Marijiuana, a divisive issue that normally resurfaces in Europe during election campaigns, has come home to France's hotly-contested presidential race.

With eight months to go until the 2017 French presidential election, marijuana - or cannabis, as the French prefer to call it - is an honored guest meme in the candidates' discourse, and a subject of intense controversy among the French electorate.

The country with the biggest weed habit? That might surprise you.

A new report claims the UK government should legalise marijuana because it's “the only solution to crime and addiction problems”.

The strongly-worded study - titled The Tide Effect: How the World is Changing its Mind on Cannabis - was produced by the nonpartisan Adam Smith Institute and has the backing of several cross-party MPs including former deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg.

A new report claims the UK government should legalise marijuana because it's “the only solution to crime and addiction problems”.

The strongly-worded study - titled The Tide Effect: How the World is Changing its Mind on Cannabis - was produced by the nonpartisan Adam Smith Institute and has the backing of several cross-party MPs including former deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg.

For 45 years, governments in France have held on to some of the harshest and most outdated cannabis policies in Europe. And even though change is happening all around the EU, with neighbors Spain and Italy pushing toward reform, it still seems hard for this “country of liberties” to escape the vicious circle of cannabis prohibition.

After a series of massive terror attacks on French soil, the world rose up in solidarity to celebrating the French values of freedom, fraternity, and equality apparently — qualities apparently targeted by the attackers. But those ethical values, inherited from the French Revolution, know one exception: the approach to drugs and drug users — and in particular, cannabis consumers.

When you think of anti-cannabis crusaders, names like former President Richard Nixon and former First Lady Nancy Reagan immediately come to mind. But Napoleon Bonaparte - the French emperor and general who was tastefully portrayed by Verne Troyer on TV's Jack of All Trades - is also among the ranks of history's prohibitionists.

Medicinal Cannabis Sativex and Bedrocan are now available in many European countries, and several have infrastructure in place to supply patients with medicinal cannabis. So which countries are moving with the times, and which are dragging their heels? Where are medicinal and recreational users most (and least) free to utilize their drug of choice? Let’s take a look at the facts.

Liberal drug policies have spread across Europe. But some early adopters are slipping behind.

On a cobbled street lined with tourist shops in central Prague, a darkened storefront advertises cannabis-flavoured beer and absinthe ice cream. Inside, chocolate bars featuring Bob Marley’s face are for sale alongside “mushroom cookies” and glass bongs. Nothing stronger is on offer. But in a country where the possession of drugs is mostly tolerated, it is not hard to find the real stuff elsewhere: dealers loiter in the city’s main square, and barmen sell cannabis under the counter.

The world has had a long and complicated relationship with hemp.

It wasn’t until the twentieth century that hemp fell out of favor as one of the most important crops in the history of mankind. In 2016, however, anything is possible it seems.

So, it could be very soon where a variety of applications using hemp become economical, and hemp grows into a boon for society.

What was once a widespread plant became a taboo within decades. Its history shows it is useful for tens of thousands of applications and counting. 

Saliva tests to find out who uses cannabis in high school in the Paris region – this is just one of the proposals by the local administration’s anti-drugs initiative that has created a storm of controversy, especially among the head teachers who have branded the plan “socially unacceptable and ineffective”. They give two fundamental reasons. Firstly, such coercive measures could damage the relationship of trust between students and teachers, undermining the harmony of student life and instilling a climate of suspicion. Secondly, there is a risk of ‘overshooting’, or ‘killing a fly with a cannon ball’.

Since 1996, two dozen states have approved medical marijuana laws in the U.S. The most recent was Pennsylvania, which passed medical marijuana legislation just last month. We've also witnessed four states legalize the sale of recreational marijuana.

For medical marijuana patients, approval of the drug at the state level means possible new pathways to treatment. Though each state typically differs on what diseases and disorders qualify, glaucoma, epilepsy, and most terminal cancers are ailments that commonly fit the bill. For the states themselves, legalization is primarily motivated by the additional revenue-generating potential. Since marijuana is taxed, medical marijuana provides a way for states to funnel extra money to schools or law enforcement.