Long before Canadians actually went to the polls last October, Justin Trudeau had been clear that his Liberal party would legalize marijuana. “I’m actually not in favour of decriminalizing cannabis. I’m in favour of legalizing it,” he said during a public appearance in British Columbia in the summer of 2013. “Tax it, regulate,” the leader of the then-third party said. “It’s one of the only ways to keep it out of the hands of our kids because the current war on drugs, the current model is not working.”

You won't find brightly coloured bongs or bubble gum-flavoured rolling papers displayed against the backdrop of exposed brick and modern, industrial-style furnishings at Tokyo Smoke.

Instead, the shop — located in a former shipping dock nestled between two warehouses in Toronto's west end — carries high-end pot paraphernalia befitting the pages of a design magazine while also serving up cups of artisanal coffee.

Pipes handcrafted by California-based ceramicist Ben Medansky sit alongside a pricey portable vaporizer, a reimagined version of the French press coffeemaker launched via a Kickstarter campaign and a selection of what shop owner Alan Gertner calls "museum quality collectibles" — items such as vintage Barbies and a vintage Hermes bag.

TORONTO - You won't find brightly coloured bongs or bubble gum-flavoured rolling papers displayed against the backdrop of exposed brick and modern, industrial-style furnishings at Tokyo Smoke.

Instead, the shop - located in a former shipping dock nestled between two warehouses in Toronto's west end - carries high-end pot paraphernalia befitting the pages of a design magazine while also serving up cups of artisanal coffee.

Pipes handcrafted by California-based ceramicist Ben Medansky sit alongside a pricey portable vaporizer, a reimagined version of the French press coffeemaker launched via a Kickstarter campaign and a selection of what shop owner Alan Gertner calls "museum quality collectibles" - items such as vintage Barbies and a vintage Hermes bag.

In April 2016, the international community will convene for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS). This event, held two years early due to the urgency of the drug situation and intensity of drug-related violence, presents an opportunity to question the fundamentals of international drug policy. Despite overwhelming evidence that a century-long quest to control human behaviour and drug markets through international treaties and national legislation has failed, there is little expectation of change. The vested interests in retaining the status quo are significant, with sclerosis legitimised through the recurrent exhortation to improve international co-operation.

Have you ever wondered why marijuana affects us the way it does? What is it that makes THC and CBD react with our bodies, healing and offering relief to the ill? What makes this plant such a diverse medicine, able to treat such a large number of vastly different conditions? 

If you had asked this question fifty years ago, there wouldn’t have been an answer for you to find. Unfortunately, the extraction methods available in the early 1900s made it difficult to determine which one of the 80+ cannabinoids found in cannabis was the psychoactive cannabinoid responsible for the effects of marijuana. 

The truth is, it’s only been in the last couple of decades that scientists have truly even begun to understand the ways cannabis works within our bodies. 

4/20 Cannabis Cup now in San Berdoo! OK. For reals. We think the 4/20 Cannabis Cup has actually found a home. After getting kicked out of the Denver Mart and then failing to secure the permits to hold the annual bacchanal in Pueblo, Colo., it looks like the good folks at High Times have moved the event to San Bernardino, Calif. Michael Roberts, reporting for Westword, follows the thread to the NOS Center in San Berdoo, which has hosted previous (medical) California Cannabis Cups. The U.S. Cannabis Cup, with its competitions and cannabis carnival booths, will take place there April 15–17.

Some criminal trial judges are questioning why people continue to be prosecuted for simple possession of marijuana while the Liberal government moves to legalize the narcotic, the country’s most senior prosecutors told parliamentarians Thursday.

The House of Commons justice committee heard that one magistrate is even considering whether to continue with a simple-possession case before the court given the Liberal’s promise to turn pot consumption into a legal, regulated recreational activity.

Cannabis News Network launches a miniseries on one of the hottest topics in cannabis regulation: the medicinal benefits of the plant and the struggle of patients to get access to it! Featuring Canada, Australia, Mexico, the United States, and Germany. Watch above.

In a major policy U-turn, Queen’s Park will ban the smoking and vaping of medicinal pot in all enclosed public places, workplaces, and many outdoor areas as well as curb the use and sale of e-cigarettes.

Associate health minister Dipika Damerla is expected to outline the changes on Thursday.

Sources said the potentially controversial anti-toking and anti-vaping measures were approved by Premier Kathleen Wynne’s cabinet on Wednesday afternoon.

The moves are “to strengthen . . . smoking laws to better protect people from second-smoke, whether from a tobacco product or medical marijuana,” an official said.

While a ban on selling e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 19 took effect on Jan. 1, the regulations limiting where adults could vape were in limbo.