Although it seemed possible that an Oklahoma initiative aimed at legalizing a statewide medical marijuana program was headed for the ballot this November, a report from the Associated Press suggests that this proposal is not likely to appear before the voters in 2016 because of some changes being made to the ballot title sent down by Attorney General Scott Pruitt.

AN INCREASING NUMBER of US adults are using marijuana, as fewer people perceive the drug as harmful, according to a survey of over 500,000 people.

The study analysed data from 596,500 adults who took part in the annual US National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2002 to 2014.

Marijuana use (defined as having used marijuana in the previous year) increased from 10.4% in 2002 to 13.3% in 2014. The proportion of adults who first started using marijuana in the previous year increased from 0.7% in 2002 to 1.1% in 2014.

The prevalence of daily or near daily use (defined as people who use marijuana, on average, five days or more per week) increased from 1.9% to 3.5% over the same period.

Victorians would be free to smoke and grow marijuana if a push by the Sex Party to legalise the drug is successful.

On Wednesday, Sex Party MP Fiona Patten will introduce a motion to the upper house calling on the government to immediately remove criminal sanctions for the possession, use and cultivation of marijuana for personal use by people 18 and older.

The motion will also urge the government to allow the drug to be grown by farmers, which would create an additional revenue source through taxation. 

She will move the motion in a bid to force the major parties to debate the legalisation of cannabis. The matter is set for debate on September 14.

Patients can even get it delivered to their homes.

New York state is about to expand its medical marijuana program to help better meet patient need and improve accessibility.

The state’s new policies were recommended by the Department of Health and will include things like home delivery and doubling the number of companies that can provide the substance. The New York Times reports that the policy changes are expected to be announced on Tuesday.

The Frederick County Council is considering a disputed proposal to allow medical marijuana cultivation on land zoned for agriculture.

County land-use regulations currently allow medical marijuana cultivation only in industrial zones. The Frederick County Farm Bureau opposes the bill, which is scheduled for a vote Tuesday evening.

Opponents say they consider medical marijuana cultivation a form of drug production. Critics also have raised security concerns.

Supporters include local farmer Larry Gude, who applied for but did not receive one of the 15 preliminary grower licenses that the Maryland Cannabis Commission awarded earlier this month. Gude and a business partner had planned to grow marijuana in a greenhouse on his family farm.

Jose Toconas picks at branches hanging in rows from the roof of his marijuana drying house and smells their spiky flower buds.

In two days he will strip them from their stems, trim the dark green florets into neat little balls and hand them over to dealers working with Marxist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

"This doesn't make me a drug dealer. I'm a farmer," says Toconas, 45, who earns about 2 million pesos ($640) a month growing weed at his small mountain farm in Tacueyo, a hamlet in Colombia's southwestern Cauca province. "They come to my door, pay me and leave. If coffee or beans paid me more, I'd grow coffee or beans, but they don't."

Gary Johnson's Libertarian Party campaign for president received its biggest single donation, pushing very near the legal maximum with $117,000 from B. Wayne Hughes Jr.

The donation went to the Gary Johnson Victory Fund, a special joint fundraising committee formed by the Johnson campaign and a group of state Libertarian Parties. This committee can currently legally take a maximum of $122,700 from individual donors.

Hughes' father founded the company Public Storage, and Hughes is on its board of directors. He described his fortune as deriving from "real estate" in a phone interview last night.

Florida voters are poised to make some patients in the state users of medical marijuana. So far, 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana while three states and D.C. have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Besides Florida, Missouri and Arkansas will also have medical marijuana legalization on the ballot in November. 

30th anniversary of landmark ruling marked by push for human-rights based approach on the matter.

Launching a new push to coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark “Bazterrica” ruling, more than 500 respected legal voices will today call on the government to redraw its policy on narcotics and end the so-called “War on Drugs.”

In total, more than 550 Argentine magistrates, judges and lawyers will call for wholesale reforms based on human rights.

They are seeking a fresh approach, which includes decriminalization, the end of forced anti-drug treatment to users and the creation of policies focused on risk reduction.

THE FIRST clue was the tour operator, who gleefully rubbed his hands together when I told him I was going to Nimbin.

“Ooh, naughty, naughty Nimbin,” he said with a thick British accent that made him sound like a character from Harry Potter.

It was my first trip to Byron Bay, a holiday town on the far north coast of New South Wales, and I was keen to check out the sights. I was trying to decide between kayaking with dolphins or horseback riding on the beach when someone suggested I take a day trip.

He said Nimbin was a cute town, with really amazing waterfalls along the way, and the tour included a barbecue lunch. For me, the equation is simple: waterfalls + food = yes please.