A protester demonstrates in front of the State House in Concord in this 2010 file photo. Five years later the first medical marijuana prescription has yet to be written. 

A bill introduced Thursday in the New Hampshire state assembly seeks to add post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of ailments eligible for medical marijuana treatment, which was legalized in 2013 but remains hard to obtain in the Granite state.

It has been heartening to see all of the efforts and initiatives start up across Maine to address the heroin crisis.  Police departments and sheriff’s departments are looking to start up referral and diversion programs to get people suffering into treatment.  Public health coalitions are setting up forums to put together plans to implement in their communities.  Just this month I was appointed co chair of the Prevention and Harm Reduction Task Force of the Maine Opiate Collaborative launched by U.S. Attorney Thomas Delehanty.  The work that is being done amongst the three task forces is impressive and I am confident will result in effective strategies that will get measurable results.  In short, there are a lot of great people on the ground putting plans into action.

Italy spent last week reforming policies related to a number of minor offenses, including lessening penalties for the cultivation of cannabis for medical reasons.

Justice Minister Andrea Orlando approved the bill to decriminalize growing cannabis for medical use, but warned, “This does not decriminalize those growing weed on their terrace,” an exceptionally Italian way to phrase it. Cultivating cannabis for personal use still carries a harsh penalty — up to a year in prison and a fine of €4 million.

Rona Ambrose, Leader of Canada's Official Opposition, has turned over a new leaf.

For years, and as recently as a year-end interview with the CBC in December 2015, the interim leaderof the Conservative Party warned Canadians of the dangers surrounding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's plans to legalize cannabis nationwide:

"It's one thing to decriminalize marijuana. It's another to legalize it in an environment where every day we're receiving more evidence that it's very harmful to young people."

Police who brought down a cannabis factory insist crime does not pay after three drug dealers were jailed.

Altin Laska, 27, Mircea Rusu, 24, and Nicolae Pasc, 25, all admitted conspiring to supply cannabis at Exeter Crown Court on Friday.

Devon and Cornwall Police said Albanian born Laska was handed a five-year prison term, while Romanians Rusu and Pasc both received twelve month sentences.

Their arrests came as part of the force's Operation Cesta, which uncovered four cannabis factories in Exeter, Newton Abbot, Dunkeswell and Minehead which contained a crop worth more than £400,000.

Three men have been sentenced to a total of eleven years in prison after cannabis with a street value of £100,000 was found at two addresses in Blackpool.

Police raided a warehouse off Highfield Road and another property in Layton back in 2014.

Two men from Blackpool and another from Preston were jailed yesterday following a trial at Preston Crown Court. 

On Friday 27th June 2014, enquiries led officers to an industrial warehouse just off Highfield Road, Blackpool. Due to a strong smell of cannabis coming from the building, officers immediately forced entry with the assistance of our Operational Support Unit colleagues.

If there’s one lesson Vincent Lambiase has learned in more than 30 years as a small business owner, it’s to avoid locating two businesses of the same kind too close together

“Would you open a pizza parlor near another pizza parlor or a flower shop near another flower shop?” said Lambiase, owner of Beachwood Florist in Milford.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) – Police have incinerated 75.5 tonnes of marijuana in western Mexico after discovering several fields of cannabis in the state of Nayarit, authorities said Friday.

Federal police found 11 fields totaling more than 22,000 square metres (5.4 acres) of land near the town of Los Mesquites, the National Security Commission said in a statement.

More than 158,000 plants were pulled out of the ground and incinerated, while 22 samples were kept for the investigation, the commission said, adding that nobody was arrested in the operation.

The seizure comes as Mexico debates whether to changes its marijuana laws after the Supreme Court authorized four individuals to grow and smoke pot for recreational purposes.

DES MOINES, Iowa — A federal judge ruled Friday that Iowa State University administrators violated the constitutional free speech rights of student members of a pro-marijuana group by barring them from using the university logos on T-shirts.

U.S. District Judge James Gritzner issued an order granting members of the ISU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws a permanent injunction which means university administrators cannot use a trademark policy to prevent the organization from printing shirts depicting a marijuana leaf.

PHOENIX — A Republican lawmaker has withdrawn a bill restricting access to medical marijuana after receiving hundreds of complaints.

The bill by Rep. Jay Lawrence of Scottsdale would have removed physicians practicing alternative medicine such as naturopathy and homeopathy from the list of doctors that can issue medical marijuana referrals. More than 87 percent of all referrals came from naturopaths and homeopaths in the budget year starting last July.

Lawrence apologized to Arizona residents Friday after receiving hundreds of emails and phone calls from concerned Arizona residents who use medical marijuana legally. He said he did not do enough research before introducing the measure.