by Israeli fire, most of them militiamen from refugee camps, but also civilians, including at least 75 minors, according to EFE’s count.
So far this year, at least 24 Palestinians have already died in Israeli attacks, five of them minors.
Indigenous candidate Leonidas Iza predicts a new social explosion if there is no change in Ecuador
Deaths in a hotel fire in a ski resort in Turkey rise to 69
Hamas calls for counterattack on Israeli soldiers during their incursion in the West Bank
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
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