This week, the international stock markets may be giving business people and investors palpitations, but the commodities markets worldwide have been down in the dumps for a long time. So-called “junior miners”—those who explore for metals like copper, gold, and iron ore—are largely out of work. Traders and investors in commodities are looking elsewhere to make a buck, and this problem can be seen worldwide, from Canada to Australia and everywhere in between.

So what are miners and those who deal and trade in metals to do?

Sydney, Aug 24, 2015 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MMJ PhytoTech Limited (ASX:MMJ) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, PhytoTech Therapeutics, has received official National approval in Israel to commence a Phase I Clinical Study to assess the safety and performance of its proprietary oral capsule formulations.

Highlights

- First Clinical Study ("Study") approval for MMJ PhytoTech Limited ("MMJ" or the "Company") and key milestone in implementation of the Company’s 'Farm to Pharma' strategy

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.

DESPERATE cancer patients are paying up to $220 for one day’s supply of black market medicinal cannabis while awaiting the “frustratingly slow” process of legalisation.

Health experts say there is enough scientifically proven benefit to warrant the drug’s legalisation in Australia.

But state governments have ordered trials despite more than 1600 research papers already completed around the world.

Scientists say medicinal cannabis eases nausea in chemotherapy patients, assists with pain and muscle spasticity and stimulates appetite in cancer and HIV patients.

Certain cannabis substances have also been found to kill cancer cells in the lab.

Economic turmoil in China, the world’s second-largest economy andtop consumer of industrial metals, has hit commodity prices hard. For the smaller players in the mining industry, that’s made business difficult, and the future uncertain. The solution for some? Enter a booming field that’s relatively unaffected by China and has plenty of upside: marijuana. A recent Reuters report lists a number of companies that have made the switch:

The other week, one of my friends was charged with a crime. When I say “crime”, I don’t mean anything serious.

I apologize for not using the language of the polite and the civilized; but he didn’t steal anything, he didn’t punch someone, he didn’t rape anyone, and he didn’t kill anyone.

All he did was forget to clean out his car properly, leaving 0.3 grams of cannabis in the car. That’s right, 0.3 grams. Nothing. Less than a “joint”, as those devilish hemp junkies would term it.

One tonne of marijuana worth up to $17 million has been seized by police this year but it is unlikely to bring any comfort to those with chronic pain or a terminal illness.

ACT Policing has raided numerous grow houses across the territory as part of a crackdown dubbed Operation Armscote, including its biggest haul in July of 900 plants worth an estimated $6 million.

The raids have filled police coffers with close to 1100 kilograms of cannabis but the drugs are destined to remain in storage for testing or as evidence before being destroyed.

A grow house discovered by ACT Policing during 2014-15. 

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia released a position statement on the investigation of the potential therapeutic value of and therefore possible medicinal uses for cannabis.

The PSA cautions that the document does not aim to address implications or barriers to the calls to legalise the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes in Australia, while acknowledging the dynamic nature of the discussions and initiatives around the subject.

In its paper, Therapeutic use of cannabis, PSA notes reports that in some medical conditions cannabis has provided positive outcomes to individuals who may not have experienced comparable therapeutic benefits from other clinically proven medicines or treatment protocols.

One of the world's largest esports organisations has announced the details of an anti-doping policy that is intended to curb the use of performance-enhancing drugs in competitive gaming.

As we reported in July, the Electronic Sports League (ESL) announced they would be partnering with Germany's Nationale Anti Doping Agentur (NADA) and the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) on an anti-drugs policy.

The protest was one of many dotted around the country, stemming from a case involving Craig Goodwin in Taree. 

Mr Goodwin had been arrested for a cultivation offence to make cannabis oil, despite being a registered carer under the Terminal Illness Cannabis Scheme (or TICS). 

Local men Rodd Green and Ron McCready stood on the steps at Bendigo’s law courts to protest what they saw as a grave miscarriage of justice.

Mr Green said using the non-psychoactive strains of the controversial drug – the CBCs or cannabichromene – could drastically relieve pain. 

“I use medical cannabis oil for chronic post traumatic stress and a broken back in 1995,” Mr Green said. 

“If it wasn't for the powers of medical cannabis, I wouldn't be alive today.”