22 Dec 2011

Sweden Legalizes and Regulates Cannabis?

The Swedish Parliament has approved a law which will regulate the growing, usage and trade of cannabis. This is according to the Health and Social Services of Sweden, Jonas Grönhög, who was quoted, "We don't want to make the same mistakes which the USA has done, we do not want to be prohibitionists because the war on drugs has been lost long ago. It is better to prevent marginalization of young people than jail them for soft drugs usage which are comparatively harmless. If we allow the sale of alcohol, there is no reason to ban the soft drugs no longer." 
Cannabis products are going to be available in the pharmacies in Sweden as non-prescription medicine since April 20 in 2012 and customers more than 18-year-old can buy 10 grams at once.  Growing for personal usage will be tolerated up to 200 grams of dried marijuana and larger amounts stay illegal. It is likely that this will target the Police resources on more serious crime, especially on organized crime, drug trafficking and trafficking in human beings which have been increased for lack of the Police resources in recent years. Source
Update: Sorry folks... it's a hoax!
Sweden, in fact, has fairly heavy cannabis laws with even the suspicion of smoking, possessing, or selling cannabis being enough reason for police to be able to require submission to search and even drug testing. This year alone, the Swedish government spent $7.5 million (USD) on campaigns against marijuana smoking in major cities around the country – that’s over and above the law enforcement and other funds spent in the Swedish anti-drug campaigns. The Internet at large, though the story has been spread far and wide, has begun to debunk this obvious hoax. The above-mentioned source for the story has now been downplayed on Reddit to the point that it’s nearing 50:50 up and down votes. Source
Sorry, folks, but it just ain’t true. Sweden did not legalize marijuana.