SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday began debating a drug case that could lead to the decriminalization of possession for personal use in the South American country.

In 2009, an inmate in a Sao Paulo prison was caught with three grams of marijuana. The crime of drug possession was tacked on to his criminal record that included robbery, sale of stolen goods and illegal possession of a gun. Two years, later the public defender's office in Sao Paulo state filed an appeal on his behalf arguing that the inclusion of drug possession was unconstitutional because it violated the constitutional right to privacy.

DENVER — Colorado’s successful experiment in marijuana legalization is bringing in millions of dollars of revenue per month while simultaneously benefiting schools and contributing to a drop in crime rates.

Colorado reached over $50 million dollars in recreational cannabis sales in June, breaking the state’s previous record, according to Ricardo Baca, a staff writer for Denver Post’s The Cannabist. In addition, medical sales reached $25 million.

Based on the state’s various taxes on marijuana sales, Baca reports that the state has earned over $60 million dollars in marijuana tax revenue so far this year.

In an ideal world for those in the cannabis industry, as well as for advocates and enthusiasts nationwide, cannabis would be made legal in every state in the country by the 2016 elections, if not sooner.

A Vietnam court has given a death sentence to a Filipino man for carrying over 3.4kg of cocaine from Brazil into Vietnam in late 2013.

Forty-year-old Emmanuel Sillo Camacho received the sentence at his trial opened by the Hanoi People’s Court on Tuesday on charges of “illegally transporting drugs” pursuant to Article 194 of the Penal Code.

Camacho was arrested in early December 2013 after being caught with cocaine hidden in his luggage at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.

Security forces discovered white powder with total weight exceeding 3,408 grams stashed inside eighteen socks.

Camacho told investigators that four months before the arrest, he had met a woman named Jessica who was living in Brazil through Facebook.

A group of MPs and Peers says legal cannabis markets should be tested and drug use decriminalised as part of a radical new approach to drug use.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform wants an overhaul in global narcotics policy.

It says the "war on drugs" and "blanket prohibition" have failed.

The group also believes certain human rights laws could be used to claim that those who possess cannabis should not be treated as criminals.

After being disappointed with lawmakers, a local man is asking the community to help legalize medical marijuana in North Dakota. Ray Morgan, a Fargo man suffering from severe back pain is leading the fight.

He’s asking the community to sign a petition. He's formed a committee of 25 people, and if they get approval from the Secretary of State they can start collecting signatures. They need 13,500 people need to sign on. If they get that, you will be able to vote for or against legalizing medical marijuana on the November 2016 ballot.

Legalizing and taxing marijuana could raise an additional $40 million a year for education, according to estimates by the campaign to legalize the drug in Arizona.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which is gathering signatures to qualify for the 2016 ballot, would establish a network of licensed cannabis shops where sales of the drug would be taxed.

J.P. Holyoak, campaign chairman, said at a news conference at the state Capitol, “We have a choice: We can either tax and regulate marijuana for the benefit of education and public health care, or we can keep it illegal for the benefit of illegal drug cartels.”

"Colorado voters made it clear that they do not want adults to be punished for possessing small amounts of marijuana."

A state appeals court has overturned the marijuana conviction of a Colorado woman who was sentenced and convicted for marijuana possession just days after voters approved a measure legalizing recreational marijuana in the state almost three years ago -- retroactively applying the law to her case. 

Even now in places where marijuana has been completely legalised, years and years of prohibition have had an impact on the way it is grown. If research has been insufficient, it is because the authorities did not allow it, so how do we now stop blights from ruining crops? How can we do it without pesticides, herbicides or fungicides that could also harm us?

A group of MPs and peers have argued that people have the human right to take drugs and urged the government to consider reforming their policy and open a legal cannabis market. The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform, whose members include former MI5 director general Baroness Mannigham-Buller and former chancellor Baron Lawson of Blaby, say the war on drugs has "failed" and that change is needed.