Medical cannabis is legal in places as diverse as Canada, Uruguay, Israel and Jamaica. But could legalisation work in the UK? 

On a cold spring evening I catch a fast train from London to Maidstone in Kent, to meet Clark French, a young man with multiple sclerosis. I’m joining him and his companions from the United Patients Alliance (UPA) on a road tour of the UK. The group French founded last year has one, on the face of it, simple mission: the legalisation of medical cannabis in the UK.

Colombia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that growing up to 20 plants of marijuana is not a crime. The possession of small amounts of the drug had already been decriminalized.

The court ruled on the private cultivation of marijuana in an appeal filed by a man who had been sentenced to more than five years in prison after he had been caught by police with a recently cut plant weighing 124 grams.

The maximum amount of marijuana that can legally be carried is 20 grams in Colombia.

However, because the plant was meant for personal consumption, the court confirmed that there is no crime unless a person cultivates more than 20 plants.

The court ruling further decriminalizes the cultivation and possession of the drug for personal use.

A numbered company authorized to grow medical marijuana is suing the District of Maple Ridge, claiming the municipality is wrongfully trying to recover costs associated

A numbered company authorized to grow medical marijuana is suing the District of Maple Ridge, claiming the municipality is wrongfully trying to recover costs associated with a police raid on the firm’s property in August 2013.

Hilary Bricken

The Department of Justice has yet again graced us with another memo regarding how U.S. attorneys should argue against and prosecute medical marijuana criminal defendants. More specifically, the DOJ is making clear it does not view the 2014 Cromnibus as stopping federal criminal prosecutions for medical marijuana activity legal under state laws.  The DOJ authored this particular memo back in February, but it was just released to the public this month.

While allowing the use of marijuana for the terminally ill, Catholic bishops in the Philippines deny supporting a proposed medical marijuana bill

MANILA, Philippines – While debates on the topic rage in Philippine Congress, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement to explain why the Catholic Church allows the use of marijuana for terminally-ill patients.

At the same time, CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas on Monday, August 17, denied a newspaper report that said the CBCP is backing a proposed medical marijuana law.

Villegas cited Catholic Church documents to explain their position on “the compassionate use of cannabis or marijuana.” 

MINISTER of Industry, Investment and Commerce Anthony Hylton says the final recommendations to guide the development of the regulations for the ganja industry will be completed by the end of September.

Speaking at a press conference recently, the minister said the stakeholders have been working diligently and meeting with consultants to ensure that Jamaica has a path-breaking contribution to international best practices for the global cannabis industry.

Despite Bernie Sanders’ surge, particularly in the first primary state of New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton remains the Democratic frontrunner and the odds-on favorite to be the next President of the United States. Thus, it remains extremely important that cannabis law reformers lobby Clinton to support sensible federal marijuana policies that build upon gains made under the Barack Obama Administration. Secretary Clinton hasn’t voiced the most progressive stances on marijuana policy in the past, actually out of step with her Democratic constituents. The Democratic frontrunner was confronted by an Iowa mother who made a desperate plea for the legalization of medical marijuana to help her daughter while Clinton was campaigning at the Iowa State Fair.

As deputy director of the Washington Liquor Control Board, Randy Simmons helped craft the state's retail marijuana program. He's decided to step down.

The veteran bureaucrat who helped implement Washington's marijuana law is stepping down.

Randy Simmons, deputy director of the Washington Liquor Control Board, told Seattle Times staff writer Bob Young that this year's difficult legislative session played a factor in his decision. Battles erupted over the plan to fold the state's mostly unregulated medical marijuana industry into the regulated retail one.

With legalized recreational marijuana riding a winning streak since 2012, California, Massachusetts and Arizona are among top contenders to OK the substance – and more states could follow.

Ohio officials approved a bid last week to get recreational and medical marijuana legalization on the 3 November ballot. Thus far, Ohio is the only state where voters will consider pot legalization in the 2015 election. But that’s not because many states aren’t already eyeing their own marijuana campaigns.