Number one: Canada elects a marijuana-legalizing prime minister.

The global anti-drug regime has been in place for more than a half century now, but the prohibitionist consensus has been crumbling for at least 20 years, and the decomposition continued apace this year.

The international treaties that make up the legal backbone of international drug prohibition still stand, but they are under increasing attack at the United Nations, which will take them up again next year. They are increasingly being breached (especially by marijuana legalization at the national and sub-national level) and nibbled away at around the edges by moves like drug decriminalization and some harm reduction measures such as supervised injection facilities.

Marijuana producers in the southern region of Brabant have an annual turnover of around €1bn, according to police and justice ministry estimates.

They say the region has between 5,500 and 8,800 plantations, producing over 340 tonnes of the plant a year, local broadcaster Omroep Brabant reports.

‘Locals don’t smoke that much, so most of it is exported,’ a police spokesman said.

The figures were revealed in a special broadcast to highlight the region’s drugs industry.

In April 2016, the United Nations will have a chance to forge a smarter way forward for global drug policy.

In this video, George Soros, Bryan Stevenson, Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, and a number of drug policy experts and advocates discuss why the time for reform is now. 

The Irish minister responsible for drugs strategy is calling for the decriminalisation of possession of small quantities of drugs, including class A substances like heroin.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has told the BBC that the "Just Say No" message, taught in schools, is ineffective and "a lie".

The Irish Labour Party politician has called for a more sympathetic approach to dealing with addicts.

He emphasised that what he was proposing is decriminalisation

Image captionMr Ó Ríordáin said drug users should not be criminalised for their sickness

This means that people would, in practice, not face prosecution, but it does not mean the legalisation of drugs.

As 2015 comes to an end and 2016 quickly approaches, many people with huge financial goals in the works might be wondering how to better manage their money or get out of debt in the new year. But smart investors — they want to know where they should be putting their money next year. To do that, they need to know which industries are expected to yield high returns.

Based on research and experts’ opinions, here are seven fast-growing industries investors should consider investing in for 2016.

Hana Gabrielová, CEO of Hempoint, studied agriculture in the Czech Republic where she learned about the historical importance of hemp farming in her country. After working for several environmental NGOs, she decided to shift her focus to creating a company utilizing a once traditional Czech crop in new and exciting ways. Thus, in 2010 Hempoint was born.

Hempoint’s product range boasts around 30 wonderfully tasty hemp based products which they currently sell throughout Europe. It includes a selection of hemp teas, hemp seed cookies, hemp oil and even hemp seed paste (like peanut butter only hempier!).

A centre for research into the use of cannabis in medicine officially opened in Prague on Tuesday. The International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute has been created with the help of 500 million crown donations from the US and Canada and represents the biggest foreign investment in Czech medicine in recent years.

The International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute was established by a Canadian investor Benjamin Bronfman and its aim is to explore the use of medical marihuana and its components both with regard to existing medical knowledge and the experiences of patients.

Tomáš Zábranský, the country’s leading drug expert and the head of science and research at the institute explains why it was established in the Czech Republic:

Center is biggest recent private investment in medical research, according to minister

Prague, (ČTK) — The International Cannabis and Cannaboids Institute (ICCI) was opened in Prague today with U.S. and Canadian investors contributing half a billion crowns, which Health Minister Svatopluk Němeček said is the biggest private investment in Czech medical research in the past years.

The institute, for which Professor Lumir Hanus, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, will also work, wants to contribute to the use of cannabis in the treatment of various diseases based on research evidence and the patients´ experience.

ICCI managing director Pavel Kubů said the research is to contribute to the tailor-made treatment of patients.

Early Alzheimer’s disease patients who engage in light or moderate drinking have been shown to have fewer chances of dying in a new study. The research was conducted at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Moderate Drinking Can Have A Protective Effect on Cardiovascular Disease

The team, lead by Dr. Sine Bernsten, took data from a previous 12-month study that looked into a psychosocial counseling and support program for people with Alzheimer’s in early stages. This study had 321 participants, with details of lifestyle habits. 10% of the people didn’t drink at all, and 70% had about 10ml of pure alcohol per day. This would be about 1/3 of a pint of beer or half a glass of wine per day.