An amnesty bin or amnesty box is a receptacle into which items can be placed without incurring consequences related to those items. Amnesty bins have been used for various items, including drugs, weapons, fruit, invasive species, and animals. A version of an amnesty bin is also used at Amazon warehouses for damaged items.
In Europe, drug-related deaths at music festivals present a public health concern. [1] Amnesty bins for drugs at festivals have been proposed as a method of harm reduction; [2] a study in Ireland found that 75% of participants said they would use amnesty bins for drugs if they were part of a drug checking system that would provide alerts about dangerous drugs in circulation. [3] One London dance venue required patrons to place any illegal drugs they possessed into an amnesty bin as of 1999 [update] . Items placed into the bin in 1998 and 1999 were analyzed in a 2001 study of illicit drug consumption, in order to determine which street drugs were currently available. [4]
To prevent certain pests and diseases from entering areas within the country, amnesty bins are used in Australia as part of the Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone (FFEZ). Travelers to Melbourne from outside the FFEZ are asked to place any fruit they are carrying into an amnesty bin in the airport. [5]
In New Zealand airports, amnesty bins coupled with signage about the fines for bringing in invasive species are used to help preserve the biosecurity of the isolated country. Chinese and English signage is used on the bins. [6] The bins and signage are placed by the Ministry for Primary Industries. [7]
In 2020, bright blue amnesty boxes for cannabis disposal were placed outside the security checkpoints at O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport in Chicago. Intended to allow departing travelers to dispose of cannabis, which is legal in Illinois but illegal under federal law, the boxes are owned by the Chicago Department of Aviation and serviced by the Chicago Police Department. [8]
At Colorado Springs Airport, amnesty boxes just before the entrance to security allow departing travelers to dispose of cannabis, which is legal in Colorado but illegal on commercial flights in the United States. The boxes have been used to dispose of cannabis edibles, electronic cigarettes, pipes, and concentrate. [9]
An additional amnesty box for cannabis is located at Aspen/Pitkin County Airport. Most flights from the airport land at Denver International Airport, where cannabis is banned. Departing travelers at Aspen/Pitkin with cannabis are instructed to either return it to their vehicles or place it in the bin. [10]
At airports in Hawaii, amnesty bins are provided for agricultural reasons, intended to prevent the introduction of invasive plants and animals. Arriving passengers, who have already filled out agricultural declaration forms, can place prohibited items in the bins without risking consequences. According to the acting manager of the Plant Quarantine Branch at the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture, 60 to 70 pounds (27 to 32 kg) of material are placed in the bins at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu every few days; pest-free plant material can be used as animal feed for confiscated animals at the Department of Agriculture facilities, while contaminated material is destroyed. [11] In 2002, a foot-long ball python was found in one of the airport's amnesty bins. [12] The snake was believed to have been placed into the bin inside an airsickness bag, and subsequently escaped from the bag, as a torn bag was also found in the bin. It was the first animal ever found in an amnesty bin in the Oʻahu airport. [12]
In 2018, thirteen green amnesty boxes were placed in high-traffic areas of McCarran International Airport (now Harry Reid International Airport) in Las Vegas for disposal of cannabis and prescription drugs. Seven more were planned to be placed at Henderson Executive Airport, North Las Vegas Airport, and areas of Reid International Airport operated by private companies. [13]
A knife bin is a bin in which people can anonymously dispose of knives, avoiding possible criminal offenses related to knives. [14] One such amnesty bin for knives, located in Hackney, had more than 1,500 weapons placed into it over two years in the early 2010s. [15]
Fulfillment centers belonging to Amazon use amnesty bins as part of their process. Robotic stowers of incoming items place damaged or unscannable items into amnesty bins rather than bins for sorted items, thereby identifying them as problems to be solved later by a human. [16] For outgoing items, human workers place damaged or unscannable items into amnesty bins for the same reason; [17] robotic pickers for outbound items do the same. [18]
The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, Pub.L. 75–238, 50 Stat. 551, enacted August 2, 1937, was a United States Act that placed a tax on the sale of cannabis. The H.R. 6385 act was drafted by Harry Anslinger and introduced by Rep. Robert L. Doughton of North Carolina, on April 14, 1937. The Seventy-fifth United States Congress held hearings on April 27, 28, 29th, 30th, and May 4, 1937. Upon the congressional hearings confirmation, the H.R. 6385 act was redrafted as H.R. 6906 and introduced with House Report 792. The Act is now commonly referred to, using the modern spelling, as the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act. This act was overturned in 1969 in Leary v. United States, and was repealed by Congress the next year.
The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These policies in most countries are regulated by three United Nations treaties: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Single Convention treaty, meaning that signatories can allow medical use but that it is considered to be an addictive drug with a serious risk of abuse.
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of Cannabis sativa cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants on Earth. It was also one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 50,000 years ago. It can be refined into a variety of commercial items, including paper, rope, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a phytocannabinoid discovered in 1940. It is one of 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants, along with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and accounts for up to 40% of the plant's extract. As of 2019, clinical research on CBD included studies related to anxiety, cognition, movement disorders, and pain, but there is insufficient high-quality evidence that cannabidiol is effective for these conditions.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. Native to Central and South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive component of cannabis, which is one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as an extract.
Sharps waste is a form of biomedical waste composed of used "sharps", which includes any device or object used to puncture or lacerate the skin. Sharps waste is classified as biohazardous waste and must be carefully handled. Common medical materials treated as sharps waste are hypodermic needles, disposable scalpels and blades, contaminated glass and certain plastics, and guidewires used in surgery.
The Society of Cannabis Clinicians (SCC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in the United States, dedicated to educating healthcare professionals about the medical use of cannabis. Its mission is to unite into one association members of the various medical specialties and allied professionals with this common purpose. SCC is one of the oldest active organization of its kind, and one of the few global non-profit medical societies related to cannabis and cannabinoids, along with the International Cannabinoid Research Society and the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines.
Amnesty is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted." Though the term general pardon has a similar definition, an amnesty constitutes more than a pardon, in so much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense. Amnesty is increasingly used to express the idea of "freedom" and to refer to when prisoners can go free.
The use, sale, and possession of cannabis over 0.3% THC in the United States, despite laws in many states permitting it under various circumstances, is illegal under federal law. As a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970, cannabis over 0.3% THC is considered to have "no accepted medical use" and have a high potential for abuse and physical or psychological dependence. Cannabis use is illegal for any reason, with the exception of FDA-approved research programs. However, individual states have enacted legislation permitting exemptions for various uses, including medical, industrial, and recreational use.
Cannabis is a plant used in Australia for recreational, medicinal and industrial purposes. In 2019, 36% of Australians over the age of fourteen years had used cannabis in their lifetime and 11.6% had used cannabis in the last 12 months.
Cannabis in Indonesia is illegal. Cannabis plants, all plants of the Cannabis genus and all parts of plants including seeds, fruit, straw, and processed cannabis plants or parts of cannabis plants including marijuana resin and hash are categorized as narcotics group. Drug offenders are subject to a minimum sentence of four years in prison if caught possessing it. Derivatives of medical and recreational cannabis are also illegal.
Cannabis in Italy is legal for medical and industrial uses, although it is strictly regulated, while it is decriminalized for recreational uses. In particular, the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use is a misdemeanor and it is subjected to fines, as well as the suspension of personal documents. Nevertheless, the unauthorized sale of cannabis-related products is illegal and punishable with imprisonment, as is the unlicensed cultivation of cannabis, although recent court cases have effectively established the legality of cultivating cannabis in small amounts and for exclusively personal use. The licensed cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes requires the use of certified seeds, however there is no need for authorization in order to plant certified seeds with minimal levels of psychoactive compounds.
Cannabis in Japan has been cultivated since the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory approximately six to ten thousand years ago. As one of the earliest cultivated plants in Japan, cannabis hemp was an important source of plant fiber used to produce clothing, cordage, and items for Shinto rituals, among numerous other uses. Hemp remained ubiquitous for its fabric and as a foodstuff for much of Japanese history, before cotton emerged as the country's primary fiber crop amid industrialization during the Meiji period. Following the conclusion of the Second World War and subsequent occupation of Japan, a prohibition on cannabis possession and production was enacted with the passing of the Cannabis Control Law.
The list includes and details significant events that occurred in the global history of national-level implementations of, or changes made to, laws surrounding the use, sale, or production of the psychoactive drug cannabis.
The Dagga Couple or DC is a pro-cannabis lobbyist organisation from South Africa founded by Julian Stobbs and Myrtle Clarke after the two were arrested for the possession and dealing in the substance in 2010. Rather than plead guilty, the couple decided instead to sue seven sectors of government that maintained and enforced the policy of cannabis prohibition in the country resulting in what has been described locally as the Trial of the Plant in 2017.
The history of cannabis and its usage by humans dates back to at least the third millennium BC in written history, and possibly further back by archaeological evidence. For millennia, the plant has been valued for its use for fiber and rope, as food and medicine, and for its psychoactive properties for religious and recreational use.
Cannabis in Brunei is illegal and can be punishable by caning or the death penalty. Brunei Darussalam's legislation is controlled by its sultan and is based on the country's Sharia-Islamic beliefs. In accordance with these laws, Brunei native, Lam Ming Hwa, received the death sentence in 2004 and a Malaysian native, Muhammad Mustaqim Mustofa bin Abdullah, was sentenced to death in 2017.
Several countries have either carried out or legislated capital punishment for cannabis trafficking.
The International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM), formerly known as the International Association for Cannabis as a Medicine, is a non-profit scientific society founded in Cologne in 2000 and dedicated to the advancement of knowledge of cannabis and cannabinoid medicines among medical professionals. IACM is one of the few global non-profit medical societies or associations related to cannabis and cannabinoids, along with the Society of Cannabis Clinicians and the International Cannabinoid Research Society.
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