Acquittal On Wednesday 10th February 2016, the Amsterdam court acquitted Dutch medicinal cannabis grower Rudolf Hillebrand of the charge of illegally growing cannabis.  The court agreed with the defence that Hillebrand cultivated cannabis as an essential supplement to his HIV medication and definitely not for financial gain. A historic verdict!

Marijuana's ascent appears nothing short of unstoppable.

Roughly two decades ago, only a quarter of people responding to a national Gallup poll wanted to see marijuana legalized. But beginning in California in 1996 and spreading throughout the country, 22 additional states, as well as Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for medicinal use as of today.

How's this possible? On one hand, public approval of marijuana being used as medicine is higher than it's ever been. A CBS News poll from April 2015 showed that a whopping 84% of those surveyed across America would like to see marijuana legalized for medicinal purposes.

A growing number of countries are deciding to ditch prohibition. What comes next?

A few months ago, a woman made the medical headlines when she replaced all her prescribed medications with fresh cannabis juice and got great results. There are people who were not at all shocked by the story, but the number of people becoming aware of the amazing healing benefits of this natural plant is constantly rising.

THERE HAS BEEN much talk in recent times about cannabis, namely plans to decriminalise or legalise it in certain jurisdictions.

A number of states in the US have decriminalised or legalised the drug and more are considering it.

In Colorado, for example, adults aged 21 or older can legally possess one ounce (28 grammes) of marijuana. Last year the state sold $996 million worth (about €876 million) of recreational and medical cannabis.

Four Swiss cities have agreed to launch pilot projects for the creation of cannabis clubs allowing members to use the drug without penalty.

The cities of Zurich, Basel, Bern and Geneva have agreed to participate in the projects, which have been discussed for some time by a municipal working group, broadcaster SRF reported on Friday.

A standing-room-only crowd of venture capitalists and angels, agricultural technology investors and innovators, medical doctors, medical cannabis researchers and licensed growers came to Jaffa last week for Israel’s firstCanna Tech conference.

Terpenes are the essential oils found in cannabis that create the fragrances and mental effects of different strains. What is that strong eucalyptus smell in some strains? That would be the terpene caryophyllene oxide. What about those black-peppery spice notes? Chances are the strain has traceable levels of ß-caryophyllene, a terpene also found in cloves and black pepper that has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-septic properties.

Twenty SYRIZA lawmakers proposed in parliament on Monday the full legalization of cannabis for medical and pharmaceutical purposes.

The proposal was addressed to the Ministers of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights; Health; Economy; Development and Tourism; Agriculture and Food, Interior and Administrative Reconstruction.

MP Makis Balaouras was the first to sign the proposal arguing that the cultivation of industrial cannabis can be a positive factor in Greece’s efforts to redeploy the primary and secondary production and boost economy.

The International Cannabis Business Conference isn’t the largest or flashiest marijuana-minded event on the calendar, but it is among the most respected.

What started as the Oregon Marijuana Business Conference in 2013 is now a larger, more inclusive annual gathering held in San Francisco each winter. The 2016 edition will take over the Hyatt Regency in the Embarcadero on Feb. 13-14 with speakers Tommy Chong, former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, U.S. Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher and Earl Blumenauer, Oaksterdam University executive chancellor Dale Sky Jones and others.