When Huanito Luksetic was arrested for growing marijuana to help him cope with multiple sclerosis, he could not have known his struggle would eventually pave the way for Croatia to legalise cannabis for medical use.

“I knew it would happen eventually,” says Luksetic, recalling the day in October 2014 when police burst into his home near Rijeka on the northern Adriatic coast, seizing some 20 kilos (44 pounds) of marijuana.

“When they knocked on my door, it was a kind of relief,” he admits.

Released on bail soon after his arrest, he is now on trial for marijuana production and sale, although he was growing it for personal medical use only. If found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in jail.

Around one in 12 adults aged 16 to 59 (8.4%) have taken an illegal drug in 2015/16 – equal to around 2.7 million people, according to official figures.

But that number jumps to one in five among 16 to 24 year olds, which works out at 18% of that population. The Crime Survey for England and Wales figures are similar to what they were a year ago, but show a decline in substance misuse over the past decade – 25.2% of those aged 16 to 24 had taken a drug in the past year when surveyed in 2005/06.

Canadian market leader announces approvals to have Tweed products available for sale to German patients this summer.

Canopy Growth Corporation ("Canopy" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary Tweed Inc. ("Tweed"), Canada's largest medical marijuana producer, has received necessary approvals in Canada and Germany to begin export of medical cannabis for sale to German patients. 

Working with MedCann GmbH Pharma and Nutraceuticals ("MedCann"), a privately held pharmaceutical importer and manufacturer, the transfer marks an important milestone for the Company and the first known incidence of dried cannabis being exported from a Canadian licensed producer to a major G7 country.

Barcelona Barcelona’s Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum officially opened its doors on May 9, 2012. Located in the Palau Mornau, an emblematic and impressive building remodelled by modernist architect Manual Raspall, in the centre of Catalonia's capital, became the first museum ever dedicated solely and exclusively to the Cannabis plant.

Today, after more then four years since it opened, the Barcelona Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum continues to work every day to show the world the considerable role of cannabis throughout history. To do this, it organises events and exhibitions shifting us to different eras and times, educating us and opening up our minds.

Colonel says drugs seized by police were not good enough for patients needing medical marijuana.

The Italian army is growing large crops of cannabis in order to force the price of the drug down to about €8 per gram, according to the colonel overseeing production.

In September 2014, the country’s government announced the army would help increase the production of medical marijuana, with the first secure growing facility unveiled in Florence in April last year.

When antibiotic drugs were first discovered in 1928, they revolutionized healthcare. By the end of World War II, their production had exploded.

Decades later, things have changed.

Today, according to an estimate from the CDC, about half of the antibiotic prescriptions in the United States are totally unnecessary. The effects of that over-prescription are serious.

Canada’s licensed medical cannabis producers are searching for opportunities to expand overseas while Ottawa works on its plan to legalize recreational marijuana next spring, with two producers recently securing licences to sell their products in Europe.

The latest company to announce plans to export marijuana is Canopy Growth Corp., the largest of the country’s two dozen licensed producers. Canopy Growth said it would soon begin selling dried cannabis in pharmacies across Germany after securing an export licence from Health Canada on Wednesday. The company also said it had signed partnerships to share its technical expertise with medical marijuana companies in Brazil and Australia.

Freedom Leaf, Inc. (OTC PINK: FRLF) the successful publishing and licensing company behind the legal cannabis industry, has quickly reached important revenue-driving milestones in Spain and The Netherlands in its international branding effort.

Freedom Leaf, Inc. has drawn interest from overseas licensees seeking access to its brand, its editorial content, ability to put on events, along with premium products and services under its banner. "We're a magnet to attract mergers and acquisitions, incubation of new companies and spinoffs," said Cliff Perry, CEO of Freedom Leaf, Inc. "Our news, media, entertainment platforms and other properties raise awareness for investors and seed more potential deal flow"

Minister Costa says legislation doesn't have enough support.

A bill on legalising cannabis will not be voted on until after parliament's summer recess in September, Walter Verini, an MP for Premier Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said on Monday.

Some 2,000 amendments have been presented to the bill, which is set to be debated on the floor of the Lower House on Monday, mostly by lawmakers opposed to it.

"Today we will start the debate (on the bill) without any hypocrisy, but the the examination of the bill will be postponed until September and then the parties will have to decide what approach to take," said Verini, the PD leader in the Lower House's justice committee.

Italian lawmakers will begin discussion on Monday of a proposal to ease up on the recreational use and growing of cannabis -- a highly inflammatory topic, with the government on the fence.

Were the draft to pass into law, people would be allowed to grow up to five cannabis plants for personal use and keep up to 15 grams of marijuana at home and five grams on their person.

It would still be illegal for people to buy or sell weed or smoke marijuana in public, but the Italian state could start issuing licenses allowing the drug to be grown and sold in a similar way to tobacco.

Several European countries, as well as a number of US states, have legalised marijuana in recent years, both for medical and recreational use.