Phillip Hammond has said the UK faces a budget black hole of £100bn due to the Brexit induced economic downturn. Sadly, legalising cannabis would only create £1bn in tax revenue.

Last week Chancellor Phillip Hammond said that the UK faces a budget black hole of £100 billion due to the Brexit induced economic downturn. For public services already stretched to the limit the prospect of having to absorb further cuts and privatisation is, frankly, terrifying.

Some have floated the idea that there is a simple solution to plug the gap, and Brexit could push the government to legalise cannabis.

Although the United Nations international drug treaties have upheld an official prohibition against marijuana, the marijuana industry has spread across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Recreational marijuana legalization in Canada was a key component of Justin Trudeau's 2015 campaign to become prime minster, and it appears he's making good on his promises for marijuana legalization and reform.

And if recreational marijuana is legalized in Canada, it will be a boon for the government and investors alike…

According to data from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, marijuana legalization in Canada could generate as much as $5 billion for federal and provincial governments.

Two things need to happen in the wake of Arizona’s failure to become the 9th state to legalize recreational marijuana on Nov. 8, according to the state director of Arizona NORML.

“We need to have the campaign, whatever campaign it is, address the fact that there’s 40 percent of the population that does not live in the Phoenix Metro area and those people need to be part of the picture," said Mikel Weisser. 

"And we need to come up with some agreement on what we want to do, because we can’t make progress when we’re fighting against each other."

THE Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) expects to grant conditional licences by the end of the year for the growing and processing of ganja for medicinal and therapeutic purposes and research and development.

Chairman of the CLA Board, Hyacinth Lightbourne, told JIS News that the entity has received 89 applications.

Of the number, 25 are for cultivating ganja, 18 for processing, 14 are for research and development, eight for transporting, and the remainder are for retailing. 

The applications are now being processed. “After all the paperwork has been submitted, we have to evaluate the information given as well as conduct a thorough background check on the applicants,” Lightbourne pointed out.

Thailand's Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya aims strongly to remove krathom* and marijuana from the narcotic drugs list sand trat them as medicinal herbs as he sees the government has failed to curb them.

According to the local media, Bangkok Post, Mr Paiboon said that the strict law against consuming krathom and marijuana has been proven to be unsuccessful, and therefore, thinks that it is time to rewrite the law and make them as herbs.

Mr Paiboon reiterated his stance on Friday (18 November) during a meeting, which was called because crackdowns in Thailand are believed to have forced people to buy the plants from Malaysia. He held the meeting with officials and civic groups from 14 southern provinces in Songkhla.

CANNABIS should be legalised to bring Britain up to speed with a growing number of Western countries and end the “embarrassment” of domestic drugs policy, a cross-party group of MPs have said.

Former deputy prime minster Nick Clegg and former health minister Norman Lamb joined Labour and Tory figures to back a new report which claimed legalisation could net the Treasury more than £1 billion a year in tax revenue.

The Adam Smith Institute and Volteface study argued that the UK should follow the lead of the United States, where four further states legalised marijuana in this month’s elections.

It came as Germany gets ready to legalise cannabis for medical purposes and Canada prepares for all-out decriminalisation.

The subject of medical marijuana usage in the NFL has been a longstanding topic of discussion for the league. Now, according to their Players Association, a group has been designed to mull its presence and other alternative drugs to aid in ailments, USA Today reports.

In an interview with the news site, former defensive end for the New York Jets, Marvin Washington, said he feels like the NFL Players Association will eventually vote in favor of the substance. “The movement is happening,” he said. “They can’t ignore this, when 60 percent of the country has access to recreational or medical cannabis.”

Don’t gamble with marijuana! Nevada’s regulators restate their position that the drug is off limits for casinos, despite certain impracticalities. (Image: Universal Pictures)

Nevada gaming regulators this week reiterated their stance on cannabis and casinos: licensees must avoid it like the plague.

Despite the state’s voters supporting the initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use on November 8th, licensees are advised to steer clear of permitting it on their premises or engaging with any legal marijuana businesses, as long as federal and state laws are at odds on the matter.

The news that President-elect Donald Trump picked Senator Jeff Sessions to be the next Attorney General has many libertarians up in arms for the pick. The Senator has been one of the strongest proponents of the prohibition of marijuana at the federal level and with this pick, we must hold Trump’s feet to the fire.

Sessions has opposed legislation to make mandatory minimum sentencing less harsh and has said that “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.” Despite these ridiculous policies and ideas from Sessions, we must realize that marijuana legalization will not come through the federal government but will be achieved at the local and state levels of government. We must join the fight for the radical decentralization of government if we are to make any change at all.