Guam - A medical marijuana policy forum was held on Saturday at the University of Guam where questions were asked of a panel which included people like public health director James Gilan and Dr. Laura Post.

Bali nine: Families arrive ahead of execution

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's friends and families head to Nusakambangan island to spend the last few days with the Australian pair ahead of their execution.

Myuran Sukumaran has painted what could be his last self-portrait: a torso with a palm-sized black hole over the heart dripping with blood.

The eerie painting, brought back from Nusakambangan by their lawyer Julian McMahon, is a portent of Bali nine pair's  ghastly fate –  death by firing squad.

ukumaran and Andrew Chan were officially given 72 hours warning of their executions on Saturday.

The author of a bill that proposes to legalise marijuana for medical use in the CNMI says there's a need to find an alternative to expensive medical treatments for terminal diseases.

The Northern Marianas Senator Sixto Igisomar says he was prompted to introduce the bill after Guam voted in favour of allowing the use of medical marijuana last year.

Mr Igisomar says marijuana for medicinal use can help alleviate the pain and suffering associated with debilitating conditions such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Draft rules and regulations for the island’s medicinal marijuana program are expected to be approved and open to public comment by late April, said James Gillan, director of Guam’s public health department.

In November, voters approved legalizing the use of marijuana for the treatment of certain medical conditions, making Guam the first U.S. territory to legalize medical marijuana. The drug remains a Schedule I controlled substance under local and federal law.

The Department of Public Health and Social Services, the lead agency tasked with developing guidelines and regulations under the law, has less than five months to submit rules and regulations to the Guam Legislature.

A man from the NSW Central Coast near Sydney, Australia, who is illegally growing marijuana which he supplies to people with anything from cancer to epilepsy, said he will “keep going it” despite the risk he runs of prison time.

Alex Impey may be seen in the eyes of the law as a criminal for growing the controlled plant, but he is seen as a hero by hundreds of sick people, many of them children, who benefit greatly from the marijuana he supplies to them.

Alex said he gets 20 new requests per week for marijuana, he told reporters.

A PETITION urging the legislative delegation of Rota to legalize marijuana for the “economic benefit” of the island has been circulating since last year, Variety learned.

The petition has been signed by more than 300 residents, students and parents since it was launched in June 2014.

The signatories are urging the island’s lawmakers to enact local legislation legalizing the growing, selling and smoking of marijuana (cannabis) for leisure and for medicinal purposes on Rota.

According to the petition, Rota is the most economically depressed island in the commonwealth.

There is “a large number of educated and productive members of the community leaving Rota to seek employment abroad.”

An investigation into the use of cannabis for medical purposes has been carried out by the Ministry of Health.

Growing numbers of jurisdictions allow cannabis for medical use and the Government has come under pressure to re-examine its use here.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne, who oversaw New Zealand's innovative regulations on so-called legal highs, asked officials to look into the issue.

A Manus Island detainee alleges a third of asylum seekers in detention on the Papua New Guinea island is turning to marijuana to relieve their suffering.

Photo: AFP

A detainee has told Guardian Australia that a black market for the drug exists on Manus, and unhappy detainees are easy targets for dealers.

The detainee estimates more than 10 percent of asylum seekers use marijuana every night and almost half from time to time.

Medical groups oppose House Bill 4477 which they say is 'contrary to the policy of the state to safeguard the well-being of its citizenry'

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine medical groups on Thursday, October 16, expressed their opposition to a House bill seeking to legalize and regulate the medical use of marijuana in the country.

"We oppose [House Bill] 4477. We cannot risk endangering the health and safety of the Filipino,” read the statement released by the following organizations: