Oregon state lawmakers who fear heightened marijuana enforcement by federal agents overwhelmingly approved Monday a proposal to protect pot users from having their identities or cannabis-buying habits from being divulged by the shops that make buying pre-rolled joints and “magic” brownies as easy as grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the liquor store.

In the past eight months, over 7,000 people have been murdered in the Philippines, stupefying the rest of the human-rights conscious world. 

“If Germany had Hitler, The Philippines would have…” Roderigo Duterte declared last September, pointing at himself. “Hitler massacred three million Jews … there’s three million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.”

A leading anti-cannabis advocacy group has agreed to pay thousands of dollars in fines for violating California campaign finance laws as organizers fought Proposition 64, a November ballot measure that legalized adult-use cannabis in the state.

Municipal officials worry that allowing medical dispensaries to set up shop will eventually end up sticking towns with unwanted recreational dispensaries.

The regulatory woes are hitting Massachusetts. Lawmakers in the Bay State have been trying to amend the voter approved recreational cannabis legalization law since it passed in November, and the lack of clarity is now taking a toll on the state’s existing medical marijuana community.

If you’ve got more than a few questions about California’s new recreational cannabis policy, you’re certainly not the only one. Millions somewhat naively expected to wake up January 1 with a booming recreational cannabis industry blossoming all around them. In reality, things aren’t nearly as simple.

Quite to the contrary, Proposition 64 is a 62-page-long document that goes into immense detail as to how, when and by whom the new commercial cannabis industry will be controlled. It’s a pretty complex document to say the least, but for the most part, it doesn’t have a great deal of relevance to the average citizen. Or cannabis tourist, for that matter.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is to announce in his Sectoral Debate contribution in Parliament later this month, an enhanced public education campaign on drug use as new reports indicate that children, some under two years old, are turning up at hospitals with marijuana in their bloodstream.

Consultant paediatrician at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, Dr Tracy Evans-Gilbert, says she has had to treat children who ingested the drug that was sometimes left within their reach. 

There have also been reports that ganja is being added to some sweets which are then sold to students.

All these reports follow the 2015 liberalisation of Jamaica's drugs law which included the decriminalisation of the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana.

Colorado was set Monday to outlaw marijuana growing co-ops soon after the state Senate unanimously approved a bill making it a crime to for people to cultivate adult-use cannabis for other people.

The bill supported by the office Gov. John Hickenlooper passed 35-0 but it was unclear when he would sign it.

There are no state estimates on how many collective recreational marijuana growing operations exist in Colorado, though they are popular among users who share the cost of electricity, water and fertilizer to grow their cannabis.

Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, but it has a nagging black-market problem. Law enforcement and state lawmakers attribute the black-market problem in part to weak restrictions on who can grow pot.

Perth-based MGC Pharmaceuticals has reportedly produced its first cannabinoid extracts at the company’s new European extraction facility. The company told on Monday that it has successfully produced the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, cannabinoid, at its Slovenia extraction facility.

With long-awaited marijuana legislation set to be announced next week, the federal government is having second thoughts about legalizing cannabis on Canada Day.

The Trudeau government still plans to go ahead with its plan to make weed legal for recreational use. But a senior government source says the initial target of July 1, 2018 as the implementation date will be changed to "on or before July 1, 2018."

The change reflects some internal concerns over legalizing a recreational drug on the country's birthday. Bill Blair, the Liberal government's point man on pot, told the Canadian Press he wanted the focus of Canada Day to be Canada — not cannabis. 

This past Tuesday, voters in Kansas City went to the polls and approved a marijuana decriminalization measure with 74% of the vote. Previously, possession of up to 35 grams in the city was punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. That infraction will now result in a $25 fine, with no arrest and nothing being placed on your criminal record.