Prosecutors say 16 charged over suspected racket linked to Italian factory growhouse

Nearly 80 consignments of cannabis were imported into Northern Ireland in a multi-million pound international trafficking operation, it was alleged in Belfast High Courton Friday.

Conversations about cannabis policy are heating up. So it's no surprise that we suddenly seem immersed in claims and counterclaims on a slew of topics related to cannabis use and regulation.

The number of police raids on commercial cannabis farms has dropped by more than 17% in the last year, Freedom of Information figures suggest.

The 22 police forces that responded in full reported a fall in farms identified from 2,038 to 1,689.

Drug researchers say cuts mean less money for complex investigations and specialist resources like helicopters.

The National Police Chiefs' Council says the drugs market is complex and the fall is due to a number of factors.

The new figures were obtained through Freedom of Information requests sent by the Victoria Derbyshire programme to all 45 police forces in the UK. Of the 22 forces that sent full replies, 16 reported a fall in raids and detections.
Budget cuts

By Henry Fisher

On 1st August I attended my first ever protest outside the houses of Parliament. There was no kettling, shouting, or even any placards. Instead, there were balloons, balloons filled with nitrous oxide – laughing gas. This was the protest against the Psychoactive Substances Bill, organised by The Psychedelic Society to highlight the idiocy of the Bill, both in its principle and in its wording.

I could fill this entire post, and a few more, with criticisms of the Bill itself, from its illiberal premise, to its impact on medical research, to its utter unworkability, but I won’t.

Conversations about cannabis policy are heating up. So it’s no surprise that we suddenly seem immersed in claims and counterclaims on a slew of topics related to cannabis use and regulation.

Cannabis causes schizophrenia. Cannabis regulation leads to increased traffic fatalities. These are just some of the examples that seem to pop up, again and again, in news articles and online. They sound true, perhaps because they are repeated so many times, and also because they are often said to be based on scientific evidence.

Stoners will soon be able to choose if they want to be ‘chilled’ or ‘giggly’ when they sit down to get blasted.

American company Ebbu is creating cannabis oils built to create different ‘feelings’ for users – with five flavours: giggle, create, energy, chill, and bliss.

The Ebbu oils will be used in cannabis cakes and fizzy drinks.

How do you want to feel?

Ebbu will market its products in states where cannabis is legal – and produces the oils by distilling different cannabinoids from marijuana plants to create different feelings.

‘Consumers don’t purchase edibles based on flavoring, they purchase based on how it’s going to make the person feel,’ says the firm’s co-founder Dooma Wendschuh.

A patient suffering from angina has admitted growing his own cannabis to help with the pain.

Stephen Smith-Chappell was sentenced for producing the class B drug at Cambridge Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

The 65-year-old, of Walpole Road, Cambridge, denied growing cannabis and told police he had not smoked it in three years.

But officers had already searched his home and found more than 25 grams (worth between £1,400 and £4,200) of the drug, and the paraphenalia associated with it.
 

Smith-Chappell then said cannabis was "beneficial for his agina" and that it treated the condition quicker than the various medications he was on.

United Kingdom — Kent and London-based company UK CBD has become the first U.K. distributor of the increasingly sought after cannabis oil, which is made by the Stanley Brothers from Colorado Springs. Although it is not the first company in the U.K. to sell cannabis oil, the “Charlotte’s Web” brand will now be distributed in the U.K. for the first time. The product is already legal as an alternative treatment in several states in the U.S.

A London and Kent-based company have become the first UK distributors of ‘Charlotte’s Web’ cannabis oil since it was made legal.

Cannabis oil has become increasingly sought after as an alternative treatment for a range of conditions including severe epilepsy, but legislators have been unwilling to legalise it due to its association with marijuana.

Thanks to the work of advocates including CNN’s Dr Sanjay Gupta – who famously reversed his stance on medical marijuana to become a staunch supporter – and documentaries such as The Culture High, the wider public and legislators have come to see CBD oil’s medical value.

Did William Shakespeare smoke marijuana?

According to CNN, a new report indicates that cannabis residue was found in 17th century tobacco pipes excavated from Shakespeare’s own garden. While there is no hard evidence that these pipes belonged to Shakespeare, the indication is certainly there.