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The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally, and it remains very difficult for local authorities to reduce the rates of drug consumption.
Cannabis in the United Kingdom is illegal for recreational use and is classified as a Class B drug. In 2004, the United Kingdom made cannabis a Class C drug with less severe penalties, but it was moved back to Class B in 2009. Medical use of cannabis, when prescribed by a registered specialist doctor, was legalised in November 2018.
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.
Malawian cannabis, particularly the strain known as Malawi Gold, is internationally renowned as one of the finest sativa strains from Africa. According to a World Bank report it is among "the best and finest" marijuana strains in the world, generally regarded as one of the most potent psychoactive pure African sativas. The popularity of this variety has led to such a profound increase in marijuana tourism and economic profit in Malawi that Malawi Gold is listed as one of the three "Big C's" in Malawian exports: chambo, chombe (tea), and chamba (cannabis).
Cannabis in India has been known to be used at least as early as 2000 BCE. In Indian society, common terms for cannabis preparations include charas (resin), ganja (flower), and bhang, with Indian drinks such as bhang lassi and bhang thandai made from bhang being one of the most common legal uses.
Cannabis in Nigeria is illegal, yet the country is a major source of West African-grown cannabis, and ranked the world's third highest consumer of cannabis.
Cannabis in Namibia is illegal for recreational and medicinal uses, but cannabis, just like mandrax (methaqualone), are the most popular illicit drugs in the country. Cannabis also has a history of use as a traditional medicine by local indigenous communities. Per the 2011 UNODC report, the incidence of annual cannabis usage in Namibia was 3.9% as of 2000.
The legal status of cannabis in North Korea is unclear due to the lack of sources available to the outside world. Cannabis for industrial purposes (hemp), which has a low THC, is legal and is widely used in the country for the production of consumer goods. As a result of the lack of reliable information on North Korea, myths suggesting the legal or widespread use of marijuana have been spread by some media outlets.
Cannabis in Italy is currently 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 civil infraction. The possible sanctions for possession vary from the issuing of a diffida to first offenders, that is an injunction not to use the drug again; to the temporary suspension of certain personal documents for repeat offenders. Conversely, 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 small amounts of cannabis 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 to plant certified seeds with minimal levels of psychoactive compounds.
Cannabis has been cultivated in Japan 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.
Cannabis in Pakistan is illegal for recreational use, although since September 2020, extracts of cannabis can be used for industrial and medical use. Cannabis is widely consumed in Pakistan as charas and bhang.
Cannabis in Turkey is illegal for recreational use, but allowed for limited medical and scientific purposes. The Turkish term for cannabis is kenevir.
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.
Cannabis in Sierra Leone is illegal, but is widely cultivated and consumed in the country, and exported to neighboring countries and to Europe. Cannabis is known locally as diamba.
Cannabis in Suriname is illegal. Cannabis is the most popular illegal drug in Suriname.
Cannabis in Kenya is illegal.
The history of cannabis and its usage by humans dates back to at least the third millennium BC in written history, and possibly as far back as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B based on 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 Mozambique is illegal; the drug is locally referred to as suruma.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the drug trade in West Africa rapidly expanded amid dramatic increases in US and European demand for cocaine, cannabis, and other drugs. This resulted in the expansion of two distinct trade routes, both of which went through West Africa. One route exported domestically produced cannabis from West Africa to South Africa, Europe, and Asia. The other trade route moved cocaine from Latin America and heroin from Afghanistan and Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States. In both of these routes, drug traffickers took advantage of trading networks created by Malian and Berber traders in colonial times to move drugs through the region, as well as West Africa's broader geographical location as an intermediate stop from Latin America and Southwest Asia to Europe and the United States. This was due in part to West Africa's badly policed borders, endemic corruption, and economic inequalities.
References
- ↑ 'Cannabis is legal in Ghana but …' - Lawyer | General News 2016-02-27
- 1 2 Guy Arnold (13 May 2013). The International Drugs Trade. Routledge. pp. 183–. ISBN 978-1-135-45515-6.
- 1 2 Vera Rubin (1 January 1975). Cannabis and Culture. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 101–. ISBN 978-3-11-081206-0.
- ↑ Akyeampong, Emmanuel (2005). "Diaspora and drug trafficking in West Africa: A case study of Ghana". African Affairs. 104 (416): 434.
- 1 2 Kima Cargill (1 December 2016). Food Cults: How Fads, Dogma, and Doctrine Influence Diet. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 222–. ISBN 978-1-4422-5132-8.
- ↑ Chris Duvall (15 November 2014). Cannabis. Reaktion Books. pp. 99–. ISBN 978-1-78023-386-4.
- ↑ "Ghana Passes Law to Allow Industrial Production of Cannabis". Bloomberg.com. 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
- ↑ NewsGhana (2023-08-05). "The World Is Legalizing: The Story of a Global Change | News Ghana". NewsGhana. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
- ↑ Anita Kalunta-Crumpton (3 March 2016). Pan-African Issues in Drugs and Drug Control: An International Perspective. Taylor & Francis. pp. 49–. ISBN 978-1-317-08433-4.
- ↑ "Ghana is 3rd consumer of marijuana globally - Report". GhanaWeb. 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
- 1 2 Paul V. Daly (July 1996). The Supply of Illicit Drugs to the United States: The Nnicc Report. DIANE Publishing. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-0-7881-3942-0.
- ↑ EMMANUEL AKYEAMPONG; ALLAN G HILL; ARTHUR M KLEINMAN (1 May 2015). The Culture of Mental Illness and Psychiatric Practice in Africa. Indiana University Press. pp. 39–. ISBN 978-0-253-01304-0.
