ONLY one third of arrests for suspicion of possession of cannabis in St Helens led to criminal convictions last year, police figures have revealed.

A debate surrounding whether forces should take legal action for use of the drug surfaced in the national media earlier this summer following the announcement by Durham Constabulary that they were relaxing their drugs policy by no longer targeting people who have cannabis plants at home.

Some drug experts have claimed police have effectively turned a blind eye to cannabis use to focus their attentions elsewhere, with users more likely to receive a warning than face prosecution.

Dubbed the Minister for Hugs and Drugs, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin’s radical ideas regarding heroin and cocaine will not get a warm embrace from everyone.

The fact the Coalition did not appoint a minister with special responsibility for drugs policy for four years tells you all you need to know about how seriously they take the issue.

But Mr Ó Ríordáin, who also covers equality issues — the huggy part of his job — has certainly attempted to move fast to make up the lost time since being appointed to the role in May.

Far from trotting out the tired old cliches about a so-called war on drugs, Mr Ó Ríordáin has called for a new approach whereby Ireland would follow Portugal’s largely successful move to decriminalise all drugs from crack to weed.

Bob Lemmo, the first news editor of marijuana-enthusiast and lifestyle media brand High Times, died in hospice Aug. 9 at age 64.

In 1975, when High Times was in its first year of publication and on a meteoric growth track, Lemmo was brought in to help create a news section entirely focused on marijuana, hashish and other recreational drugs. Prior to that, he had been editor of underground newspapers in New York and Arizona.

July 22^nd 2015 marked the anniversary of the great Cologne cannabis judgement, but not a single cannabis plant has yet been grown. That’s a reason to look into matters.

The normalisation and legalisation of cannabis has certainly seen a lot of changes worldwide over the past 12 months, but what is happening in Germany? In Germany, grow shop offensives, driving bans as an alternative penalty for cannabis users and zero tolerance directives are hitting the headlines. It is anything but easy, even for cannabis patients in Germany. Medicinal hemp from pharmacies is expensive, and supply problems are a constant source of complaint.

The sale of booze in supermarkets is a nice idea of you like a drink; it’s hell on those who have trouble with their drinking.

The newspapers unfurl on the kitchen table every morning, and for an hour I am an old-school general of the news, absorbing fresh troop movements and daily atrocities.

It is early and I am not done with coffee, nor have I eaten an orange or an egg, when the LCBO ad insert falls out of the paper, and I suddenly feel the need for clear gin in bottles blue or green, and a pale cold glass of pilsner, and rye whiskey splashed over crystal cubes of ice and, yes, a delicate glass of wine as dark as blood.

It is not yet 8:00 a.m.

As marijuana use becomes more acceptable, researchers are scrambling to answer key questions about the drug.

In 2013, Beau Kilmer took on a pretty audacious head count. Citizens in the state of Washington had just voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use, and the state's liquor control board, which would regulate the nascent industry, was anxious to understand how many people were using the drug — and importantly, how much they were consuming.

We have been led to believe that marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug that destroys lives and is a far greater risk than other recreational drugs such as alcohol. Governments have tried diligently to to convince the public that people who use pot are more at risk to themselves and the public than those who use alcohol. As the debate over marijuana legalization continues, a new study now shows that smoking the controversial plant is about 114 times safer than drinking alcohol.

From tie dye to shirt and tie, people from all walks of life descended on a race track just outside of Clio to celebrate the state's growing cannabis community.

Thousands of participants were expected to attend High Times magazine's Cannabis Cup event being held Saturday, Aug. 22, and Sunday, Aug. 23, at Auto City Speedway.

It was the second year the magazine tagged the Clio-area track for the event, placing the small northern Genesee County community among the ranks of San Francisco and Denver, which held events earlier this year aiming to showcase the industry and lay the foundation for the growing cannabis community.

Authorities can't agree on a set pot policy

It’s police versus pot shops in the escalating battle over “medical” marijuana in Vancouver — and the cops say it’s keeping them busier than a bud grower at harvest time.

Marijuana shops are sprouting like weeds all over the city.

And despite claims that the stores are helping sick people by providing them with medical marijuana grown by green-thumbed angels of mercy, overwhelmed police say that’s not always the case.

“We’ve seen an explosion in the number of stores — we’ve gone from 12 to over 100,” said Sgt. Randy Fincham, spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department.

“It certainly is creating more work for us. It has caused us to take a hard look at where we’re going to put our police resources.”

There have been several ‘marijuana odor bans’ in states all over America in one form or another. The bans relate to the smell of marijuana being consumed, and/or to the smell of marijuana being cultivated. In Oregon, a court case was decided this week which determined that the smell of marijuana being consumed is not offensive. Per Oregon Live:

The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday refused to declare the smell of marijuana smoke wafting into neighbors’ homes “unpleasant.”