As cannabis legalization draws closer to becoming law in Canada, the University of Ottawa says its time to start preparing Canadian lawyers to tackle the new rules and regulations for recreational marijuana, writes Calvin Hughes.

Some Australian law enforcement officials support the idea, but medical experts have concerns.

The Australian Greens have proposed that the country should fully legalize the sale and use of recreational cannabis. "Governments around the world are realizing that prohibition of cannabis causes more harm than it prevents," Greens party leader Richard di Natale said in a speech Monday, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. "It’s time Australia joined them and legalized cannabis for adult use."

Travelers hoping to take advantage of the Netherlands’ lax weed laws during their next visit may want to rethink their itinerary.

Several cities across the marijuana-friendly country recently have taken steps to limit the public use of cannabis.

This week, The Hague became the first Dutch city to ban it in the city center, the central train station, and major shopping areas.

Last Wednesday, Ben Wilcox ended his workday late: He had to. With the rain having let up in Juneau for one brief day, he took the opportunity to repaint the Franklin Street facade of what will be Juneau’s fourth marijuana shop.

That shop, which has yet to be named and is scheduled to open this fall, is a sign of the marijuana industry’s continued growth in Alaska. On Friday, the Alaska Department of Revenue offered some other signs.

The state of Alaska has now collected more than $1 million in marijuana tax revenue, and the pace of sales appears to be picking up.

A Canadian appellate court has, for the first time, ruled unconstitutional a contentious mandatory minimum provision that saw individuals imprisoned for 6 months for producing as few as 6 marijuana plants.

The provision, ss 7(2)(b)(i) of the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, was introduced by the previous Harper government. It enabled Crown prosecutors to seek a minimum jail sentence of 6 months for offenders found producing more than 5 plants if the production could be shown to be for the purposes of trafficking.

Independence Day is a celebration of freedom. But on this July Fourth, for the first time in more than a century, our freedoms in Massachusetts include the ability to legally buy, possess, and use marijuana.

These privileges took effect in December, after voters approved a ballot question on recreational pot use. And that measure remains the law of the land, despite state legislators’ ongoing debate over a rewrite of the rules.

There is much discussion about the coming legalisation of marijuana in Canada, expected in about a year.

Certainly some of that discussion involves levels of intoxication/impairment and driving.

THC is the active chemical in cannabis. The Canadian government is proposing limits of  THC in blood levels similar to the concept of limits for blood alcohol content in current drinking and impaired driving laws.

Jonathan Zaid says that medical marijuana users may be unfairly treated under the proposed future laws. He is the executive director of Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana (CFAMM) is a federal non-profit organization medical cannabis patient rights group.

With cannabis legalization across multiple states in the U.S. and other countries around the world, there’s been an explosion of research firms looking into the industry.

Peter Dunne, the bespectacled politician in the bow-tie, was the unlikely hero of drug reform.

In May, the Associate Health Minister ventured that "some, if not all" class C drugs should be reclassified and regulated.

Outraged cries of "Minister for Stoners" were conspicuous by their absence.

Forget bingo, tea dances and seaside trips. Residents from a chain of Seattle retirement homes are going on Pot for Beginners tours to learn about – and buy – cannabis in the city, where it’s now legal.

Connie Schick said her son roared with laughter when he heard she was joining a field trip to a cannabis-growing operation, an extraction plant and shop. The 79-year-old, who smoked the odd joint in the 70s, wanted to know how legalisation has changed the way the drug is used and produced.

Schick was one of eight women, from their late 60s to mid-80s, who descended from a minibus emblazoned with the name of their assisted living centre, El Dorado West, outside Vela cannabis store last Tuesday.