What’s the deal, yo?! Where is it legal and where is it not?
What’s the deal, yo?! Where is it legal and where is it not? What is our standpoint?
We are entering into an era where casual pot smokers and CBD use are as normal as going to Starbucks for coffee and lounging or having a beer with friends.
With the internet, the information flow is more efficient then ever, so even if you don’t want to, you probably have read or have seen a video about the benefits of cannabis by now.
Vaping the herb also helped. How - you may ask?
Mixing technology with cannabis feels a little more modern, more futuristic, maybe? This gets very interesting - actually many AirVape customers (40+ years of age) confirmed that they never smoked pot before, and they started to dive in with curiosity by vaping and without ever smoking a joint.
Times of vaping brought a new, elegant technology changing the times of bowl smoking and might make cannabis consumption more appealing and a easier to accept the benefits and leave the stigma behind.
So this might be the time for a ‘fresh start’ in many minds, people looking at vaping that this might be the chance, a new opportunity to rethink what our parents and society wanted to teach us without going into details.
Just to see where we are standing, about 55 million is using cannabis regularly. About 50/50 percent who would legalize it vs. oppose recreational marijuana use according to Yahoo news.
Recreational weed legalization seems on a steady rise globally. Today, more people are shifting the way they look at cannabis, CBD oil. Breaking news - these products are coming out in the open in other parts of the world, too, with people demanding their national governments to keep up with the times.
Not long ago US paid $3.6 Billion/year for law enforcement against cannabis, yet Business Insider says if marijuana would be legalized, there would be $132 Billion paid in taxes and 1 million jobs created around cannabis by 2025.
While there are still a number of societies which have yet to clear the haze that clouds them, it is only just a matter of time for them to come around. ;)
Getting paid in tax money vs paying law enforcement to fight the ‘crime’ ? … Thats all we are asking…
Marijuana
There are now loads of countries that have embraced marijuana for all the good it offers. Here in the US, weed is legit in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, DC, Northern Mariana Islands and several Native American territories. However, you might not want to smoke pot in any of these states, but the takeaway is that, it’s decriminalized: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island. There are other states as well where getting caught with it is just considered a misdemeanor if not a minor infraction. Thirty one states including Guam and Puerto Rico, allow using and growing marijuana for medical purposes.
Talk about being woke - recreational and medical use plus cultivation of marijuana are green-lighted in Uruguay and most recently in Canada (O, Cannabis!) being the first major economy to do so. I don’t know how selling marijuana is prohibited in the country of Georgia and South Africa, yet consumption is completely legal. Its recreational use is a-ok in Sri Lanka (if bought at an Ayurvedic store), some states in India, and Thailand but it requires that the THC content is lower than 1%.
Europeans are enjoying more freed up jail space in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. Medicinal use is positively legal in most of them with Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, and San Marino joining the expanding list. Further, weed by-products are approved as medical aid in Austria, Belgium, France, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. The Brits are looking forward to the accessibility of cannabis derivatives for medical treatment in November 2018. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, people have been using weed within licensed coffee shops for decades yet breeding the plant is not allowed in their territory. It’s the same with Italy where selling and growing will get you in serious trouble but having it in your possession will not - just some fines perhaps. It even becomes legal when it is used for religious purposes. Norway is on its way to decriminalization as well. You might even get away with it in Denmark, Finland and Poland. Danish people could simply go to a town aptly named Freetown, where you can smoke pot like it’s nobody’s business, even if it remains illegal.
Weed is also basking in a decriminalized status on these countries: Argentina, Australia, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica, México, Paraguay, Perú, Russia and Ukraine. You might as well push your luck when in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Iran, Laos, Lesotho, Morocco, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Israel is almost set for decriminalization in 2019.
Marijuana is legal only when used for medical purposes in these countries: Argentina, Australia. Chile, Colombia, Israel, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Zimbabwe where most of them allow cultivation as well. New Zealand has been working on legalization for years and so far has approved a few cannabis-derived medicines. You can grow pot legally and mostly for medical use but with a few conditions in the following countries: Brazil, Lesotho, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Zambia. In November 2018, United Kingdom will start opening the gates for cannabis-derived medicines and allow marijuana cultivation for those with licenses.
You may however experience pot FOMO beyond our borders. I will be hashing out the following list of countries that remain stiff about the use of marijuana by their citizens and foreign visitors. They prohibit both recreational and medicinal use, as well as cultivation of marijuana: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Macau, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, and Yemen. That is not to say however, that they are not doing anything for their current laws to change. A number of countries from this list has either an ongoing debate or pending legislation on weed use.
CBD Oil
With medicinal marijuana being popular now more than ever, Cannabidiol or CBD oil is perhaps the most sought after spinoff. CBD oil is getting a lot more acceptance in the mainstream especially the hemp-based kind because of its low THC content. There are 46 states as of this writing where CBD is legal, most of which have specific regulations. That’s more than 90% of the country’s total number of states. Aside from the 9 mainland states that have legalized marijuana in all aspects, these 20 states have been using CBD oil for its medical properties: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. Likewise but with certain restrictions for the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Meanwhile, there are only 4 states that ban CBD’s use and they are: Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Although, it is quite unclear if hemp-derived CBD is also within their restrictions, so maybe there’s a glimmer of hope there somewhere.
Aside from weed heroes Canada and Uruguay, CBD is also legal regardless of what it’s used for in Georgia, South Africa and Thailand. There are a lot of countries that have also realized that CBD oil hemp does not cause a feeling of high, again thanks to the near absence of THC. As such, CBD is either legal or tolerated in the following: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, US Virgin Islands, and United Kingdom.
In Poland, hemp strains have been the subject of continuous research with their anti-inflammatory properties. Quantities can be restricted such that you should use 3 grams or thereabouts, when in Belgium. Hemp is not even considered as cannabis in Sweden so you can freely use CBD oil as you please. Indian cannabis is specifically prohibited from its cultivation in Latvia but hemp is all good so CBD oil is totally acceptable. Given that there is no ban declaration on CBD, it is all systems go in Romania. Certain conditions apply in these countries but nonetheless CBD should be ok: Australia, Israel, Jamaica, Macedonia, Mexico, New Zealand, San Marino, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Zimbabwe.
The following countries prohibit both recreational and medicinal use, as well as cultivation of marijuana itself, which will most probably apply to CBD oil as well: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Macau, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, and Yemen.
However, given the lack of clear information from the aforementioned countries, it is best to verify their specific laws in case you are planning to bring some upon your arrival. For all we know, CBD oil might not be on their banned list.
