A French minister provoked the ire of his government this week after voicing support for moderate decriminalization of marijuana use among adults.

"The prohibition of cannabis in France deserves to be discussed," Jean-Marie Le Guen, France's secretary of state for relations with the parliament, told the news outlet BFMTV on Monday. "Prohibition does not lead to a reduction in consumption. Our country is one of those whose youth consumes the most."

Clarus Securities analyst Noel Atkinson says comments yesterday from Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale are a sign that marijuana legalization is closer to becoming a reality than previously thought, a development he thinks is very good news for Licensed Producers (LPs).

In a research update to clients this morning, Atkinson notes that in an interview with the CBC’s “On The Coast” host Stephen Quinn, Goodale said the government was moving forward with is goal of legalizing recreational marijuana in Canada and that a legalization task force of representatives from the federal, provincial and municipal governments would soon be appointed.

Why do we call marijuana marijuana? Growing up, I assumed that "marijuana" was the original Latin name for the plant I discuss every week in this column. But that's not the case.

Cannabis is its actual name. Cannabis is the genus that contains the three psychoactive plants we love so well: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and their stubby cousin Cannabis ruderalis. However, cannabis is far more commonly referred to as marijuana. Why?

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Arizona has hit a new milestone in its quest to get on November's ballot.

An Arizona citizens' initiative campaign to legalize marijuana announced today that it has reached 200,000 signatures — more than needed to make November's ballot.

But the campaign is shooting for far more than it needs — at least 225,000 signatures — in case some are invalidated.

ALBANY - Citing flaws in the state's current rules, advocates for medical marijuana traveled to the state Capitol on Tuesday to push lawmakers to support loosening New York's restrictions.

The advocates joined with Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, to push for a series of changes to the state's program, including a bill that would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to recommend cannabis-based medications.

So who is the best pitchman for the already-legendary B.C. bud? The Cannabis Growers of Canada (CGC) or Seth Rogen?

The CGC posted a public service ad on its web site that begins very much like a standard tourism commercial. "British Columbia, home to the most beautiful landscapes in the world," it begins, with shots of its picturesque mountains and waterways. And then it's on to vineyards, hot springs, skiing, snowboarding, and mountain biking. "In B.C., we strike the right balance between nature and nurture," the narrator says.

While the government continues slowly considering progress, some are taking Italy’s cannabis future into their own hands.

Anyone who has ever spent time in Italy knows that the country has some of the most draconian drug laws in the western world. When I studied abroad in Florence, for example, it took nearly a month to find anything to smoke.

DENVER — A first-of-its-kind license for marijuana couriers is nearing approval in Colorado.

The state House gave preliminary approval Tuesday to creating a new "marijuana transporter" license under the pot-regulating agency.

Colorado already has 12 marijuana courier companies, which fill out shipping manifests to move pot from growing warehouses to store shelves. The couriers are currently classified as marijuana "vendors," a broad category which includes other ancillary services.

The new license would give those couriers additional powers, such as temporarily storing pot if an unexpected snowstorm closes a highway. Currently the pot couriers must return to the site of origin if they cannot deliver the marijuana within a designated window.

Los Angeles' green rush started 10 years ago, when entrepreneurs opened the doors of hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries. Not everyone was on board.

Rescheduling cannabis would be helpful in some respects, but does not go nearly far enough toward ending federal pot prohibition.

A recent memorandum from the US Drug Enforcement Administration to several United States Senators indicates that the agency is prepared to respond in the coming months to a five-year-old petition seeking to amend the plant’s status as a schedule I prohibited substance.