Halil Doda helped to grow drugs discovered at house on Newlands Road, Small Heath

AN illegal immigrant who helped to grow a cannabis farm at a house in Birmingham to pay off a debt to people smugglers has been jailed for six months.

Halil Doda tried to hide in the attic of the property which was raided by police who found 234 plants being grown with a potential value of £60,000.

Patrick Sullivan, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said officers, who executed a search warrant at the address in Newlands Road, Small Heath, on August 26 this year found cannabis being grown in all four rooms.

One contained seedlings while the other three had more mature plants.

City Councilman Daniel Lavelle is scheduled to introduce legislation today that will allow city police to issue a fine instead of a misdemeanor summons for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana or eight grams of hashish. The ordinance, which sets a civil fine of up to $100, allows officers to seize the drugs and means Pittsburgh will join a “growing trend of local municipalities enacting similar laws to protect its citizens,” Mr. Lavelle’s office said in a news release.

“Approximately 1,000 individuals are charged with a misdemeanor-level marijuana possessory offense in Pittsburgh annually,” the release says. “Almost all have the criminal charge reduced to a non-traffic summary citation at the first stage of criminal proceedings.”

Some time ago there were news reports that, as part of the process of developing a regulatory framework for the Jamaican medical marijuana industry, the Government was planning to import 100 ganja seeds. As was expected, the usual responses to this announcement were observed. Namely shock, horror and outrage that the reputed "sensimilla capital" of the Caribbean is to import Cannabis sativa seeds.

For example one online response read: "This is total disrespect! We will have to import ganja seeds when we are said to have the best quality stuff!" These are typical knee-jerk reactions to headlines without considering the rationale behind the decision to import seeds. That assertion that Jamaica has the best quality "stuff" may be based more on feelings than on facts.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Justice Minister Mark Golding will receive the Kurt Schmoke Award for Achievement in the Field of Law at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in the DC metro area on Friday, November 20.

The award, previously the Justice Gerald Le Dain, recognises those involved in law who have worked within official institutions when extremist pressures dominate government policies.

"Every once in a rare while, a government official steps up and out to provide much needed leadership on a controversial issue," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "That's what Mark Golding did, with skill and courage, thereby enabling Jamaica to leap to the forefront of nations in embracing just and sensible reform of cannabis laws."

SASKATOON – A former University of Saskatchewan football player is guilty of drug trafficking charges in relation to a police bust that uncovered 14 pounds of marijuana in 2014. Seamus John Neary was convicted of four charges in a Saskatoon courtroom Monday, including possession of marijuana over three kilograms with the intent to traffic.

In February 2014, police found the marijuana after searching Neary’s home and a storage locker in his name.

“I think it was a cogent case from beginning to end,” said prosecutor Wade McBride, after the judgment was given.

“It was relatively straight forward and the judge tended to see it that way as well.”

Brandy Cavanagh, general manager of Mid-Island Health and Wellness Association, is upset after receiving written notice from the RCMP last Thursday that her marijuana dispensary has seven days to suspend operations.

Medical marijuana dispensary managers plan a united front and appeals to government in the wake of an ultimatum from the Nanaimo RCMP to shut down shop or face arrests.

The Nanaimo RCMP put 10 medical marijuana dispensaries on notice Thursday that they had seven days to stop the sale of marijuana and marijuana derivatives or they could be subject to police enforcement.

Medical marijuana shops have been growing in number in Nanaimo, selling bud, tinctures and marijuana-infused brownies.

The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board says a Prosser marijuana store was busted for selling to a minor just over a month after it opened.

The Tri-City Herald reports that the Bake Shop was among seven businesses in Yakima and the Tri-Cities that sold marijuana or alcohol to underage investigative aides working with officers during an October sting.

Seven others did not sell to minors.

Fines or temporary license suspensions can be issued to businesses that fail compliance checks.

The Bake Shop became Benton County's second recreational marijuana retailer when it opened in September.

The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board says a Prosser marijuana store was busted for selling to a minor just over a month after it opened.

The Tri-City Herald reports that the Bake Shop was among seven businesses in Yakima and the Tri-Cities that sold marijuana or alcohol to underage investigative aides working with officers during an October sting.

Seven others did not sell to minors.

Fines or temporary license suspensions can be issued to businesses that fail compliance checks.

The Bake Shop became Benton County's second recreational marijuana retailer when it opened in September.

Ricardo Rivera of Oakland holds a picture of his 8-year-old daughter, Tatyana "Tuffy" Rivera, who suffers from severe epilepsy during a hearing Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in Trenton.

For the first time in New Jersey history, state lawmakers on Monday debated whether to legalize recreational marijuana and collected hours of testimony from experts who support taxing and regulating the drug like alcohol.

But that’s as much as they plan to do for now.