The war on drugs has failed and doctors should lead calls for change, one of the world's top medical journals has said.

The British Medical Journal says illegal drug use is increasing and alternative policies are needed urgently.

A set of radical proposals has been published in the BMJ, which was founded in 1840 and is seen as a leading voice in the medical community.

The journal says penalties for drug use should be scrapped and governments should regulate legal drug markets.

The move follows decriminalisation of cannabis in Nevada, California and Massachusetts, passed in votes on 8 November.

Berlin is on course to at least semi-legalising marijuana after a cross-party movement agreed on a ground-breaking pilot scheme.

The capital’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party have agreed on a “controlled distribution of cannabis to adults” project.

Cannabis possession is illegal in Germany, although people found with less than 15g are often not prosecuted.

While most people are busy talking about the potential doom from a Trump presidency, there is a much more real change undergoing. For the first time in American history, we have seen the country take steps towards acceptance of marijuana (for better or worse). California made history with the passing of its marijuana legalization bill, which presents a more interesting look at the substance than most understand.

CAA-funded study suggests marijuana legalization will pose ‘incredible challenges’ for managing pot-impaired drivers.

The Canadian Automobile Association is lobbying for a government-funded public education program to warn of the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving before Canada legalizes recreational pot.

Police will also need more funding to learn how to recognize and investigate drug-impaired drivers, says the CAA.

The Liberal government has promised to introduce legislation legalizing recreational marijuana next spring and a committee report on the process is expected at the end this month.

Over 63 million Americans now live in states where it's legal to consume recreational weed.

Americans said "yes we cannabis" on Election Day, when voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada passed ballot initiatives fully legalizing the use and possession of marijuana without a doctor's recommendation.

Unless you were living under a rock this week, then you are aware that the number of legal states in America doubled after the election. The states that legalized were of course California, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Maine. According to the most recent census numbers, those states have a combined population of 49,714,000 people, with California of course making up the bulk of the statistic (38.8 million people live in California).

Voters in Massachusetts approved the recreational use of marijuana starting in 2018. It's a measure some Connecticut legislators have pushed for in the past without success. But now proponents think the tide might be changing in Connecticut. 

The approval of recreational pot in neighboring Massachusetts is already sparking conversation to the south. New Haven Rep. Juan Candelaria, who’s introduced legislation in the past, said the biggest attraction to legalization is tax revenue.

The marijuana industry was delivered a series of major victories this week at the state level, and it is bullish about opportunities at the federal level under the Trump administration as well.

Cannabis legalization ballot initiatives were approved in several states on Tuesday. Florida, Montana, Arkansas and North Dakota voted in favor of medical initiatives, and recreational marijuana measures passed in California, Maine, Nevada and Massachusetts. Arizona was the only state to reject the initiative there. Across the board, marijuana industry leaders and legalization proponents are encouraged by the votes.

"From an industry standpoint, things went almost perfect," said Dan Humiston, president of the International Cannabis Association.

As four more states legalized marijuana this week, Denver voters took the considerably less dramatic step of authorizing a pilot program that will allow cannabis consumption in specially licensed businesses. Under Initiative 300, which was favored by 53 percent of voters on Tuesday, a business that wants to let customers bring their own marijuana and enjoy it on the premises can establish a "designated consumption area" with the consent of "an eligible neighborhood organization" and a permit from the city.

Medical-marijuana doctors and certification centers report seeing an increase in appointments over the two days following the negative election results of Proposition 205.

The measure to legalize marijuana in Arizona appears to have failed, though the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Arizona is waiting for all the votes to be counted before making an announcement. The Associated Press called the race for the "no" side late Tuesday night.