In the past three years, requests for help related to the use of cannabis have outstripped those for of heroin and cocaine.

This is one of the greatest changes in the inevitable flip side of Portugal’s drug scene, the treatment of those whose use has become out of control.

The head of European Monitoring Unit for Drugs and Drug Addiction, João Goulão, spoke at the launch the 2015 edition of the 'European Report on Drugs' today in Lisbon.

Speaking to reporters after presenting the report, Goulão said "the situation in Portugal has been notable for the prevalence of heroin for many years," but that there has been a reduction in the importance of heroin and a "growing importance" in cannabis.

Use of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and amphetamine at its highest in UK compared to rest of continent, the EU’s drug agency has revealed.

The UK is the drugs capital of Europe with reported use of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and amphetamine at its highest across the continent, the EU’s drug agency has revealed.

Seizures of heroin and MDMA were also higher in the UK than in any of its neighbours, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

And legal highs continued to flood in to the continent with 101 new substances reported last year, a rise of 25 per cent on the previous year, the agency said.

A new lawsuit has been filed against the NFL by a coalition of several hundred former players. The players presenting the lawsuit are alleging that all 32 professional NFL teams, from coaches to medical staff, illegally obtained and administered pharmaceutical pain pills to players to keep them on the field when they are seriously hurt.

House lawmakers in the nation’s capital approved multiple pro-marijuana amendments in what was referred to as a “marijuana vote-a-rama” Wednesday, as a new Department of Justice (DOJ) budget was voted on.

The DOJ’s budget, included in the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill for fiscal year 2016, dictates how the agency can administer federal funding, including in the realm of marijuana enforcement. Included among appropriations amendments were several marijuana-related proposals staying the agency’s hand in policing marijuana laws in states where it is legal––three of them were approved.

California’s latest attempt to regulate medical marijuana advanced off the Assembly floor on a 50-5 vote Thursday.

The state’s cannabis industry has exploded since California legalized medical pot in 1996, but annual attempts to impose statewide controls on the the cannabis marketplace have collapsed, often with law enforcement groups working to defeat the measures. Lawmakers trying again this year are emboldened by the likelihood that voters will be asked in 2016 whether to legalize recreational pot.

The health food industry could be the perfect segue for cannabis to enter the mainstream. Sprouted hempseeds have high levels of non-psychoactive cannabinoids and are tasty sprinkled on sandwiches or salads. Balms and lotions provide relief for sore muscles, and now juice enthusiasts are experimenting with cannabis leaves.

Juicing works best with young leaves that have been cut before the plant buds. Unlike most edibles, it will not get you high so you can use it during the day and still be functional.

With weed now permitted in some form in 23 U.S. states, the flow of cannabis out of Mexico has slowed and, to a degree, reversed

The street lieutenant fidgeting in a Ciudad Juárez pizza parlor deals drugs for Barrio Azteca, a gang that emerged from Texas prisons in the 1980s to control a chunk of illegal shipments from Mexico into the U.S. Southwest. Think No Country for Old Men—secret nighttime drops, murders, and a lucrative sideline in human trafficking and prostitution. Meeting with a reporter while his heavyset boss circles the block, the Juárez dealer is preoccupied with his hottest new product: handcrafted American-made pot.

The production of psychoactive substances is on the rise is Europe with cannabis still being the most used drug in the European Union, the bloc's drug agency said in its yearly report published on Thursday (4 June).

The annual report published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) showed that over a hundred new psychoactive substances were detected in Europe in 2014 and risk assessments were conducted on six new drugs, marking record highs.

Cannabis use in the U.K. has almost halved over the past decade, even as marijuana use among 15- to 34-year-olds has grown throughout most of the Europe, according to the annual report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction released Thursday. As Brits are increasingly turning down pot, nations across Europe and states in the United States have begun decriminalizing marijuana-related offenses and use of the drug.

A bipartisan amendment to the Fiscal Year 2016 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations spending bill that prohibits DEA and Department of Justice funds from being used to interfere in states that have legalized medical marijuana passed the House today by a margin of 242-186. The amendment is a renewal of the one that passed in May of last year and was reintroduced by Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA). A similar amendment was also passed protecting states that have allowed industrial hemp.