Organized crime in the European Union generates about 110 billion euros a year, corresponding to around 1 percent of the EU’s gross domestic product, a recent report commissioned by the European Commission found, with the bulk of that coming from the “traditional” market of illegal narcotics.

The report, titled “From Illegal Markets to Legitimate Businesses: The Portfolio of Organized Crime in Europe,” compiled by Project OCP – Organized Crime Portfolio, found that in Greece, organized crime generates just under 3.6 billion euros, corresponding to 1.6 percent of GDP (in 2010), significantly more than in Croatia (134 million euros; 0.3 pct/GDP) but also less than in Latvia, where 514 million euros of proceeds account for 2.8 percent of GDP.

A new bill in Ecuador seeks to change the public-policy paradigm on drug use in the country. On Thursday, April 9, legislators held a historic first debate of the Organic Law on Comprehensive Drug Prevention in the National Assembly.+

The project, promoted by the ruling party PAIS Alliance, was introduced to the chamber by Carlos Velasco, head of the Commission of the Right to Health.+

The bill aims for “comprehensive drug prevention, by establishing a legal and institutional framework to address drug use, and the regulation of the substances that are subject to control.”+

If New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) becomes president of the United States, he said on "The Hugh Hewitt Show" Tuesday, he will "crack down" on those states that have ended prohibitions on marijuana.

When asked by Hewitt if he would enforce federal drug laws in those states that have legalized and regulated cannabis, Christie responded unequivocally.

"Absolutely," Christie said. "I will crack down and not permit it."

High cigarette taxes fuel a surging black market in smuggled cigarettes, notes Americans for Tax Reform's Patrick Gleason in the Wall Street Journal. New York smokers are the greatest beneficiaries of that black market, burdened as they are with the most ridiculous cigarette taxes in the country. There's a huge flow of smuggled smokes from relatively low-tax states like Virginia. And some smokers are turning to an alternative to which marijuana fanciers facing legal pressures of their own have resorted for decades: growing their own.

Hundreds of people are expected to go to the event in Fallowfield on Sunday Hundreds of people are expected to go to the event in Fallowfield on Sunday An annual festival celebrating cannabis is set to take place in a Manchester park again next weekend. Hundreds of people are expected to go to the ‘420’ event at Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield on Sunday - as part of a series of worldwide events which campaign for the legalisation of marijuana. Around 500 people went to the festival last year - with police on patrol making no arrests despite participants openly smoking cannabis. The Platt Fields Park event is organised by Manchester pro-cannabis groups Mannijuana and the Greater Manchester Cannabis Club.

A Strict Regulation Approach…

We know the end is coming, but pot prohibition is going to have to be undone state by state. Here are the ones least likely to jump on the bandwagon.

Marijuana prohibition in the US is dying, but it isn't going to vanish in one fell swoop. Even if Congress were to repeal federal pot prohibition, state laws criminalizing the plant and its users would still be in effect—at least in some states.

And it's probably a pretty safe bet that Congress isn’t going to act until a good number of states, maybe more than half, have already legalized it. That process is already underway and is likely to gather real momentum by the time election day 2016 is over.

OTTAWA -- Former soldiers who want timely access to medical marijuana say they are undeterred despite having been denied a meeting with Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O'Toole.

Retired corporal Clayton Goodwin, who represents a group known as Veterans for the Use of Medical Marijuana, was shut out of O'Toole's stakeholder meeting Tuesday at the Canadian War Museum.

A spokesperson for the minister said Veteran Affairs staff have spoken with Goodwin and are setting up a one-on-one meeting.

"There isn't a lot of blame to be placed on Veteran Affairs, they're working," Goodwin said.

"It's more that we need to work towards ending stigma and shame and get more voices in a room because I'm not aware if we're ever brought up in there."

Manipulation of marijuana figures by former Dutch Justice Minister Opstelten exposed.

Why the Dutch cannabis industry lost it's head start to the US, Spain and Uruguay.

The Netherlands have been the example of how to handle the consumption and tolerated and regulated sales of cannabis for almost 40 years now, an example that enabled other countries, like Uruguay, Spain and the US to get out of the strangle hold of prohibition.

Without this example, and the people that stood and stand up for the Dutch cannabis tolerance system, serving as a decades running experiment for the world to see and experience, it would not have been possible for pre-mentioned countries to follow that example the way they did.

A day before a scheduled vet appointment to euthanize her dog, Wendy Mansfield decided to try one last resort to alleviate the chronic pain of her 15-year-old labrador mix: cookies from a marijuana dispensary made specifically for ailing dogs.

Kali, a mild-mannered 80-pound rescue, was never much of a complainer. But she often licked her paws—an obvious sign of pain, according to her vet—which was typically accompanied by bouts of coughing because of the shedding fur that got in her throat. One cookie and 20 minutes later, the licking suddenly stopped.