Portland is having its 17th annual Global Cannabis March this Saturday. This has always been a successful event/protest in the past, and with the way things are in Oregon right now, this march is needed more now than ever before. I want to see as many people attend as possible. I unfortunately will be out of town on a family vacation, but I know a lot of people that are planning on attending. I was talking to former Portland Trailblazer Cliff Robinson and the Uncle Spliffy crew, and they plan on attending and you should too!

The 18^th annual Toronto Global Marijuana March (GMM) is set for Saturday, May 7th, 2016 in well over 100 cities across the globe! The Toronto GMM is one of the world’s largest marijuana marches attracting upwards of 20,000+ medical and recreational cannabis supporters and enthusiasts to downtown Toronto. The GMM crowd gathers behind the provincial Queen’s Park legislature at HIGH NOON before the parade at 2pm north of the park. The peaceful celebration has never had an arrest in the event’s 17 year history. The GMM is the City’s largest spring outdoor gatherings generating millions of dollars to the local economy.

The newly appointed board of directors for the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has approved the regulations that will guide the start of Jamaica’s legal ganja industry.

The CLA, which was created by the Dangerous Drug (Amendment) Act 2015, has powers to make and oversee the implementation of regulations for licenses, permits and other authorisations for the cultivation, processing, distribution, sale and transportation of hemp as well as ganja, for medicinal, scientific and therapeutic purposes, a news release from the authority said Thursday.

Traders selling 'spice' will face seven-year prison sentences.

THE sale of synthetic cannabis is to be outlawed from the end of this month, it has been confirmed. 

It will be a criminal offence to sell the so-called “legal high”, which is said to be having a devastating impact on rough sleepers in Camden, from May 26 – with traders facing up to seven years in prison. 

But fears have been raised that the move will simply drive the trade further underground into the hands of criminal gangs. 

The Home Office informed ministers today that the Psychoactive Substance Act will come into force in 21 days. 

One of the biggest questions surrounding marijuana legalization is whether it will make the drug much more affordable and accessible — and therefore increase use.

Well, some early data is coming out of Washington state, which legalized marijuana in 2012 and began sales in 2014. And it looks like, as drug policy experts long suggested, marijuana's price drops after legalization. Keith Humphreys of Stanford University explained in the Washington Post:

A groundbreaking trial funded by Colorado will soon shed light on the use of medical marijuana by veterans suffering from PTSD.

For the first time, the Drug Enforcement Agency has given the green light to a controlled, clinical trial of medical marijuana for veterans suffering from PTSD.

Local veterans have spent years fighting the Colorado Board of Health and Department of Public Health and Environment to include PTSD as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, but the Board of Health has repeatedly denied the request citing a lack of scientific evidence.

Now, a $2 million research grant awarded by Colorado has the potential to help provide the evidence many states are seeking.

IN AN Australian-first, Lanai Carter’s four-year battle to have medicinal cannabis legalised for her son’s use has been won.

The Loganholme mother this morning confirmed to the Albert & Logan News that Queensland Health had cleared the way for her teenage son, Lindsay, to receive a shipment of certified medicinal cannabis.

Mrs Carter said she was “relieved’’ the cannabis oil capsules had been approved to treat her boy’s brain tumour but cautioned the family was still waiting on approval for “vaporised cannabis for pain, nausea and appetite stimulation’’.

Gov. Robert Bentley has signed into law a bill to allow people with debilitating medical conditions to use cannabidiol, which is made from the same plant as marijuana.

The bill, known as Leni's Law, expands on a bill passed two years ago, known as Carly's Law, that authorized a UAB study on using cannabidiol to treat people with severe seizure disorders.

"As a physician, I believe it is extremely important to give patients with a chronic or debilitating disease the option to consider every possible option for treatment," Bentley said in a statement.

"With Leni's Law, citizens in Alabama will have access to cannabidiol that may help with treatment. 

 California voters will decide again this November whether to decriminalize the recreational use of marijuana by adults, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday, calling the looming vote a "pivotal moment" in the national debate around pot legalization and the 45-year-old war on drugs.

Newsom and other leaders of a coalition behind the Adult Use of Marijuana Act announced they have collected enough signatures to place on the Nov. 8 ballot a measure that would make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess, sell or transport up to an ounce of pot. California voters rejected a similar measure in 2010.

A naturopath has been suspended from practice for providing medical consultations via Skype to help patients obtain medical marijuana from pot dispensaries.

The B.C. College of Naturopathic Physicians says Dr. Jonas Laforge of Langley is one of six naturopaths who have been investigated in connection with marijuana dispensaries.

Four of the cases didn't meet the bar for a public notification; one other is still under investigation.