Whilst the shockwaves of last week’s General Election continue to rumble on, many reformers are turning their attention to what all this upheaval and uncertainty means for the future of drug policy in the UK.

It seems very safe to assume that a Conservative government, particularly one led by Theresa May, and certainly one propped up by the Democratic Unionist Party, is very unlikely to make any meaningful change to the decades-old policy of outright prohibition. 

This summer, the Uk’s first medical cannabis research facility is going to open – studying the medical uses of weed for the first time in this country.

Do they need any volunteers, we wonder?

The facility will be opened by Medipen – who tested a cannabis vaporiser with the NHS last year.

The Medipen contains ‘cannabidiol’ (CBD), a chemical from cannabis which campaigners claim helps with diseases including cancer and Crohn’s disease.

Crucially, the oil doesn’t contain any THC, the chemical in cannabis which causes the high – and it is legal in the UK.

But in the new facility – at an as-yet-undisclosed location – will explore the use of THC (the chemical in cannabis which gets you stoned) as a treatment for cancer patients.

Cannabinoid biotechnology company MediPen Ltd. is launching its own dedicated 1,800ft sq marijuana research facility this summer, which will also provide a platform for anyone looking to utilise its facilities for the purposes of driving innovation around the use of medicinal cannabis.

Simon Langelier, a 30-year veteran of Philip Morris International, joined the board as a non-executive director this week.

Imperial Brands gained the services of a leader in the field of medicinal cannabis as the British tobacco manufacturer seeks to further its push beyond cigarettes.

Simon Langelier, a 30-year veteran of Philip Morris International, joined the board as a non-executive director this week, the Bristol-based company said in a statement Tuesday.

Meet GW Pharmaceuticals, the British drug company whose CBD-based medication for seizures just passed phase III clinical trials and may be the first tried-and-true prescription cannabis drug.

Can marijuana be made into a tried-and-true prescription medication, one that could be covered by health insurance? According to results from a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, yes, it most certainly can.

A lot of progress is being made on understanding how marijuana's chemical cannabinoids can be used as medicine, and among the most intriguing of these cannabinoids is cannabidiol, or CBD. It's one of at least 113 active cannabinoids found in marijuana, it's not responsible for marijuana's "high," and it accounts for roughly 40% of the marijuana plant's extract.

At the forefront of research into CBD's use as medicine is GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:GWPH), a U.K. drug developer that already markets a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-derived drug in Europe for the treatment of muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis patients.

These pictures show the £2 million-a-year cannabis crop grown behind a disused NUCLEAR BUNKER built to protect civic dignitaries during the Cold War.

The subterranean 20-room compound was fitted with nuclear blast doors, making the site almost completely impenetrable, and cops had to wait outside during a midnight raid to pounce on the ringleaders.

The former Ministry of Defence structure was built in the 1980s to shelter local government officials should there be a nuclear attack, but was commandeered by organised criminals Martin Fillery, 45, Plamen Nguyen, aged 27, and Ross Winter, 30.

The threat of increasing competition for GW Pharmaceuticals' promising epilepsy drug took a toll on investors' confidence last month.

What happened

Following comments from a competitor's CEO that suggest competition for the company's epilepsy drug is in the works, shares in GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:GWPH) tumbled by 17.2% in May, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Nick Clegg has warned of the risks of 'unfettered commercialisation', but how could the UK build a model that works for both small and large enterprises?

Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg claimed on Friday that legalising cannabis in the UK would improve public , but warned of the “risks of unfettered commercialisation”.

In doing so, Mr Clegg highlighted the potential tension between building a model that works for health and one that works for business.

So what might that model look like and what could it mean for UK business?

Annalise Lujan was in the middle of a gymnastics meet in April when she started vomiting and lost all feeling in her legs. 

As the 12-year-old fell into a crippling seizure, her parents rushed her to the hospital, and she was put into a medically induced coma to save her brain from damage. 

Annalise was then flown to a specialist unit at Phoenix Children's Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a rare epilepsy syndrome, known as febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES).

The condition causes Annalise to have seizures continuously, which can lead to brain injury and even death. It meant doctors couldn't bring her out of the coma until they had an effective method to prevent her seizures.