A group backed by billionaire philanthropist Sean Parker released a major, viable new initiative to legalize marijuana in California in 2016.

Called the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act — it’s a complete end to cannabis prohibition in California. A seed-to-sale system of commercial regulations would take its place, and lay atop the newly released medical marijuana regulations. Here’s what’s inside the initiative, which was filed by noted environmentalist Michael Sutton and a rare, cannabis-educated Physician Dr. Donald Lyman.

Parts of Ireland are set to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, including heroin, cocaine and cannabis. 

The radical change in law has been announced by the Minister in charge of the National Drugs Strategy, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who says that injecting drug users will be able to use a supervised injecting room in Dublin next year, followed by users in Cork, Galway and Limerick.

Irishtimes.com reports:

ALBANY -- A bill that would expedite patients’ access to medical marijuana has been sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk.

Cuomo will have until Nov. 11 to either sign or veto the bill, which the state Legislature passed in late June.

The Medical Marijuana Expedited Access bill comes after a state medical-marijuana program was passed in 2014 and is set to be up and running by January. It allows for medical marijuana in non-smokeable forms for patients suffering from severe illnesses, particularly children is chronic epilepsy.

But medical marijuana supporters have questioned whether the deadline would be met and said the bill would allow sick patients to more quickly get access to medical marijuana.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Will Ohio voters on Tuesday make the Buckeye State the first to go from pot prohibition to a fully legalized marijuana industry?

Or will voters say "no" to letting deep-pocketed campaigns secure future profits for themselves in the Ohio Constitution?

Both sides of the debate are confident they'll win, but the final results are difficult to gauge from polls and early voter turnout numbers.

"We will legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana” – Liberal Party of Canada.

Of the dozens of promises that make up the Liberal Party election platform, this one could have the greatest lasting impact on Justin Trudeau’s administration – and the country as a whole, according to industry experts who are eyeing a potentially sizzling new market.

In part, it’s a matter of scale. If the Liberals succeed in legalizing marijuana, an estimated 1.2 million Canadians could eventually use legal variants of the drug daily – and perhaps another 2.5 million will consume them occasionally. This assumes Canadians will embrace new rules as people have in Colorado, which legalized marijuana for recreational use following a 2012 referendum.

If Ohio voters legalize marijuana, they’ll make Lachey and many others very rich in the process.

Boy-band veteran + legalized marijuana sounds like the kind of unholy mash-up that only happens on the Internet, but it’s actually at the heart of a very real ballot initiative going out to Ohio voters this week—and one that’s not nearly as OMG-hilarious as it sounds. 

If anyone in the world has experience with marijuana legalization, it's the Dutch. For nearly 40 years, the limited sale and use of the plant has been effectively legalized — so-called "coffee shops" are allowed to stock and sell small quantities of cannabis to adult buyers.

Now that gay marriage is legal, what's next? We liberals need a new movement that will once again put conservatives on the wrong side of history. The LA Timesreports the answer might be marijuana:

The latest sign was the full-throated call last week by Sen. Bernie Sanders to end federal prohibition. With that one move, the candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination plunged into uncharted territory — and, arguably, so did the presidential race. Never before has a contender with so much to lose so unequivocally suggested that smoking a joint should be viewed the same as drinking a beer, at least in the eyes of the law.

By Deej Sullivan

As the case for drug prohibition has fallen apart, its defenders have had to come up with ever more imaginative ways to justify it. When it comes to cannabis, that now includes bending the laws of science to their will.

The government created a bit of a problem for itself when it allowed GW Pharmaceuticals to grow cannabis under license in order to produce Sativex - a cannabis tincture used to treat spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients. This was odd, because under the scheduling system for drugs enshrined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 cannabis is classified as schedule one, meaning it has no therapeutic value.

Deciding where federal & provincial authority lies in regard to legalization of commercial & personal production, age restrictions and taxes will take time

Marijuana Legalization. Like making great wine, braising a perfect pork shoulder, or convincing your mother that leaving a law firm to run a marijuana company is a good idea: marijuana legalization will take time. It may even take a long time. But like good wine, great food and living your dreams, the time and energy expended is well worth it when it’s time to enjoy the end result.