A study published by the British Medical Journal has corroborated earlier findings that link academic aptitude with a proclivity for cannabis.

The research, by James Williams and Gareth Hagger-Johnson of University College London, found that 'high ability' students were more likely to have smoked cannabis in their teenage years compared to their lower ability contemporaries.

A mother will always go the extra mile for her child but for Castlederg woman Charlotte Caldwell the journey to save her son Billy, who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy, was much longer.

For 11 years Charlotte has battled to keep Billy alive, after doctors sent him home to die when he was just four months old.

And this week that journey came to an end when a clinician at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast agreed to prescribe medical cannabis for Billy and take over his care from a doctor in Los Angeles.

Deryn Blackwell was diagnosed with Leukaemia and Langerhans cell sarcoma when he was just ten years old in 2010.

A 13-year-old boy who was one in only five people in the world with an extremely rare cancer that meant he had only two weeks left to live managed to make a miracle recovery – thanks to cannabis. 

Deryn Blackwell was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was just ten years old in 2010.

People are giving their pets cannabis to cure their illnesses

Just over a year later he was told he had a secondary cancer – Langerhans cell sarcoma -, which only five people in the world currently have.

I was asked to speak on a panel this morning to give the case for cannabis legalisation, and found it a useful exercise in tidying and focusing my thoughts. My overarching point was that, if it does happen, it’s probably going to be because of a fundamental shift in public opinion of the kind that’s taking place in some parts of the United States, so at this stage it’s most useful to consider how we might want to approach decriminalisation or full legalisation. Still, the broad case for cannabis legalisation is worth making, and I tried to do so.

It will come as no surprise to those who enjoy the odd spliff but cannabis really could help you deal with stress.

Scientists have identified a chemical called cannabidiol which they hope to extract from marijuana plants to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias. The idea is that it helps calm you down, without you having to get high all the time.

Tackles the fear

Anxiety is driven by fear – research suggests that cannabidiol dilutes fear by changing the brain’s activity.

“Cannabis is best known for the ‘high’ caused by the chemical Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). But it contains many other chemicals with potential medicinal properties, including cannabidiol,” said Dr Carl Stevenson, of the University of Nottingham.

John Huffman, 84, created a synthetic version of cannabis - now known as Spice - in his lab.

A DRUG at the centre of an epidemic where addicts are left wandering the streets like ‘zombies’ was innocently invented by an American scientist while examining the effects of cannabis on the brain.

John Huffman, 84, created a synthetic and extremely potent version of the drug – now known as Spice – in his lab at Clemson University in South Carolina in the 1990s.

But years later variations of his compound are blighting the lives of young people across the UK as shocking pictures have shown users slumped on pavements and reduced to trance-like states.

Oxford University will be at the forefront of a multimillion-pound research program, which hopes to help develop new therapies for acute and chronic conditions by examining the effects of medical cannabis.

The oldest university in England will be teaming up with private equity company, Kingsley Capital Partners who will provide up to £10 million ($12.36 million) in initial investment, which will be funded through its new biopharmaceutical firm Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies (OCT).

The partnership is expected to bring together Kingsley's financial backing and Oxford's clinical expertise and research in immunology, neuroscience and cancer, to find ways of developing new treatments for those suffering with pain, cancer and inflammatory disease.

Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart has publicly endorsed cannabis research at Oxford University, after admitting to using the drug for medicinal reasons in America.

Stewart has backed the UK’s first ever research project launched by Oxford University today which aims to explore the benefits of cannabinoid-based medicines for sufferers of arthritis like himself.

Stewart said he uses cannabis sprays, rubs his hands in ointment and swallows pills, all loaded with the substance.

The research, funded by private equity firm Kingsley Capital Partners, will be carried out by Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies, a new company set up to partner with academics from the university.

The European cannabis extract market could be a set for boost following the introduction of a novelty gummy, says Love Hemp.

The UK-based firm says it has sold out of its initial stock of 2,000 gummy bears infused with cannabidiol (CBD) in under 48 hours and believes its novelty product could be a hit in Europe and further afield - taking a slice of a global CBD industry worth around $200million (€188m).

Bill Blair, the former police chief of Toronto, slides into his restaurant chair and twinkles at the waitress. He’s 6ft 6in, white-haired now but perky. Bill has 120 years of policing behind him. He, his father and his grandfather all served 40 years in the force. Now he’s an MP and he’s legalising cannabis in Canada.

The restaurant has been here since early in Bill’s father’s time on the beat. It claims to have invented the bacon cheeseburger. We sit round a plastic-topped table and Bill tells me how he ended up pushing drug reform.