I’m not sure who decided to stage a Republican presidential debate in the liberal bastion of Boulder, Colorado, and whether it’s an amusing coincidence or subtle trolling. Many local residents are, as the New York Times recently noticed, slightly puzzled and none too pleased about the influx of national Republicans. As a former Boulderite, I can report that a big reason for their discontent is the traditional Republican attitude toward marijuana: This is the party, after all, that christened “Just Say No” and launched the War on Drugs. 

Law hasn't changed on cannabis - Quayle

The Island’s Health Minister says he doesn’t oppose cannabis being used to treat patients – as long as it’s on medical advice and from a reputable pharmaceutical company.

This morning in the House of Keys, Howard Quayle was asked about his department’s stance on medical cannabis.

Mr Quayle told South Douglas MHK Kate Beecroft there were circumstances under which the drug or its derivatives can be useful.

But he also had a warning for those rushing out to grow their own:

As Canada begins the long conversation of how to regulate legal marijuana for adult use in Canada, various US states like Colorado or Washington often get mentioned as templates to follow or learn from. One not mentioned quite as often is Oregon, who also recently regulated legal marijuana for adult recreational use after over a decade of regulating legal marijuana for medical purposes.

A Highland arthritis sufferer was spared a jail sentence yesterday when a sheriff accepted he was growing cannabis in his home for medicinal purposes.

Instead, 42-year-old Alexander Macpherson was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work after admitting cultivating the class B drug in the bedroom of his home at 11 Glenloy Street, Caol.

His counsel, advocate Shahid Latif, argued at Inverness Sheriff Court that there were exceptional circumstances which could allow the court not to impose a custodial sentence on his client, who also suffered from depression.

Macpherson told police when they raided his home on June 4, 2013, that he was not dealing the drug and that it was for his personal use due to his habit and medical problems.

A UN agency censored an official paper calling for drug use decriminalization. But its message is here to stay

Legalized marijuana in the U.S. has led to a windfall for government and business.

WASHINGTON—The sale of marijuana for recreational use became legal in Colorado and the state of Washington last year, Oregon this year. (Alaska and Washington, D.C. now allow the use of marijuana, but selling marijuana is still illegal.) While it’s still too soon to draw firm conclusions about the impact of U.S. legalization, here’s what has happened so far.

Highs 

No boom in teen use: What about the children? Legalization opponents claimed youth marijuana use would skyrocket if the law stopped treating weed as a demon to be feared by adults. That has not happened so far. 

Mexico’s Supreme Court next Wednesday will vote on a case that many think could set a precedent for widespread marijuana legalization in the country. But strangely enough, the forces behind Mexico’s weed-legalization efforts have little do with the greater criticism of a drug war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives over the past decade.

Instead, Mexican weed enthusiasts argue they have a basic human right to get high.

In 2013, Mexico’s first marijuana club, The Mexican Association for Responsible Self-Consumption and Tolerance (or SMART in Spanish), filed a legal petition demanding the right to cultivate, possess and consume marijuana for recreational purposes. The initial motion was denied, but SMART managed to appeal it all the way to the Supreme Court.

A prominent member of the country's Expediency Council delivered a lecture on steps that could be taken to legalise the drugs

After Uruguay courageously legalised the use of cannabis under a new drug policy, could Iran be the next country to make it legal? From the outside, the image of Iran as retrograde and inherently conservative hardly fits with the reality of a more dynamic domestic political debate within. But drug policy is one of the areas of debate in which the Islamic Republic has produced some interesting, yet paradoxical, policies.

With an estimated 8.4 per cent of Scots still using cannabis every year despite strict laws against it, has the time come to consider decriminalisation in the UK?

Several countries have already liberalised laws concerning use of the drug, and Canada could become the latest to legalise its sale following the recent election of Justin Trudeau as prime minister.

The Government has no plans to legalise or decriminalise cannabis

Mike Penning MP

The Liberal leader made legalisation of marijuana a key policy in his party’s manifesto, pledging to regulate the sale of the drug to ensure profits were diverted from organised crime.

Vancouver marijuana dispensaries that did not submit a licence application last summer must close their doors “immediately”, the city has warned, or “be subject to enforcement action”.

“The City inspects these businesses regularly,” states an October 26 media release. “As with other businesses, the City will use a range of enforcement tools, including fines and legal action.”

That was included in an update on a licensing process that the city began last June with the adoption of a new legal framework for marijuana-related businesses.