Around The Web

German Court Rules “Child Marriage” Might Be Legally Protected; Seeks High Court Help

Bill Gnade

The case of a Syrian refugee who married his 14-year-old female cousin under Sharia law in a Syrian court may be permissible and "effective" under German law, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Germany declared in a recent decision. The BGH has asked Germany's highest court, the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), which adjudicates Basic Law (the equivalent of the US constitution), to clarify the matter.

According to an article in Die Welt (page translated via Google), the couple were married in February 2015 in Syria and fled to Germany in August of that year as war broke out in their home country. The man was 21 at the time of his marriage; his bride was 14 years old.

Around New England

Officials In Mass. Worry Pot-Based Edibles Will Lead To Under-age Use

Bill Gnade

With recreational marijuana use legal in Massachusetts, some officials are concerned cannabis-based edibles and other cannabis products will become more readily accessible to under-age users. The commonwealth's minimum age for purchase, possession and use of recreational marijuana and its derivatives is 21. 

Marijuana's chief pyschoactive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is not only absorbed by the body through smoking or vaping, but also through ingestion. Cannabis-infused cookies, brownies, sodas, chocolates, ribbon candy, drops, "gummies" and the like, can also deliver THC to a user for getting high.

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