CLEVELAND- ResponsibleOhio, the group pushing for marijuana legalization in Ohio through Issue 3, introduced its mascot earlier this week.

“Buddie” made stops at the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University as part of the campaign’s bus tour.

“Buddie is going to college campuses only to promote ‘Buddie’s 21 and Up Club,’ our social media campaign to engage millennial voters in a new, creative and exciting way,” ResponsibleOhio spokeswoman Faith Oltman said in a statement on Thursday.

New poll suggests candidates who are pro-states' rights as far as marijuana is concerned may connect with key primary voters

Most voters in Iowa and New Hampshire think the feds should stay out of states' marijuana legalization efforts, according to new poll numbers. 

The Mayor of Graz wants to introduce €100 administrative fines for people caught with small amounts of cannabis in a bid to tackle drug dealing in the city.​

The proposal from Mayor Siegfried Nagl (ÖVP) is a direct challenge to the amended National Narcotics Act, which says people caught with small amounts of cannabis should be provided treatment from the health department rather than be punished.

Nagl says that these amendments, which will come into effect on January 1, will cause administrative headaches while not curbing “a single dealer”, adding: “The law is bad, it is bureaucratic and will incur costs.”

GARDEN CITY, Kansas (August 26, 2015) -Since the world learned that the Kansas Department of Children and Families(DCF) and the Garden City Police Department seized Shona Banda’s eleven year old son for speaking out during a drug prevention presentation at school, much has transpired. Her story has been spread internationally from a crime blotter of a small local newspaper to international headlines. From the Guardian, Huffington Post, Reason,The Atlantic and across the oceans to France, Spain and the UK. The list is substantial. Shona has a Gofundme account that has raised almost fifty thousand dollars, with contributions coming from people such as Steve Wozniak , cofounder of Apple.

A voter initiative to turn marijuana into a legal, regulated product in Florida, much like alcohol, was approved Wednesday by the Florida Division of Elections.

Called “Regulate Florida,” the petition spells out a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution.

Under the act, it would be legal for adults aged 21 or older to own up to an ounce of marijuana, grow up to six plants within their own own residence, or give away marijuana to someone else.

If approved, the measure would set a July 2017 deadline for Florida state government to begin licensing and regulating commercial grocers, processors and retailers.

Province seeks court order to force child back on to prescription drugs

An Edmonton-area mother is challenging an attempt by the Alberta government to legally bar her four-year-old daughter from receiving a marijuana treatment the mother says has successfully quelled her daughter's debilitating epileptic seizures.

"I feel violated and bullied to take away the one thing that gives her a life," the mother told CBC News.

Neither she nor her daughter can be identified under a provincial law that forbids the identification of any child involved with Alberta Child and Family Services.

I try to keep an open mind about things. I think that anyone who has ever met me will vouch for that claim, and will say that I’m an even-keeled, reasonable person who is open to new ideas (I don’t always participate, but at least I’m willing to listen). But something happened today that I just can’t understand. I have tried to approach the idea from every angle, and I still can’t arrive at how this came about. The ResponsibleOhio campaign has been using a mascot to promote its campaign. I think activist Sam Tracy described it best when he tweeted ’This is pretty much Duffman, for marijuana.’ Per Cleveland.Com:

How severely people are dealt with for possession of illegal drugs or drug utensils is to be reviewed - with officials to focus on whether action is proportionate to how much harm an offence causes.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne has released the 2015-2020 National Drug Policy, which could significantly reform the treatment of drugs such as cannabis.

Mr Dunne said three words - compassion, innovation and proportion - were of the utmost importance when developing drug policy.

The policy has been hailed as hugely significant by the NZ Drug Foundation, who say it signalled an armistice in "The War on Drugs".

"[It] all adds up to a signal that changes need to happen with how we deal with low-level drug offending," said executive director Ross Bell.

As more candidates announce their campaigns for the 2016 presidency, we couldn't help but wonder what each politician's presidency would mean for the state of cannabis in the U.S. Some candidates have openly shared their thoughts on cannabis while others are a little more shifty. For example, we know what Bernie Sanders would do for America if he became President – he emphasizes end the War on Drugs, decriminalizing cannabis nationwide, and helping reduce the prison population. Other candidates, like& Chris Christie, for example,would crack down on cannabis and even go as far as enforcing federal law in states with legal medical marijuana or recreational programs.