 Hello, I'm Peter Charosi and you are watching Drug Reporter News. Join us to learn about what's new in drug policy reform around the world. Brittney Greiner is sentenced to nine years in a Russian panel colony. Basketball star Brittney Greiner was arrested for smuggling 0.7 grams of cannabis oil in a vaporizer cartridge, legally prescribed in Arizona for her back pain, to Russia. President Biden called the sentence unacceptable and vowed to pursue all avenues to bring the American basketball star home, reported the New York Times. Her case has become mired in the conflict between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine. Greiner is sent to a Russian prison colony where some prisoners are tortured or beaten by fellow inmates and some have to work 16 hours a day. The Biden administration has offered to exchange Viktor But, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year U.S. prison sentence, as part of a potential deal to secure the release of Greiner. Colombia's first leftist president says war on drugs has failed. At his swearing-in, Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla, says the country is getting a second chance to tackle violence and poverty, reported the Guardian. Petro, a former member of a leftist guerrilla group, promised that his government would implement economic policies that seek to end long-standing inequalities and ensure solidarity with the nation's most vulnerable. It's time for a new international convention that accepts that the war on drugs has failed, he said. Of course, peace is possible. But it depends on current drug policies being substituted with strong measures that prevent consumption in developed countries' societies. A joint statement of three EU ministers on cannabis reform. Government ministers from four EU member states, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands and meeting host Luxembourg met on July 15 to discuss common drug-related threats and challenges. A joint statement adopted at the meeting by Germany, Malta and Luxembourg declares the state of school as untenable and calls for solutions, including possible regulation in order to move forward. One reason for concern, according to the ministers, is that illicit cannabis products are increasingly adulterated with synthetic cannabinoids. There is a need to reassess our policies on cannabis and to take into account recent developments in this area, to further strengthen and develop health and social responses, such as prevention, treatment and harm reduction interventions, and to find new approaches beyond prohibition-based drug policies. Concluded the statement. Civil Society demands balanced EU funding for drug policies. Civil Society organizations sent an open letter to the EU Commission to criticize the new call for drug policy grant proposals that almost only focuses on law enforcement and excludes harm reduction. Since the drug unit of the EU Commission was relocated to the internal security department, Civil Society has been concerned about the continuous shifting of its approach towards a more repressive, low- and order direction from a balanced, integrated model of drug policies. Civil Society organizations remind the Commissioner that there is an ongoing funding crisis for harm reduction, especially in the eastern part of the EU, and several essential services had to stop. In this situation, direct EU funding on harm reduction is essential for these organizations to survive. New Drug Decriminalization e-Course. The International Drug Policy Consortium, IDPC, launched this new Drug Decriminalization e-Course, a free-to-access online learning course that is open to anyone interested in this important topic. The course includes seven modules. It aims to educate participants about existing models of decriminalization, making the case for decriminalization, designing a decriminalization model, defining drug possession for personal use, designing sanctions and other topics. The video contents of the e-Course were edited by Drug Reporter. Those who are interested can register and access the e-Course on the IDPC's website. This was Drug Reporter News for today. Thank you for joining us. If you like our work, please make a donation today for the RISE Reporter Foundation, the Organization Operating Drug Reporter. Thank you and goodbye. Thank you for joining us. What we've been able to achieve has been done with your help. Now we go on to the next stop, making a final commitment. Now we need your support again. Support Drug and Reporter News. Today,