THE town's Liberal Democrat leader believes introducing a regulated cannabis market could be the 'right approach' to combat illegal production of the drug in Warrington.

The party set up an independent panel of experts to establish how a legalised market for cannabis could work in the UK.

MPs debated legalising the production, sale and use of cannabis in Parliament last month following a petition which gained more than 221,000 signatures but ministers said they had no plans to alter the laws.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Normal Lamb wants the panel to look at at evidence from Colorado, Washington State and Uruguay, where cannabis has been legalised, and to make recommendations for the party to consider in the spring.

A former senior UK government advisor on drugs policy has joined calls for a debate about the decriminalisation of controlled substances to begin in Scotland.

Professor David Nutt, who is currently the Edmond J Safra chair in Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, was dismissed as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009, after saying that ecstasy, cannabis and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco.

He has long advocated the use of some illegal substances to treat patients suffering from everything from anxiety attacks to terminal cancer, but admits he has struggled to garner political support at Westminster.

The Ford Motor Company has created a unique body suit that simulates the effects of driving under the influence of illegal drugs. The aim is to educate young people about the dangers of driving whilst under the influence of drugs.

Ford developed the suit together with scientists from the Meyer-Hentschel Institute in Germany to simulate some of the effects of popular drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin and MDMA (commonly known as Ecstasy). Physical effects include slower reaction time, distorted vision, hand tremors and poor coordination.

Skunk is now three times stronger than it was twenty years ago because of intensive farming methods, a new study warned.

And the strength was more than doubled in the past three years alone.

Potent skunk has been blamed for a causing psychotic illnesses in smokers.

Now experts said higher levels of THC, the chemical that gives the drug its euphoric properties, was due to the systematic cultivating of cannabis plants in illegal cannabis factories.

Two decades ago most marijuana was grown outside in hot countries such as Morocco and Lebanon.

These outdoor-harvested plants were of lower quantity and therefore less potent.

Coventry cannabis farmer launches Appeal Court bid to clear his name

Elijah Clive Stokes, 30, of Banks Road, Radford, was locked up for seven years at Warwick Crown Court in June last year.

A Coventry man, jailed after a huge underground cannabis factory was uncovered, has launched a bid to clear his name.

Elijah Clive Stokes, 30, of Banks Road, Radford, was locked up for seven years at Warwick Crown Court in June last year.

FinTech startups in London are booming. Just recently BlockChain, the world’s most popular Bitcoin wallet, raised $30.5 million, making it the highest investment achieved by a UK startup. 

Blockchain is an open-source software code that uses high-tech encryption to monitor and record bitcoin transactions. On November 18, BlockChain was joined by Credits.Vision and Nutmeg at the Google campus in London for an angel investor event organised by HoxTechangels.

Police have seized 420kg of cannabis during a drug raid at an industrial estate.

Officers discovered the massive haul during an operation at Clydebank Industrial Estate, West Dunbartonshire, on Tuesday at around 5pm.

The drugs, with an estimated street value of £420,000, were recovered after an intelligence-led operation by officers in the area.

A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the recovery and is expected at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Thursday.

A statement from Police Scotland said: "Around 5pm on Tuesday, Police Scotland officers searched a premises under warrant in Clydebank Industrial Estate, Hamilton Street, Clydebank.

A GRANDFATHER escaped an immediate prison sentence despite police finding that his home had been converted into a cannabis factory.

Brian Hughes was found with 28 cannabis plants and over £11,000 worth of the drug at his home in Lea Lane near Ross-on-Wye.

In a written statement, the 42-year-old said he had been threatened into growing the drug after owing money to a loan shark.

Harpreet Sandhu, prosecuting, said that on April 14, police were on routine patrol at 3am in the Ross-on-Wye area when they smelt cannabis outside the defendants house.

Most people smoke weed without many health problems, and stop without difficulty – but some users go on to become dependent on the drug.

Researchers have unravelled one reason why this week, and it could be partly genetic.

People who’ve suffered childhood abuse are particularly vulnerable – but having one particular genetic variation seemed to protect against dependence.

Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis focused on 1,558 Australian survivors of childhood trauma – in particular sexual abuse.

Even among survivors of abuse, not all went on to become dependent. But those who did had one particular variation within the body’s endocannabinoid system – the system which cannabis affects.