PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVES WHO recently made a major donation to an anti-marijuana legalization campaign claimed they were doing so out of concern for the safety of children — but their investor filings reveal that pot poses a direct threat to their plans to cash in on a synthetic cannabis product they have developed.

On August 31, Insys Therapeutics Inc. donated $500,000 to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, becoming the single largest donor to the group leading the charge to defeat a ballot measure in Arizona to legalize marijuana.

In Spain, grassroots social movements have come together to help build a system where individuals can lawfully purchase and consume cannabis. Thanks to activists working from the bottom up, there are now hundreds of cannabis social clubs across the country. Now a new and long-neglected focus of cannabis culture is finally coming to the fore: feminism.

Prohibitionists just revealed that a retired professor is bankrolling their efforts to defeat marijuana legalization ballot measures this year to the tune of more than $1.3 million.

SAM Action, the advocacy arm of the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said in campaign finance documents filed Friday in both California and Massachusetts that Julie Schauer, a former art teacher at Northern Virginia Community College, has given the group at least $1,389,000 this year.

McLellan said there are “important lessons” to be taken from places that have already loosened marijuana laws — chief among them to introduce change slowly.

Anne McLellan, leader of the federal task force on how to legalize pot, says it’s critical that Canada “go slow” on reforming marijuana laws.

In an interview with Torstar News Service as the task force concluded public consultations and begins to winnow recommendations to government, McLellan said there are “important lessons” to be taken from places that have already loosened marijuana laws — chief among them to introduce change slowly.

The FBI has struggled for years to attract enough fresh hacker talent to defend America's computers.

One problem? A culture clash between elite coders who are attracted to casual — or even rebellious workplaces — and the agency's bureaucratic reputation.

Or, as FBI Director James B. Comey recalled his daughter's explanation of the issue at a recent speech: “Dad, the problem is you’re 'the Man,' " she said. "Who would want to work for 'the Man?' ”

His daughter was right, he said. But the agency is trying to get more hip to attract recruits who will help the agency keep pace with a digital landscape in constant flux, according to Comey.

One of Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet ministers has approved a report calling for cannabis to be legalised for medical use.

Paul Flynn, the shadow leader of the House of Commons, is one of a cross-party group of MPs and peers who have recommended the change following a major inquiry.

It comes after a recent survey found more than half of MPs want to see the legalisation of medical marijuana.

Thousands of stoners in suits, activists, cannapreneurs and industry executives gathered Sept. 7-10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition. The event brought people from all over the world who are interested in finding success in the cannabis industry, and learning about all aspects of the new frontier. What an event to this scale proves is  that we are heading into a new era, one that respects the fact that the cannabis industry can yield some of the worlds most successful business women and men.

Last week, the NFL's Derrick Morgan opened up about why he became a cannabis advocate. In an interview with NPR, the Tennessee Titans linebacker said he was inspired by Charlotte Figi, a nine-year-old girl from Colorado who became the face of medical marijuana due to her severe case of epilepsy.

Whether you are opposed to their presence of not, legalised cannabis markets are here to stay. 

In April, Pennsylvanina become the 24th state to approve cannabis for medical purposes in the US, while it is already legal to all over-21s in four states and Washington DC. 

In the same month, Germany joined a host of European countries in creating medical cannabis legislation. Further afield, Australia, Uruguay and Brazil announced cannabis programmes last year and Canada is transitioning from a medical regime to a full adult-use market. 

Some suggest the legal cannabis market could reach $50bn in raw cannabis sales within ten years, others suggest figures closer to $300bn.

Changes to the Canada Pension Plan? A piddly 47 responses. Input on the most inspirational Canadians? About 12,000 people weighed in.

But public online consultation about legalizing marijuana netted 30,000 responses, proving pot stokes the passions of the Canadian public. (Though not quite as engaging as the topic of prostitution, which drew 31,172 responses.)

A vast majority of the pot submissions — 29,000 or so — were responses to an online survey.

Questions in the survey included: