The Liberal Democrats will include the complete legalization of cannabis in their general election manifesto. 

Tim Farron’s party confirmed to BuzzFeed that if elected to government they would allow cannabis to be legally sold in licensed British high street shops and spend the tax raised from sales on funding on improving public health.

The party first agreed to adopt a policy of legalizing cannabis at its March conference in York. 

Regular low doses of THC dramatically boosted memory and learning in older mice, say scientists, who plan a clinical trial in humans later this year.

Researchers have come up with an unusual proposal to slow, or even reverse, the cognitive decline that comes with old age: small, daily doses of cannabis extract.

The idea emerged from tests on mice which found that regular, low doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis – impaired memory and learning in young animals, but boosted the performance of old ones.

Expect legalization to create drastic changes in the way canna workplaces are regulated and product is produced. In the U.S. a legalizing marketplace may mean lower wages, but it will probably mean better working conditions. Across Europe, legalization is being seen as one way to crack down on slave labor as much as standardize product.

As cannabis becomes a legal commodity in both the U.S. and Canada, the production and distribution of the market becomes more structured. This means that the industry can start to produce higher volumes. However, by definition, this also means something else. The specialised workforces that have grown up around the industry are facing massive changes. Automation is making its presence felt.

The channel island's health minister announced on Tuesday that certain cannabis products could be available by the autumn.

But the drug would have to be prescribed by a doctor and using it for recreational purposes would still be illegal.

Health minister Andrew Green said: "This is only about legalising specific cannabis-based medicines for clinical use.

"Therefore, it is not about permitting the smoking of cannabis."

He added that taking cannabis products to the UK and France would be illegal and people could be prosecuted in those jurisdictions.

This is only about legalising specific cannabis-based medicines for clinical use

UK research into cannabidiol (CBD) comes after surge in parents administering it to children without medical advice.

British scientists are investigating whether a compound found in cannabis could be used to shrink brain tumours in children.

The study of the effects of cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, was prompted by a growing number of parents giving it to children with a brain tumour after buying it online. The lead researcher, Prof Richard Grundy of Nottingham University’s children’s brain tumour centre, said in the last six months there had been a surge in parents administering it without medical advice in the belief it might help.

The best remedy to treat cannabis psychosis is legalization, according to a researcher who recently pored over 50+ years of studies on marijuana and mental health. University of York lecturer Ian Hamilton says that the incidence of cannabis users experiencing psychotic episodes is relatively low, but the best way to reduce the number of those incidents even further is to legalize and regulate marijuana.

Sitting six floors up, looking down on London's rooftops and the City workers leaving the high rises nearby, I sip a coffee and puff a joint of Moroccan hash, bought over the counter five minutes ago. 

I'm in one of the many clandestine Amsterdam-style coffee shops to have popped up across the UK over the past few years – places that all have their own motivations and character, whether they're open-doored and profit-driven or more private and community-based, but which all share one key characteristic: you can smoke – and sometimes buy – weed on the premises. This is just one of six venues that I know of in this part of London, and beyond the capital similar set-ups exist all the way from Peterborough to Newcastle. 

Former Emmerdale actress Leah Bracknell, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, has praised "alternative" medicines

Soap fans everywhere were shocked and saddened to learn that ex-Emmerdale actress Leah Bracknell had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Leah, 52, revealed that she had stage 4 lung cancer in October, which doctors described as "incurable and inoperable". But Leah refused to let it get her down, with her partner Jez Hughes then setting up a Go Fund Me page to fund a new type of medicine at a clinic in Germany.

The UK should have a legal, digital-only cannabis market in the UK, according to a new report.

The regulated market would limit access to anyone younger than 21, with checks similar to buying alcohol online.

The report, from pro-drug legalisation think tank Volte Face, argues that a controlled market would offer safer products and offer the ability for revenues to be taxed - potentially raising around £800m for the exchequer.

"We believe that Britain's multibillion-pound cannabis market should be developed and operated exclusively online by a private sector that is stringently controlled and regulated by democratically elected governments," the report, called The Green Screen, argues.

Now, I’ve never been a ‘stoner’, but I can’t help but notice that, following the example set by US states such as California and Colorado, Canada has decided to legalise marijuana for recreational use. I think it’s time Britain followed suit.