A majority of Canadians are in favour of either decriminalizing or legalizing personal marijuana use, according to the latest findings of Vote Compass, CBC's voter-engagement survey.

This applies not only to Canadians overall but also to those who identify as Conservative voters — who have historically favoured a strict drug policy.

According to Vote Compass, 75 per cent of Conservative supporters favour either decriminalization or legalization of marijuana for personal use, compared to 86 per cent of respondents overall.

The findings are based on 14,502 respondents who participated in Vote Compass between Sept. 22 and Sept. 24.

TORONTO - Colorado did it. Oregon and Washington, too. Sarah Palin’s Alaska did it. Maine hasn’t done it yet, but its biggest city, Portland, did.

Even the District of Columbia did it, which may explain that goofy grin on Joe Biden’s face. Spain, Portugal, Holland and Uruguay did it, to one degree or another. Many other countries are doing it or thinking about doing it.

Hell, North Korea reportedly did it, though you’re out of luck if you get the munchies.

Bangladesh did it. At the risk of starting a stampede to Bangladesh, I read you can get a gram of decent local product for 15 cents. No wonder they call their river the Ganga.

Yes, the list of jurisdictions around the world with legal recreational marijuana is growing like, well, a weed.

DETROIT — A Warren lawyer filed a lawsuit Monday against the city that demands up to $5 million in damages on behalf of 23 state-approved medical-marijuana users who say they’ve been harassed and ticketed by Warren police.

The lawsuit, filed in Macomb Circuit Court by attorney Michael Greiner, also claims that Warren zoning officials, Police Commissioner Jere Green and Mayor Jim Fouts cooperated in a policy to shut down a medical-marijuana transfer center — the Michigan Safe Transfer Center at 29601 Hoover, in an area zoned for a medical office — through a police raid and confiscation of the owners’ property, without a search warrant.

CLEAR has been mobilising its members as never before to lobby their MPs in advance of the cannabis debate on 12th October.

There are honourable exceptions but most responses have been unhelpful, dismissive and have completely failed to deal with the arguments put forward.  Most MPs are indoctrinated with the false reporting churned out by the press, scared stiff of the subject and not prepared to look any deeper.

It is a terrible indictment of these people, each of whom costs us about £250,000 per year in salary and expenses. Most simply do not do their job properly, certainly not in the interests of or representing their constituents, mainly they just pursue their own political ambitions and interests. They cannot be bothered to deal with the cannabis issue.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report for 2014 is out and despite the legalization of marijuana in four states, more people were arrested for possession of marijuana and possession of hard drugs this year.

There was an increase in arrests for marijuana law violations for the first time since 2009, breaking the only four-year decrease streak in the history of the War on Drugs. Last year’s marijuana arrest total of 693,482 increased by 7,511 to 700,993, marking a marijuana arrest every 45 seconds in the United States.

With the presidential election season in full power, it seems there is one thing on every marijuana enthusiast’s mind in legal states: who is going to protect my rights? Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington D.C. all have legal recreational marijuana, this is a big question in the upcoming election. Who is going to honor these states’ decision and who is going to shut it down when their term begin? Especially with the recent Republican debates, it seems some Republican candidates will have absolutely no problem showing up to Colorado’s door with federal agents.

New statistics show the U.S. war on marijuana is far from over.

Law enforcement officers made just over 700,000 arrests on marijuana-related charges in 2014, according to data released by the FBI on Monday. Of that total, 88.4 percent -- or about 619,800 arrests -- were made for marijuana possession alone, a rate of about one arrest every 51 seconds over the entire year.

While the national conversation about marijuana continued to shift in 2014, with recreational weed laws fully in effect in Colorado and Washington -- and measures to legalize the plant being passed in Washington, D.C., Oregon and Alaska -- the year also saw a reversal in a seven-year trend of largely declining possession arrests. 

“We can regulate these markets without a prohibitionist stance,” Vazquez said.
​Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez defended his country's “sovereign” decisions over public health and slammed the multinational tobacco industry, which he said “in order to double its profits doesn't have any problem in killing its customers.”

During his speech before the UN General Assembly, Tuesday, Vazquez singled out Phillip Morris for suing Uruguay over the country's anti-smoking campaign. The company is suing Uruguay for US$25 million under a bilateral investment treaty between Uruguay and Switzerland.

“It is not ethical that tribunals of multinational organizations can give priorities to trade aspects over the defense of fundamental human rights,” said Vazquez.

Two men have been jailed after causing an explosion in a Glasgow flat when they tried to extract cannabis oil using butane gas.

Stewart Hamilton, 40, and Daniel Gallagher, 21, set the Govan flat alight and shattered the windows.

They were both blown across the room and Hamilton suffered 8% burns to his head and body.

Hamilton was jailed for 15 months and Gallagher for a year at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The court had heard that during their experiment, the men used YouTube videos as an instruction manual.

Police officers were alerted to the explosion and found the pair receiving treatment for their injuries in hospital.

An Ontario judge has struck down one of the Conservative government’s signature drug laws – a six-month minimum jail term for growing between six and 200 marijuana plants for the purpose of trafficking.

The ruling came after a constitutional challenge brought by a man who had pleaded guilty to working in a grow-op. The man, Duc Vu, 42, of Brampton, Ont., called the minimum sentences for growing marijuana “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And the judge agreed.

Mandatory minimums have been a pillar of the federal government’s approach to crime, with the Conservatives creating 60 mandatory minimum prison terms for drugs, guns, sex offences and other crimes, according to the Justice Department.