By Steven Voser

Ireland has left its mark on the world in a number of fields. William Brooke O'Shaughnessy was one of the first European doctors to study the medical properties of cannabis. He discovered the cannabis plant and its local reputation for healing various ailments while working for the British Empire in 1830s India. The intense interest that followed led to the widespread use of cannabis throughout European societies. Then, in the 20th century, the international crackdown on cannabis began.

Ireland now stands as a perfect example of the failure of cannabis prohibition. Cannabis use is still widespread, despite strict criminalisation and escalating gangland violence. Ireland was one of the first nations to show a scientific interest in cannabis. Could Ireland now be about to change its cannabis laws?

CANNABIS LAW IN IRELAND

Ireland is notoriously stubborn to change. It introduced prohibition of cannabis in the 1930s in order to comply with various international agreements. By the 1970s, many countries began questioning whether such international treaties against drug trafficking were right to include cannabis. The Netherlands famously instructed police to tolerate coffeeshops selling cannabis in order to separate cannabis users from the hard drug market. This policy has proved effective, still continuing since its introduction in 1976. A year later in Ireland, the 1977 Misuse of Drugs Act was passed, and it also distinguished between cannabis and hard drugs.

However, the legal distinction was that cannabis use would be subject to two strikes before the full penalty of drug use. Your first cannabis possession offense could face you with a fine of up to €1,270. Your second cannabis possession offense can fine up to €2,540. A third strike faces a potential Class C fine and/or up to a year in prison. Growing your own cannabis plants could also land you a huge fine and even up to 14 years in prison. That opportunity to end the criminalisation of cannabis users slipped away. Like many countries, Ireland has paid a heavy cost for the pig-headed persistence of the War on Drugs.

Coffee Store Amsterdam

DRUGS IN IRELAND

Police resources are drained by so many cannabis seizures in Ireland, which are reported on a regular basis. Sometimes, grow-houses are discovered with migrant labourers trafficked to Ireland by organized crime. And the 2010s have seen an escalation in violent killings between inner-city gangs selling drugs. This decade has also seen Ireland recognized as the biggest user of illegal psychoactive drugs in Europe. That was the distinction Ireland has earned for its efforts in the EU Drugs Market Report of 2016. The Report also claimed that 25.3% of Irish adults have tried cannabis at least once, and 10.3% of Irish adults have used it within the last year.

All the while, an opioid crisis is harming communities throughout Ireland. City streets can often be seen with discarded syringes from heroin-users. With the mounting failures of the War on Drugs, even the Irish government has been thinking things over. They are in the process of establishing Dublin's first center for supervised heroin injection—a harm reduction measure practiced in many countries. They have also repeatedly expressed plans to emulate the drug policy of Portugal. Under 2001 reforms, possessing less than a ten-day supply of illicit drugs is no longer a criminal offense in Portugal. The health benefits observed as a result make a strong case for Portugal's policy, though Ireland has yet to implement it. When it comes to cannabis, a new tide of public opinion may force the government's hand.

MEDICAL CANNABIS IN IRELAND

In December 2016, an Irish Times/Ipsos poll placed public support for prescribed medicinal cannabis in Ireland as high as 81%. A Red C poll published a month earlier placed support levels even higher at 92%. The Irish public appears to be very sympathetic to the use of cannabis in a supervised medical context. It would seem like a no-brainer for the government to introduce this, especially with all of cannabis' potential medical benefits. Yet the government is still progressing slowly and trepidatiously on the matter.

The government claims to be gathering expert advice on how to establish a medical cannabis schema. One government report released from the Health Products Regulatory Authority only recommends cannabis treatment for conditions with the most clinical efficacy. From their research, these include epilepsy, chemotherapy, and spasticity from multiple sclerosis. Whether prescriptions will be allowed for other conditions is currently at the discretion of the Minister for Health, Simon Harris. He has to approve medical cannabis prescriptions on a case-by-case basis. For too many Irish people, this is not good enough.

Vera Twomey

VERA TWOMEY

The government, led by conservative party Fine Gael, is under increasing pressure for a legislative solution to the medical cannabis issue. A number of families have led campaigns calling for changes to the current law. The most high-profile case concerns Ava Barry, a young girl from County Cork. The epileptic seizures she experiences from her Dravet syndrome diagnosis are only effectively treated with CBD-rich cannabis oil. CBD oil is legal in Ireland, but not if there's psychoactive THC present. Ava's mother, Vera Twomey, has repeatedly called on the government to allow for more flexibility regarding cannabis-based medicines.

Twomey marched from County Cork across the country to the Irish parliament building at Leinster House in Dublin. She then camped outside even though she was ill herself. After this protest was ignored, the family then had to relocate to the Netherlands to access Ava's medicine. In November 2017, they were finally granted a license for their medicine in Ireland by Minister Simon Harris. Twomey was recognized for her efforts at the People of the Year Awards, at a ceremony attended by Leo Varadkar, the current Prime Minister or "Taoiseach" of Ireland.

Twomey used her acceptance speech to appeal directly to the Taoiseach and the public to pass better laws on medical cannabis. She was met with a standing ovation.

Controversially, the national broadcaster RTÉ edited an online clip of her speech short. This led to wide sharing of her full speech across Irish social media. This has placed even more pressure on Varadkar to legislate for cannabis reform. There are a number of proposals that have already been put forward, including one where the ball is firmly in the government's court.

POTENTIAL CHANGES FOR MEDICAL CANNABIS?

Twomey's speech specifically mentioned a bill currently with the Irish parliament, the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation bill (2016), which has been put forward by Gino Kenny, a politician and “TD” for the Dublin Mid-West constituency. Although this bill legalizes medical cannabis, Fine Gael were hesitant to allow this because of the alleged legal complications that would arise. Fine Gael do not currently hold a majority in parliament, and the parliament voted in favor of revising the bill further. There has been no progress, however, on this bill in over a year.

Marijuana Indoor Cultivation

POTENTIAL CHANGE FOR RECREATIONAL CANNABIS?

Another small political party happened to announce an even more ambitious policy the weekend of Vera Twomey's speech. The Green Party only holds two seats in the current parliament of 158 seats. They have been in government before, and could potentially be part of a coalition government after a future election. Part of their platform will be this document outlining their cannabis policy. Another coincidence with this announcement is that it happened the same weekend as the Australian Green Party announced their policy to legalize cannabis.

The Irish Green Party advocates for adopting the Dutch model, but with licenses for regulated domestic cultivation. This avoids the Dutch pitfall of organized crime involvement in the supply of cannabis to coffeeshops. Otherwise, the Dutch model is followed closely, with adult-only coffeeshop spaces for selling and using cannabis. There would be no criminal offense for possessing less than five grams of cannabis. There would also be access to cannabis-based medicines through pharmacies, similar to recent reforms in Germany.

Green Party leader and former government minister Eamon Ryan says jurisdictions that have introduced regulation of cannabis have seen positive outcomes. He says the current system is "feeding gangland culture" and that regulating cannabis would be best for overall harm reduction. The initial response to this new Green policy has been surprisingly positive. Self-selecting polls placed public support for their proposals at 76% on Newstalk and 91% on the Irish Independent.

ALCOHOL IN IRELAND

Reforming cannabis laws appears to be popular in Ireland. This is certainly true of medical cannabis, where even older and more conservative groups support it. While public attitudes are shifting, there could still be vocal opposition to any moves towards tolerating recreational cannabis. There's decades of misinformation around cannabis, with people fearing its effects will be similar to alcohol. Ireland has huge problems with alcohol. As an Irish non-drinker, I know this is a harmful stereotype. It is also observable in Irish cities every weekend. What might be appealing is the potential for an alternative social scene in Ireland.

Wherever access to cannabis opens up, a community emerges around its responsible use. A more laid back coffeeshop environment could be safer than the amped-up atmosphere of bars, pubs, and nightclubs. The contrast between stoned behaviour and drunk behaviour was even highlighted in Colorado's **historic legalization campaign. What if instead of making Irish nightlife worse, cannabis actually helped with Ireland's alcohol problems? It's even possible cannabis can treat addiction to alcohol and other substances! But is any of this even likely to happen in Ireland?

IS IRELAND READY?

Ireland has traditionally been a socially conservative country. It also has a political system where the government always features one of two conservative political parties with almost identical policies. As recently as 2013, a bill from Luke “Ming” Flanagan TD to legalize cannabis was voted down in parliament by a crushing margin of 111 to 8. In that context, approval of recreational cannabis does not look likely. Then again, Flanagan has since been elected to the European Parliament. And Ireland now seems capable of more rapid social change than before.

It took until 1993 before homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland. By 2015, Irish voters approved same-sex marriage in a historic referendum. Did I mention Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is gay and it's hardly ever brought up in Ireland? Social movements have emerged to challenge stigma, taboos, and silencing. There's even a referendum to lift Ireland's abortion ban this year. Perhaps Ireland's cannabis users will tell their stories now too. Perhaps change is always closer than we think.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: