The Irish minister responsible for drugs strategy is calling for the decriminalisation of possession of small quantities of drugs, including class A substances like heroin.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has told the BBC that the "Just Say No" message, taught in schools, is ineffective and "a lie".

The Irish Labour Party politician has called for a more sympathetic approach to dealing with addicts.

He emphasised that what he was proposing is decriminalisation

Image captionMr Ó Ríordáin said drug users should not be criminalised for their sickness

This means that people would, in practice, not face prosecution, but it does not mean the legalisation of drugs.

With no federal standards to guide them, fewer than half of medical marijuana states require safety testing of cannabis.

If you take a prescription pill in America, you can be fairly certain of what you’re getting, thanks to strict federal regulations that mandate quality and consistency.

That’s not true for marijuana, even if a doctor prescribes it. Bud can mildew or be covered in potentially dangerous pesticides; edibles can be contaminated with E. coli or mold; concentrates like butane hash oil can have high levels of solvents left over from processing.

At the Bud+Breakfast at the Adagio, which bills itself as a cannabis-friendly lodge, visitors to Colorado looking to get a whiff of the local weed scene can wake up to the smell of pot wafting through the foyer and dining rooms of what have become known as "bud-and-breakfasts." Mornings begin with a "wake and bake," where guests sample marijuana strains before scoffing down a traditional three-course breakfast. Afternoons can be spent unwinding with a THC-infused massage or lighting a joint at the lodge's 4:20 p.m. happy hour.

Could This Be A Breakthrough In The UK Campaign For Medicinal Cannabis?

Cannabis used as medicine has appeared before in UK soaps but the news is that this Coronation Street storyline could be less jokey and trivial and actually deal in science and truth.  If so it could be a major breakthrough against an intransigent government that flatly refuses even to consider the evidence.

Victoria is now the city with the most medical marijuana dispensaries per capita in Canada.

Trees Medical Marijuana dispensary opened today on lower Yates Street, the 24th in the city.

“We are going to see people come in here who haven’t come into a dispensary before because there isn’t one down here it’s a tourist area a very high shopping area so we are going to see a lot of new people,” says General Manager, Travis Lane.

With this opening Victoria has a new title, the most medical marijuana dispensaries per capita in Canada.

There is one for every 3334 people in the city of Victoria.

That surpasses Vancouver with one to 3428.

There are now more dispensaries than Starbucks in the city.  24 to 15.

A new kind of party bus hit the streets of Denver, Colorado earlier this week. And locals may be able to smell it coming.

The High There! Hopper is a mobile cannabis lounge — a 20-person limousine carrying recreational and medicinal marijuana users from one local hot spot to the next, free of charge. It allows people to travel safely while under the influence, meeting other like-minded tokers along the way.

To gain access, users have to download the company's social networking app, HighThere!, which launched in Apple and Google's app stores earlier this year.

Starting Thursday, you can track the bus's location on the app as it cruises through downtown Denver.

Legislation that makes Delaware the latest state in the country to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana went into effect just after midnight Friday,  downgrading a possession charge for people carrying up to an ounce of pot if they are 21 years of age or older from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil violation, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Under the former rules, having pot on your person could result in up to six months of jail time. 

PORTLAND, Ore. - Members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have approved a plan to build a facility to grow marijuana on their reservation in central Oregon and sell it at tribe-owned stores outside the reservation.

The vote comes a year after a U.S. Department of Justice policy indicated tribes could grow and sell pot under the same guidelines as states that opt to legalize. The tribe is one of the first in the country to enter the pot business.

Tribal officials said about 80 per cent of tribal voters favoured the proposal. More than 1,400 of the 3,300 eligible voters turned out for the referendum Thursday.

A recent study in states where medical or recreational marijuana is legal shows that most employers haven't let the social shift in legalization soften their tolerance, or lack thereof, regarding employees who test positive for the substance.

Conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, the survey polled 623 human resource professionals in nineteen states where medical marijuana is legal and four states and Washington D.C., where cannabis is legal for adult-use. The results showed that most employers are still following federal laws and guidelines despite operating in states that have laws allowing forms of marijuana use.

Rebel Salute has become the second entertainment event to be granted exemption status under the amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act.

The two-day reggae festival to be held at Richmond Estate in Priory, St Ann, from January 15 to 16 follows behind the recent staging of the Cannabis Cup in Negril which was the first to receive exemption since the decriminalisation of ganja in Jamaica.

Making the announcement at the launch of Rebel Salute at the Marriot Courtyard Hotel in New Kingston on Thursday Justice Minister Mark Golding noted that the festival continues to live by the fundamental aspects of the Rastafari ‘livity’ which qualifies it for exemption.