“Marijuana Use Most Rampant in Australia,” read a New York Times headline in January 2012. Cannabis – marijuana, weed, pot, hash; whichever other name you prefer – remains the most widely used illicit substance in Australia today by a big margin. Approximately 1.9 million Australians aged 14 years and over have used cannabis at least once during the past year; more than a quarter of a million smoke cannabis every day, according to data compiled by the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC).

For most Americans, including some presidential candidates, the record on the U.S.-led drug war is settled: After spending more than $1 trillion on efforts that have taken or destroyed the lives of millions around the world, drug purity has risen, prices have fallen and rates of use have remained the same. It has, in no uncertain terms, been a catastrophic failure.

Victoria is set to grow its own marijuana to help legally treat people with a range of serious medical conditions.

In an Australian first, the Andrews government is preparing to announce a cannabis "cultivation trial", potentially clearing the way for a state-based medicinal cannabis oil industry.

Premier Daniel Andrews promised before the November 2014 election to legalise cannabis oil for use in exceptional circumstances. Photo: Emma Morgan

A majority of Michigan voters want to legalize recreational marijuana, but they can't agree on how to make it happen, according to a new poll. Nearly 56 percent of Michigan voters supported legalization efforts, while 40 percent were against legal marijuana, a Michigan Public Radio Poll released Thursday found.

Lawmakers who have been negotiating a plan to regulate medical marijuana in California said late Thursday that they have reached an agreement on legislation to be acted on by Friday's deadline.

The proposal would create a new state office that, along with cities, would issue licenses for medical cannabis dispensaries. Marijuana growers also would face regulations enforced by the state. Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) said the compromise drops a proposed excise tax that would have brought in $60 million for policing and environmental protection.

“This package is the end product of countless hours meeting with stakeholders and extensive negotiations with the governor’s office,” Wood said.

The police are recruiting a person to clear out cannabis sites and dispose of the drugs.

The police in Somerset have posted a job advert. The advert states that the police are looking for someone “to work at any time day or night, 365 days per year, to assist in locating and clearing cannabis growing sites.”

A successful candidate would “attend the scenes of cannabis cultivation and as part of a two-person team will clear the scene of all plants and growing equipment returning it all to Police HQ” where the equipment would be sorted into recycling bins.

The ability to communicate with all colleagues is high on the police list of required skills, as are integrity and honesty. But candidates are also required to be in shape.

Parliament will debate the legalisation of cannabis next month for the first time since 2004 following a campaign by an Aberystwyth University student.

Economics student James Owen launched a petition to make the “production, sale and use of cannabis legal” which has now racked up nearly 213,600 signatures.

MPs will debate the proposals on Monday, October 12.

Mr Owen argues that “legalising cannabis could bring in £900m in taxes every year, save £400m on policing cannabis and create over 10,000 new jobs.”

He insists it is “safer than alcohol” has “many uses” and is “believed to have been used by humans for over 4,000 years”.

A group of scientists and activists is coming to Phoenix later this month to talk about the "science" of marijuana in what appears to be another publicly funded prohibitionist political event.

Major Neill Franklin was one of Maryland's top cops when he retired in 2010 after 34 years in law enforcement. Over the course of those three-plus decades, he went from being an active supporter of the war on drugs to a staunch opponent. 

As the federal government for the first time threatened police action against some B.C. marijuana dispensaries this week, pot’s prominence in the October federal election is only increasing, says a B.C. criminologist.

SFU professor Neil Boyd believes B.C.’s booming pot dispensary sector is currently competing with Health Canada’s “bizarre” medical marijuana regime and street dealers, in a confusing market roiled by political and legal crosswinds.

“If we get a Liberal or NDP government, we will get something more rational,” Boyd said.

“The medical-versus-recreational-usage debate needs to be thought through. What we have now is bizarre. You have a medical system that is mail-order delivery, and it doesn’t make any sense.”