Cannabis is hugely popular. 182m people use cannabis across the world and, with this level of exposure, the way cannabis is regulated matters. As does the evidence of risks and benefits to health which underpins regulation.

Sometimes saying nothing is as telling as saying something. Silence can suggest retaining the status quo. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been silent about the international regulatory controls on cannabis since its inception in 1935. The past 80 years have brought dramatic advances in scientific knowledge about cannabis, so it is odd that it has not provided updated advice about its legal status. 

South Tyrol (Alto Adige in Italian) is an autonomous province in Italy with a population more than 500,000. Recently, in Bolzano, the capital city of the region, the libertarians issued a motion to legalize cannabis use, however, it was rejected by the South Tyrolian State Parliament.

Senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican that represents Alabama, is decidedly not chill when it comes to legalized weed. It’s going to be a huge problem for legalization advocates if he becomes Attorney General, as he is poised to do, not least because his emphatic statements about drug use are entirely unsupported by science. Has nobody told this guy that the ‘gateway drug’ argument has been repeatedly refuted by research?

On Monday night, New Jersey Governor and Donald Trump transition team member Chris Christie did his monthly “Ask the Governor” radio show on WKXW-FM in Trenton. Never one to mix words, the governor made a number of colorful comments, but none more so than when a caller asked him about his role as New Jersey’s foremost obstacle to the legalization of recreational marijuana. Christie not only had no qualms about admitting that he’s standing in the way of the pro-marijuana efforts, but admonished his opponents for pushing legislation that would bring in “blood money.”

Just after 9 a.m. Monday, Frank Berardi waited in the entryway of the Fairbanks International Airport Police and Fire Department building. Sean Martines, chief of police and fire for the airport, arrived a few minutes later. He shook Berardi's hand.

"I've got some marijuana for you," Martines said.

Berardi's marijuana – 8 grams of the strain Pineapple Express – had been taken while he was passing through airport security on July 27, headed to Anchorage on an Alaska Airlines flight, he said. When a Transportation Security Administration agent asked if he had anything breakable in his carry-on bag, Berardi mentioned the jar of marijuana.

On November 16, 2016, Vice News published an article, "Veteran Medical Marijuana Benefits Are Costing Canada a Fortune", on the skyrocketing use and cost of medical cannabis among Canadian veterans. The article uncovered industry practices that artificially inflate pricing for veterans' medical cannabis as well as unethical referral arrangements between veteran clinics and licensed producers. 

Cayman Islands Governor Helen Kilpatrick has assented to changes to the Misuse of Drugs Law allowing for the importation of oil derived from the marijuana plant for medical purposes only.

That means Cayman pharmacists and doctors can lawfully import and prescribe cannabinoid [cannabis] oil for patients, as long as they can find a source to import it from. The bill does not legalize ganja usage for medical purposes.

The Legislative Assembly unanimously approved the changes allowing the importation Oct. 24.

Early this year, a disabled former automobile body worker named Greg Vialpando explained to lawmakers in New Mexico how medical marijuana helped his chronic back pain.

State legislators were considering a bill backed by workers’ compensation insurers that would have exempted them from paying for medical marijuana. But Mr. Vialpando and another patient described how smoking the drug let them escape years of stupor caused by powerful prescription narcotic drugs known as opioids.

The lawmakers ended up dropping the bill, and Mr. Vialpando’s expenses for buying marijuana are covered by insurance.

“I would recommend that people use medical marijuana over opioids any day,” Mr. Vialpando, 58, said in a telephone interview.

Marking another milestone on the road to ending cannabis prohibition in the Netherlands, a sizeable majority of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party have voted to support what they’re calling “smart regulation” of cannabis. Following a vote at a Nov. 19 party converence in Noordwijkerhout, the VVD’s platform going into the general elections next spring will now include the intention “to redesign the entire domain surrounding soft drugs.”

In a report released Monday, global leaders denounced harsh responses to drug use, such as the mass killing of drug users in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte, and called for worldwide drug decriminalization.

The report, Advancing Drug Policy Reform: A New Approach to Drug Decriminalization, is a product of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a high-level panel that includes former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan; former presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Switzerland; and British philanthropist Richard Branson, among others.