PharmaCielo will open curative cannabis production in Colombia with crops in Antioquia. Its president, Jon Ruiz, received the first government license.

In the coming days, Jon Ruiz, president and CEO of PharmaCielo Colombia Holdings will receive the first license to be issued in Colombia to grow, process, and sell marijuana for medicinal purposes. A business without precedent in legal history. The company, Colombo-Canadian, plans to plant 600 hectares of cannabis in Rionegro, Antioquia, to produce natural oils that keep more than 98% of the active elements of the plant.

At the moment, it’s easier to go outside and buy weed than it is to find the definitive number of people currently incarcerated on narcotics offenses, which tells you all you need to know about the efficiency of the U.S. prison system versus that of the drug trade. But if you dig, you can find some information. According to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 208,000 people nationwide are serving time in state prisons for nonviolent drug charges. Toss in those held in federal prison, and that figure jumps to 303,000, or roughly the population of Pittsburgh.

Federal authorities say five U.S. Postal Service mail carriers in northeast Ohio are facing charges for their involvement in a scheme to deliver marijuana to a drug dealer.

A grand jury indictment handed up on Wednesday was unsealed on Monday.

All five Cleveland mail carriers face charges including conspiracy, taking bribes and distributing marijuana.

Charging documents say the carriers gave Kevin Collins their work schedules and postal routes. Collins then had marijuana packages shipped to addresses on their routes on the days they worked. The carriers would then deliver those packages to Collins in return for payment.

Collins has pleaded guilty to drug charges under a plea deal.

You've probably seen them around town asking you to sign their petitions.

Wednesday marked a deadline for various efforts to legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use in Arkansas.

Proposals must have been advertised in newspapers statewide or they are disqualified.

Three ballot initiatives announced Wednesday they made the cut.

"I just think the people of Arkansas need to be able to have a choice of the medicines they use," said Gary Fults, a supporter of the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act.  

It would allow doctors to recommend marijuana for 56 qualifying conditions.
    
There would be a minimum of 39 dispensaries and grow centers which would be regulated by the Department of Health.

Although the Illinois medical marijuana pilot program came limping out of the gate last year, the state’s General Assembly has put its stamp of approval on a bill aimed at upgrading the state of cannabis medicine by extending the program’s expiration date and giving those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and terminal illnesses permission to participate.

The cracks in the policies that prohibit the use, cultivation and trade in cannabis in South Africa are beginning to show.

Fields of Green for ALL representatives attended the recent UN Special Session on Drugs in New York as civil society delegates. Minister of Police, Nkosinathi Nhleko, and Deputy Minister of Social Development, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, were there in their official capacity.

But South Africa’s comments on the outcome document were as bland as the majority of other countries, and a report that described the whole special session as a “damp squib” was quite accurate.

However, it was inspiring and enlightening to be part of a gathering of so many movers and shakers in the drug policy world, rarely in one place at one time.

There's a reason why people are still buying weed from their drug dealer and not their local dispensary.

Denver holds the distinction of being one of a handful of cities to offer legal marijuana at a price point that rivals that of black market merchants.

Spokane, Washington, Aurora, Colorado, and Mesa, Arizona join the mile high city as the destination for legal cannabis that is cheaper than the more traditional friend-to-friend transactions that the majority of us are use to.

That’s according to analysis by Perfect Price, a company that offers price optimization software revealed. The San-Francisco based company analyzed data from six states and 66 large cities that allow the legal sale of marijuana. 

The first shot in Mexico’s drug war was fired in December 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderon sent 6,500 security forces to reclaim Michoacan state from feuding cartels. “The battle against organized crime has just begun,” Calderon’s interior minister declared, “and the fight will take time.” He wasn’t kidding. That fight has now taken nearly 10 years, and tens of thousands of lives.

Republican Gov. John Kasich signed a bill Wednesday legalizing medical marijuana in Ohio, though patients shouldn’t expect to get it from dispensaries here anytime soon.

The bill lays out a number of steps that must happen first to set up the state’s medical marijuana program, which is expected to be fully operational in about two years. The law would allow patients to use marijuana in vapor form for certain chronic health conditions, but bar them from smoking it or growing it at home.

Kasich’s signature made Ohio the 25th state to legalize a comprehensive medical marijuana program, according to a count by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Some questions and answers about the legislation:

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The global conversation on marijuana legalization has reached its highest volume yet. Already, some countries, the United States included, have pioneered past decriminalization and into some form of legalization. Few have fully legalized marijuana — and have yet to transform into total hellscapes from it.