NORML Canada estimates that 1.5 million voters across the country are affected by cannabis prohibition, but without a database there’s no way of connecting with them to get to the polls

Despite a fixed election date everyone knew was coming and huge legalization rallies in the lead up to #elxn42, the cannabis community hasn’t done much to organize for the October 19 vote.

On September 26, less than four weeks before potheads head to the polls, NORML Canada (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada) convened a conference to address this massive failure at Vapor Central. 

No rules require disclosure when they toke up during a trial

The B.C. Supreme Courthouse was abuzz — jurors getting high? Lawyers grabbing a toke? Judges mellowing out?

Vancouver’s downtown glass ziggurat of justice might look like an oversized greenhouse, but pot friendly?

Now that medical marijuana is the talk of the town, with dispensaries as popular as coffee shops and two mainstream political parties willing to let people spark up their bongs, the potential side-effects are becoming more obvious.

What do you do with a juror who has a medical prescription for dope and insists on using his or her medication during deliberations?

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Saturday made the most incorrect statement possible about drug policy.

Asked about the Conservative Party's opposition to marijuana legalization, Harper said, "Tobacco is a product that does a lot of damage. Marijuana is infinitely worse."

It is disheartening to hear that any nonviolent person goes to prison for marijuana. It is even more disturbing when those sentenced were cultivating for medical purposes in accordance with state law. Unfortunately, such a tragic sentence has been levied against three members of a group of Washington State cultivators, dubbed the Kettle Falls Five, recently in federal court. Reason’s Jacob Sullum reports:

On 12th October, the petition to legalise cannabis will be debated by the UK Parliament. It presently stands at just under 220,000 signatures, the third biggest petition on the government's website and demonstrates a revival of interest in this long running issue.

Within the last few days, CLEAR Cannabis Law Reform passed the milestone of 500,000 followers on social media. It is now one of the biggest pressure groups in the UK on any subject and one of the leading drug policy reform groups in the world, exceeding even generously-funded US groups. CLEAR is run entirely by volunteers. It exists on a shoestring budget, funded only by membership fees and donations.

A University of Waterloo researcher is slamming Stephen Harper's assertion that marijuana is "infinitely worse" than tobacco, saying the remark has no basis in scientific fact.

The Conservative leader made the comment the morning after the final debate of the election campaign Friday night, during which he criticized Justin Trudeau's proposal to legalize the drug.

Asked by a reporter on Saturday why he so strongly objected to the Liberal leader's plan, Harper said there is "overwhelming and growing" evidence of "the bad long-term effects" of marijuana use. Noting that authorities have spent decades trying to discourage Canadians from using tobacco, he said "marijuana is infinitely worse, and is something we do not want to encourage."

On Friday the three remaining defendants in the Kettle Falls Five marijuana case, which involves Washington residents who grew their own medicine in a state that allowed them to do so, were sentenced to federal prison. Rolland Gregg got 33 months—more than two and a half years—while his mother, Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, and his wife, Michelle Gregg, each received a one-year sentence.

The debate over marijuana use in Canada has emerged in the federal election, pitting Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau squarely against Conservative Leader Stephen Harper over legalization.

Earlier this week, Trudeau stirred controversy when he vowed to legalize cannabis if elected. A day after clashing with Trudeau over the matter at the French-language debate, Harper challenged his opponent's stance again, and said marijuana is "infinitely worse" than tobacco.

The Conservatives are staunchly opposed to legalizing marijuana in Canada. Harper has said that it would do nothing to keep the drug away from children.

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -

Several organizations held a vigil Saturday to remember people who have died from illnesses, because they weren't able to use marijuana as treatment.

The event, called Light Up the Night and Spark the Truth, was hosted by members of the Southern Indiana and Kentucky Chapters of The International Women's Cannabis Coalition.

The event included a candlelight vigil, speakers, and musicians.

Dana Arvidson says she attended to remember her father-in-law who died from colon cancer. She says she came across a report that says marijuana has been known to prevent and cure colon cancer.

MONTREAL — Marijuana is “infinitely worse” than tobacco and its use should be widely discouraged in Canada, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says.

The remarks come the morning after the federal leaders’ French-language debate, in which Harper’s clash with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau over the issue of legalization was among the evening’s more memorable exchanges.

The Liberals support legalization; Trudeau argued during the debate that if pot were legal and regulated, young people would be less able to easily procure the drug than they are currently.

The Conservatives are vehemently opposed to the idea, with Harper saying that regulating its sale in the same way as cigarettes or alcohol would do nothing to keep it out of the hands of kids.