The most comprehensive framework for how a regulated cannabis market could work in the UK has been published today by an independent panel of experts set up by the Liberal Democrats.

This groundbreaking report sets out how the legal production and supply of cannabis could work in the UK. It was established in the autumn by Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Norman Lamb MP. The expert panel was chaired by Steve Rolles, Senior Policy Analyst from Transform Drug Policy Foundation.

Click here to download a full copy of the report

The report proposes

It’s not every day that Richard Branson invites you to his private island.

Especially after you were almost kicked out of an emerging tech competition for promoting your new “Facebook of Cannabis.” When cannabis companies weren’t even allowed in part of the competition.

Meet Isaac Dietrich and Stewart Fortier, two mid-20-something entrepreneurs that set out to change the world through tech–one pot smoker at a time.  The pair met in high school and rejoined after Fortier finished college, where he majored in economics and religious studies. Dietrich skipped college while honing his skills on political campaigns, such as Virginia state Senator Jeff McWaters and Congressman Scott Rigell, and tech startups in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area.

MERSEYSIDE has become the cannabis capital of the UK with the region exporting more than it imports, a judge has declared.

Despairing Judge Stephen Everett made the claim after telling how much of his time is taken up by cases concerning the drug.

Speaking at the sentencing of a man twice found with cannabis farms at his Liverpool home, he said: “Almost none is imported into Liverpool, it is all exported because so many people are growing it. I see five to ten cases a week.

“Cannabis is an evil drug which brings people into the drugs scene. People start by smoking cannabis and move onto Class A drugs and commit further offences.”

During the most recent trading session, shares of GW Pharmaceuticals Plc (NASDAQ:GWPH) moved in the range of $37.79 – 40.24. According to Thomson Reuters’ First Call platform, sell side analysts have provided price targets for the company. The current price target consensus projects the stock to reach $133.00 within the next 52 week time frame.

Investors and analysts often use multiple indicators to try to gauge where the stock may be headed in the future. One of the oldest and most commonly used metrics is a company’s P/E Ratio or price to earnings ratio. This calculation is made by measuring a company’s current share price relative to its earnings. Currently, GW Pharmaceuticals Plc has a price to earnings or P/E Ratio of N/A.

There is a sense of fear we feel when we hear people using the word ‘Addict’.

As children we are taught to mind our own behaviour and stay away from those that don’t. If we are caught doing something ‘naughty’ at school, we are scolded or punished until we learn not to do it. As we grow older we worry less about our own bad behaviour, however what remains the same is a firmly rooted sense that there is right and wrong behaviour and those who act out should still be met with a consequence as we did in our childhoods.

There is a sympathy we feel when we hear people using the word ‘illness’.

Earlier this month, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron called for cannabis legalisation in the UK. The party is proposing to table a motion at their annual conference to legalise and regulate medicinal and recreational cannabis. 

Gary Malcolm, Liberal Democrat Councillor in Ealing, gave VolteFace his personal case for drug reform.

Many people ask why I think that cannabis should be legalised, given that I have never smoked a cigarette in my life.

As a graduate in Genetics, my biological and scientific background leads me to form policies based on evidence, while my guiding liberal philosophy leads me to want people to have the chance to make their own decisions.

A Cambridgeshire woman who has endured horrific nerve pain for 11 years has launched a petition calling for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis.

The Wimpole resident, who does not want to be named, suffers from Peripheral Neuropathy (PN), chronic nerve pain which gives her a burning feeling in her feet, legs and more recently hands. Over the years, she has been prescribed numerous drugs to try and dull the pain but nothing has worked.

To keep her feet cool she wears open-toed sandals all year round and at night time has the air conditioning on in an effort to sleep.

The 71-year-old tried cannabis when she was in Amsterdam - and found she got instant relief - after a colleague with multiple sclerosis (MS) said it was the only way to alleviate her pain.

Marijuana legalization has been a political issue in the United States for some time, and while it remains illegal in most states, others have softened their stance in recent years. Colorado and Washington both passed initiatives by popular vote to decriminalize and legalize cannabis in 2012. In 2014, Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., followed suit. Many states including Massachusetts, California, Missouri, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Ohio have flirted with legalization for a few election cycles, with buzz growing.

The United States isn't the only country where people use marijuana legally or illicitly. In fact, it isn’t even the country with the highest reported marijuana use.

The United Kingdom is starting to talk about cannabis as a medicine.

End Our Pain, a campaign to give patients legal access to medicinal cannabis, launched earlier this month.

This new movement, that coincides with the start of a medicinal cannabis storyline on Coronation Street, has already generated considerable media attention.

People caught with drugs for personal use would be referred for health treatment rather than sent to jail under proposals unveiled by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Leader Willie Rennie said Scotland’s current drugs policy “is costly and fails to work for everyone”.

Drugs misuse costs society £3.5 billion a year - amounting to around £900 for every adult in Scotland, he said.

The Lib Dems will call for drug users to be “referred for treatment, education or civil penalties, ending the use of imprisonment”, in a manifesto policy put forward for discussion at its Scottish spring conference this week.

Possession of class A drugs such as ecstasy, LSD, heroin, cocaine and magic mushrooms is punishable by up to seven years in prison.