A campaign to put a marijuana-legalization question on Michigan ballots suffered a setback that could keep the measure off November ballots.

The petition campaign called MI Legalize failed to submit enough valid petition signatures, according to a ruling by the Michigan Court of Claims.

Although MI Legalize submitted 354,000 signatures -- well over the 252,000 required -- the court agreed with a State Board of Canvassers decision in June, deciding that “more than 200,000 were collected more than 180 days before the petition was submitted” to the Secretary of State -- a violation of state law.

Customs & Excise report 10-fold increase with most from South Africa and Spain. 

The number of cannabis seizures being made in the Republic’s postal service has reach record levels.

Customs & Excise officers have seen a near 10-fold increase in seizures in the last five years and, despite that level of growth, seizure numbers almost doubled last year.

The vast majority of seizures involve herbal cannabis being imported into the State via the postal service from Spain and South Africa.

Security sources believe while some of the finds belonged to gangs experimenting with smuggling routes to test how effective searching in the postal system is, most of the finds result from orders for the drug placed online.

An economic research think tank is calling for marijuana to be legalised saying it could save the country over $300 million a year.

Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) principal economist Peter Wilson said outlawing the drug had not stopped 10 percent of New Zealanders using it.

He said although policies reducing its harm were needed, Treasury had calculated changing the legal status of marijuana would mean the government rather than criminals would benefit.

High Society: Pardons for nonviolent marijuana offenders in states where weed is legal are becoming part of the debate as more states consider legalizing cannabis.  

Twenty years ago, Rico Garcia was 21 when he got caught up in a marijuana sting in Colorado with a friend who wanted to buy some weed. The seller turned out to be a police informant, and Garcia and his friend were arrested.

“The police came and arrested us and said we were selling weed,” says Garcia, now a 41-year-old marijuana advocate who runs Cannabis Alliance for Regulation and Education. “My friend said it was his, but … under Colorado law at the time, 8 ounces was possession with intent and I got a felony.”

Poland Poland is an eastern European country on the Baltic Sea, with a population of almost forty million, a strong economy, and (in recent years) a generally progressive approach to drug legislation. However, despite legislative successes over the last decade, the drug laws remain relatively strict by modern European standards.

San Diego voters will be told this fall that passage of a ballot measure to tax businesses selling recreational marijuana could generate an estimated $22 million for city coffers in the first year, according to documents made available Tuesday.

The estimate is part of a fiscal analysis of Measure N, which will go before voters in November. The City Clerk’s Office released fiscal and legal analyses on the dozen city of San Diego propositions that will be decided in the general election.

Measure N would only take effect if voters statewide approve Proposition 64, which would decriminalize recreational marijuana use. The drug is currently allowed under state law only for medical purposes.

JUST one in four offenders caught with cannabis are charged, a Sun investigation can reveal.

It shows police attitudes vary widely across the UK — with addiction charities saying some forces turn a blind eye to cannabis use.

Some offenders are getting off scot free because of a lax police attitude to drug laws.

While a few forces crack down most have a “softly-softly” approach — and a few virtually turn a blind eye.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to dismiss questions about decriminalizing cannabis as an interim step toward legalization, saying it would leave kids more vulnerable to the drug and keep the sector in the hands of organized crime.

"If you decriminalize it, you make it easier for kids to access it," said Trudeau in a recent interview with Ben Mulroney of CTV's, Your Morning. "Decriminalize it, you continue to have organized crime controlling marijuana. That is counter to why we want to do it. That is why decriminalization has never been interesting to us.”

Gallup has estimated that at least 33 million adults in the United States are marijuana users right now — although government studies say the figure stands closer to 20 million. No matter what the actual number is, the fact is that a lot of people either smoke, vape or ingest weed in the land of the free.

In an article published on Harvard Health’s site, Wynne Armand, MD, shared a look into the effects the recreational and medical use of marijuana has on our health.

A brief look on some of the world’s most unlikely advocates of cannabis legalization and their motives.

The issues of cannabis and the laws surrounding is a very debated issue all around the world. As medical uses for cannabis are being found and tested constantly the previously accepted positions on cannabis having a severely negative influence on the individual and the society are slowly being abandoned. It seems that with each day cannabis legalizations gains more supporters, as it is becoming more socially acceptable to enjoy cannabis even recreationally. Nevertheless, it is still a very polarizing issue and just how the situation is changing is best observed in the case of the United States of America.