A number of federal employees with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have failed drug tests over the past five years, only to receive short suspensions or other minor reprimands,newly released documents reveal.

He was part of a gang which turned a secluded mansion into a massive cannabis factory as part of a multi-million pound drugs plot.

But Mark Gallagher, aged 49, of Wolverhampton Road East, Parkfields, Wolverhampton was caught following a raid on his flat, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Officers found 163 cannabis plants being grown and a laptop with searches for Grade II listed Flass House, in Cumbria, along with news stories on police investigations into cannabis production.

At Flass House, near Penrith, plants were found with an estimated street value between £31,700 and £63,400.

Mark Gallagher

Reactions to the “Responsible Ohio” cannabis-legalization initiative have a lot to tell us about the changing politics of the marijuana question. No much of what they have to tell us is encouraging.

Cannabis policy change in the United States has been driven, until now, by people whose interest in the matter was primarily non-commercial: pot smokers yearning to toke free, culture warriors of the (cultural) left, libertarians, criminal justice reformers concerned about arrest and incarceration, and people who think that it’s bad policy to criminalize the behavior of tens of millions of people unless there’s a stronger reason to do so than the risks of cannabis create.

It is absolutely absurd that there is no legal level of THC allowable by law in the saliva or the bloodstream when driving – as there is with that much more dangerous drug, alcohol.

Even the slightest trace of THC – which I’m told can be detected from a smoke many hours, days or even a week previously – will get you convicted of Driving Under the Influence.

You’ll lose your licence, perhaps your job, get fined, and perhaps even face gaol time.

And in the absence of an allowable level, there should be an impairment test for people who test positive for THC in their systems, if they’re picked up in a random roadside test without having driven erratically or broken any road laws.

A closeup of a marijuana plant shows the tiny hairs known as trichomes covering the surface of its leaves. Starting Thursday, adults can buy recreational marijuana in Oregon, the third state to permit legal sales.(Photo: Trevor Hughes/USA TODAY)

Oregon residents can buy legal recreational marijuana starting Thursday, joining just two other states with similar systems.

Adults 21 and older in Oregon may buy up to a quarter-ounce of cannabis per day, without needing a doctor’s recommendation.

Earlier this week, in a crowded meeting room in central London, the United Patients Alliance (UPA) convened a discussion about medical cannabis. The UPA is a group of volunteers from around the United Kingdom, all of who suffer from debilitating ailments that could be alleviated with cannabis use. The discussion involved individuals emotively describing the harrowing experiences that they had endured with their illnesses, their anger at being prevented from legally accessing their medicine, and their hope for policy reform.

SPRINGFIELD — 

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The 2016 Presidential Election could draw the largest voter turnout this country has ever seen. And it's not because the list of Presidential candidates is exciting and controversial. It's because the huge millennial generation will be voting in this election and social issues, like the use of marijuana, could be at the forefront. Candidates' policies on the still illegal drug could play a major part in determining our country's next commander-in-chief.

Expect this millennial youth vote to be especially strong in key swing states like Florida and Nevada, where state marijuana ballot initiatives will be slated for 2016. 

THE MINISTRY of Health is to be sued over ganja laws, the country’s first incorporated Cannabis Law Reform Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) has said.

According to a release from Colin Stephenson, the director and co-founder of C420, “under current law in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the possession, import, export, sale, manufacture, production, cultivation or distribution of cannabis is legal as long as one has been issued a licence”.

Stephenson said C420 is ”in possession of a legal opinion from the Ministry of Health confirming the same”.

“In light of this, C420 has made several applications for medicinal cannabis licences on behalf of individuals who feel cannabis will be effective as a treatment for their illnesses,” Stephenson said.