Here are some things to expect from the government of Canada’s newly elected prime minister, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, the 43-year-old son of long-serving Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

#1: Greater Willingness to Embrace Deficits

Incoming Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his Liberal government will run “modest” budget deficits during each of his first three years in office in order to fund infrastructure projects to jumpstart Canada’s economy. Mr. Trudeau’s predecessor, Stephen Harper, reluctantly ran budget deficits in the wake of the global financial crisis but was adamant about the need for balanced budgets during the latest campaign.

#2: No More Combat Role for Canada in the Fight Against ISIS

According to multiple media reports the Liberal Party in Canada appears to have won a strong plurality of seats, and maybe even a majority, in the federal elections that are wrapping up across Canada right now. Justin Trudeau, party leader for the Liberal Party, has been projected as the next Prime Minister of Canada. If the math stays true, this could be a HUGE victory for marijuana reform efforts in Canada. Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party has stated many times that it will make marijuana legalization a priority.

A judge has said he's "not blind to the debate" around medicinal cannabis in New Zealand during the sentencing of a man who used the drug to help him cope with Crohn's disease.

Peter John Crimp, 40, appeared in the Nelson District Court on Monday charged with possession of cannabis and a cannabis pipe.

The court heard that Crimp was driving on the Moutere Highway in the Redwood Valley about 7:50pm on September 19 when he was stopped by police.

While speaking to police, the officer noticed a strong smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle.

Police searched Crimp and his vehicle and found a small tin containing two grams of cannabis in his pocket and a small pipe.

Politicians of all stripes worked hard to woo small-business owners during the long election campaign, with the NDP, Liberals, Conservatives and Greens all vowing to reduce the small-business tax rate. Today, as Canadians head to the polls, many business owners are thinking of these key issues that set the parties apart.

Marijuana

The Turnbull Government will seek parliamentary support to allow the controlled cultivation of cannabis for medicinal or scientific purposes in Australia to deliver patients access to a safe, legal and sustainable supply of locally-produced products for the first-time.

The Turnbull Government will seek parliamentary support to allow the controlled cultivation of cannabis for medicinal or scientific purposes in Australia to deliver patients access to a safe, legal and sustainable supply of locally-produced products for the first-time. 

This last week I attended a reception for Oregon members of the National Cannabis Industry Association. The event took place at one of my favorite venues, the Kennedy School McMenamins location in Portland, Oregon. It’s an old schoolhouse converted into a hotel and bar. For those of you not from Oregon, McMenamins is a company that restores historic locations and makes them into fantastic places to hangout. If you are ever in Oregon, definitely check one out, they have several locations.

It’s now less than three weeks until Buckeye State voters head to the polls in an off-year election, and they make make Ohio the first Midwestern state to legalize marijuana. A poll this week that asked specifically if respondents supported the initiative on the ballot had 56% saying yes.

Exclusive Police cite shrinking budgets and reduced stop and search, as possession offences recorded in England and Wales drop by almost a third

The number of cannabis possession offences in England and Wales has plummeted since 2011 as forces divert shrinking budgets into tackling more serious crime and officers rein in stop and search.

Figures released to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act reveal offences recorded by English and Welsh police forces – including penalty notices, cautions, charges and summons – fell by almost a third from a peak of 145,400 in 2011-12 to 101,905 in 2014-15.

LEXINGTON, Ky. • For more than 100 years, Jane Harrod’s family set aside a corner of their farm to grow tobacco. The 20 acres they grew when she was a girl was only a fraction of the 400 acres the family owned outside of town but it promised good money — about $1,000 an acre.

“Most all of us farmers raised some tobacco,” said Harrod, 63, of Lexington, Ky. “Tobacco definitely put the clothes on our backs when we were kids.”

But tobacco isn’t the reliable cash crop it once was. That has Harrod and hundreds of other farmers across the South revisiting a plant from deep in the region’s past: industrial hemp.

Cannabis is legal for recreational use in several countries around the world (Source: Getty)

High hopes for the legalisation movement: Mexico could be close to legalising marijuana, as the country’s supreme court gears up to discuss the issue later this month.

The supreme court will be discussing a proposal that would legalise consumption and production of marijuana for recreational use.

Mexico has already approved medical use of the drug, as a lower court in the country granted a couple the right to import marijuana-based medicine to treat their daughter’s epilepsy in August.

Since recreational use of the drug has been made legal in several US states, political pressure has been mounting on Mexico to follow suit.