Europe has always been an unlikely advocate for pot reform — despite its liberal platforms toward social aid and welfare, most nations still hold surprisingly conservative views toward drugs and immigration. Globally, only one country — South America’s Uruguay — has permitted completeweed production and use, and a handful of others has allowed mere possession. Yet there’s reason to believe that the “forest of chestnuts” and “orchards of fruit trees” that Ernest Hemingway romantically described as the Italian front in A Farewell to Arms could become the fertile soil for the first fully legal green stuff in the Western world.

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton is facing pressure from marijuana advocates ahead of the first debate.

As more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana, a number of presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle have called for looser drug policies to varying degrees.

Marijuana advocates say it is a positive step for their cause, but they would like to see stronger commitments from Clinton and some of the other candidates.

“Hillary is probably the worst of the bunch on marijuana reform, and even she has said states should be ‘laboratories of democracy’ when it comes to legalization,” said Dan Riffle, director of federal policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, comparing Clinton to the other Democratic candidates.

WA patients could take part in medical marijuana clinical trials amid growing momentum for its legalisation in Australia.

Health Minister Kim Hames wants officials to examine options for WA to link in with trials that will soon begin in the Eastern States.

Although clinical trials can legally be established in WA, one option may be to transport medicinal cannabis to the State to supply a limited number of patients with the drug as partof east coast trials.

NSW has taken the lead and will conduct three clinical trials next year, with Victoria and Queensland also taking part.

Almost every founder encounters the same dilemma: when your startup has no track record and no revenue to convince funders that it’s worth their time, how much money should you ask for?

You may think that shooting high will make your company seem more valuable, or that lowballing it will attract investors because you’re not asking for much. But either scenario could make potential funders cautious about opening their wallets.

If you’re already sitting at the table with potential investors, you have a shot. Here’s some advice about how to secure the financing you’re looking for.

How much is your company worth?

In a decade and a half of practising law, I’ve never come across an industry changing and evolving as rapidly as Canada’s medical cannabis industry.  It’s fascinating, but it’s also time-consuming to stay abreast of everything that’s going on.  So in case you are interested in what is happening in the industry (beyond the legalization debate taking place within election campaigning), here’s a quick update on my ‘top ten’ list of current issues:

Our sophisticated techy gadgets, gismos and latest ‘apps’ make life easier, simpler and quicker. Our technology driven society monitors, measures and controls almost every aspect of daily life. The Internet tracks our lifestyle, values and interests, bar codes scan our shopping habits, CCTV cameras our movement, GPS/mobile phones track our precise location – this mass of data provides greater surveillance, knowledge and certainty for a world with an insatiable appetite for the measurable, tangible and controllable.

KENT, Ohio -- With the marijuana battle landing on Ohio's ballot for the first time next month, a new poll conducted by WKYC and Kent State University shows 56 percent of the state's voters support allowing adults to possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

The results also show 32 percent are opposed with another 10 percent who don't know how they feel yet.

Kent State Criminologist Anthony Vander Horst participated in the poll and said if the results are true, they could lead to bigger problems.

He has been studying the impact of marijuana on Denver since it was legalized there. He found home prices have gone up, along with homelessness.

He said police have had a hard time enforcing drug intoxication laws.

Change is inevitable, so you need to be prepared to manage your business' evolutionary stages

ow aligned is your culture with your strategy? Few leaders are unaware of Peter Drucker’s famous saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’ Yet few pay purposeful attention to culture—a potential mistake. Ignoring culture leads to an organization’s demise.

It’s tough to put your finger on organization culture like you would many other things in business—it can feel nebulous and illusive. Leaders often feel that culture cannot be managed, but this view leads to complacency. Left unattended company cultures evolve into weedy gardens that choke out the execution of strategy.

When it comes to Cannabis and its use for medical purposes, Canada has been examining the issue in one form or another for at least 16 years. It has of course lead to the current Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) – with all of its promise and problems. Australia, on the other hand is now just beginning to think about what a policy regime would look like – and in their desire to “get it right” Australia is looking at Canada to derive some lessons learned.

Australia has a very unique opportunity to design a policy regime that can ignore the Canadian mistakes and avoid some of the rhetoric that has plagued the discussion and policy development while addressing the needs of patients and care givers.