It was a sunny summer's day at Slane Castle, Co Meath, the annual rock gig, with Freddie Mercury and Queen belting out their greatest hits. Tens of thousands of fans were in front of the stage, whereas I had the pleasure of a personal invitation from Henry Lord Mountcharles and the late promoter Jim Aiken and was with dozens of A-listers in the private grounds of the castle with access to indoors, where we partook of Champagne and strawberries and cream.

The campaign to legalize marijuana unveiled a new ad Thursday touting the potential financial benefits to Arizona public schools.

The ad features a teacher and two parents who said Thursday they support marijuana legalization because the state's education system desperately needs increased funding. The campaign staged a news conference outside of a Tempe charter school, where one of the supporters teaches.

The ad will air on Facebook, Instagram and other digital platforms, said Barrett Marson, spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. The campaign is spending "six figures" on the ad, Marson said. He said it could also appear on TV.

The Arkansas Supreme Court has rejected one of two efforts to block a medical marijuana proposal from the November ballot.

Justices on Thursday denied a challenge from a group opposed to the proposed initiated act that would allow patients with certain medical conditions to buy marijuana from dispensaries. The court said Arkansans Against Legalized Marijuana had not proven the ballot measure’s language was insufficient.

Another lawsuit challenging the measure’s language and its signatures is pending before the court. Justices are also considering another lawsuit from Arkansans Against Legalized Marijuana trying to disqualify a competing medical pot proposal.

Arkansas voters narrowly rejected legalizing medical marijuana four years ago.

The department identified the police officers involved as Richard Pina, Jason McFadden and Michael Carnicle. All had been on the job for less than a year, although McFadden had about 10 years' experience with the Chicago Police Department. The demoted supervisor was identified as Jeff Farrior.

Police are investigating the incident, and Pina and McFadden could face criminal charges, said police spokesman Sergeant Jonathan Howard. Carnicle was at the scene but did not participate in the incident, Howard said.

The police union could not immediately be reached for comment. It was not clear if any of the officers had lawyers.

‘Legalising cannabis plants would benefit health’.

A majority of MPs now seem likely to back draft legislation from the Liberal democratic party D66 which would regulate legalised marijuana cultivation under government control.

The bill, drawn up by MP Vera Bergkamp, was backed by Labour, GroenLinks, the Socialist and pro-animal PvdD. But now two MPs who left the anti-Islam PVV to form a breakaway right-wing party have said they too will support the measure, the AD said on Friday.

Bergkamp hopes that introducing licenced marijuana production will remove the grey area between illegal cultivation and licenced cannabis cafes or coffee shops, where small amounts of marijuana can be bought for personal use.

One of the most popular arguments against the legalization of marijuana is that pot is a “gateway” drug with the potential to turn the great American populous into a nation of dope fiends. But today the country’s leading law enforcement official denounced this common misconception by admitting that the consumption of marijuana does not lead to the use of harder drugs.

As part of what President Obama has declared National Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week, U.S Attorney General Loretta Lynch appeared at town hall meeting this morning in Richmond, Kentucky to discuss the dangers of opioid abuse with a group of teens.

At the conclusion of North Dallas Forty wide receiver Phil Elliott, played by Nick Nolte, gets blackballed by his team owner for "smoking a marijuana cigarette." After being presented with a photo that shows Elliott toking up, the team owner patronizes Elliott and says, "Illegal drugs are forbidden by the league rules Phil, you know that." To which Elliott replies: "Jesus, smoking grass, what are you kidding me? If you nailed all the ballplayers who smoked grass, you wouldn't even be able to field a punt return team. Besides that, you give me the hardest stuff in Chicago just to get out of the goddamn locker room. Hard drugs!"

A former deputy chief constable has said it may be time to reconsider de-criminalising cannabis.

Alan McQuillan told the BBC the current attitude to drugs was "creating a cash cow for organised crime, especially in relation to cannabis".

He said police needed to focus on paramilitaries as the source of the drugs problem in Northern Ireland.

The former policeman was taking part in a BBC Talkback discussion about drug dealing in Northern Ireland.

"I think there is real scope for de-criminalising cannabis," he said. "The time has come to consider it."

Mr McQuillan said the focus needed to be on teaching parents and children about the reality of the drugs trade.

THERE WILL BE no legalisation of marijuana without the country understanding the implications of doing so.

This was the declaration of Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, who was speaking at the anniversary awards and recognition ceremony of the National Council on Substance Abuse, held at the Accra Beach Hotel on Saturday night.

He said such a move had implications for the country and for young people, in particular, “when they use these substances”.

By David Brown, Lift Cannabis

We were incredibly lucky at the Vancouver Lift Cannabis Expo this past weekend to have heard from legalization and regulation task force Vice Chair Dr. Mark Ware. Dr. Ware discussed the task force’s process and experience thus far engaging Canadians on the subject of legalization, as well as presented some preliminary findings.