Thousands of people took to the streets of Berlin to advocate for the legalization of cannabis on Saturday.

More than 4,000 people participated in what is known locally as the Hanfparade (hemp parade), according to local police.

Demonstrators are pushing for the legalization of the illicit drug as a natural resource, medicine and recreational drug.

Cannabis is currently illegal in Germany, except in rare instances for medical use.

Green Party politician Hans-Christian Stroebele was in attendance and tweeted: "Make hemp free."

The protest started at the capital's main train station and made its way towards Berlin's iconic town hall via the Health Ministry and the Reichstag.

Medical marijuana supporters in Georgia were hoping for something different from the federal government, not its recent ruling that cannabis should remain off-limits.

Georgians like Janea Cox of Monroe County want to be able to get medical cannabis just like other prescriptions instead of breaking the law to seek therapies for themselves or their loved ones, The Telegraph reported.

It was difficult to hear news of Thursday's ruling from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Cox told the Macon newspaper. The agency decided that marijuana will remain on the list of most dangerous drugs, which includes heroin and LSD, The Associated Press reported.

Police are seizing 1,000 cannabis plants a day – but prosecutions for growing the drug have plummeted.

A total of 366, 841 plants were recovered last year in England and Wales. In the same period the number of criminals hauled to court for cultivating marijuana dropped by 40 per cent.

Anti-drugs campaigners accused police of going soft on cannabis offenders and allowing them to ‘laugh at the law’.

Figures published by an insurer show the West Midlands is the cannabis-growing capital of Britain, with an average of 150 plants a day seized by the authorities – 15 per cent of the UK total.

More than 54,700 marijuana plants were confiscated there in 2015, dwarfing the 38,369 found by Scotland Yard in London.

The conversation started like most others I’ve had in the last year.

“Hello. I’m Nicki Jhabvala. I’m a reporter for The Denver Post and I’m writing about cannabis and the NFL.

“Can we talk?”

I reached out to Eugene Monroe in March while researching and reporting a series on pain management in the NFL. I knew about his involvement in a local campaign for cannabidiol (CBD) research and awareness. I knew he was an active player (at the time), so his voice carried more weight.

I knew he was risking more than he was receiving in standing up for the cause.

A bill to put an excise tax on medical marijuana in California was killed Thursday by a Senate panel after advocates for cannabis users said it would put a financial burden on patients.

The Senate Appropriations Committee shelved AB 2243 with knowledge that California voters will consider a 15% pot tax on Nov. 8 when they take up Proposition 64, which would also legalize recreational use of cannabis.

The legislation by Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) would have charged up to $9.25 per ounce of marijuana flowers, $2.75 per ounce of pot leaves and $1.25 per ounce of immature pot plants.

Thursday morning, the DEA issued a double denial to two petitions that requested to take cannabis off of the Controlled Substance Act.

“We are bound by statute – by the law. We enforce the laws on the books,” Rusty Payne said to The Marijuana Times, in an interview following the announcement.

A recent study done by a group of academics and a prominent Canadian criminologist has found that organized crime’s involvement in the illegal Canadian marijuana trade, has been overblown by authorities.  This ‘duh no kidding’ moment that most pot lovers in Canada have known for many years shows that law-abiding citizens run the majority of illegal grow-ops across the nation.

A small grow operation using recycled coffee bean bags by Allie Beckett

Starting Thursday, the federal government will take a new approach to medical marijuana research: The government will allow new research institutions to grow marijuana and conduct clinical studies with the plant, after years of allowing only the University of Mississippi to conduct marijuana research. Even though the Drug Enforcement Administration is not loosening legal restrictions on marijuana, this is actually a pretty big step toward a more compassionate and science-based approach to cannabis after decades of rigid prohibition.

Arizona residents will soon be voting yes or no on marijuana use.

The Arizona Secretary of State officially certified The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol's petition to legalize marijuana in Arizona, which means the measure will be placed on November's ballot as Proposition 205.

"It's exciting, it's a step forward, but it's not surprising," J.P. Holyoak said. "We did things the right way, we did things properly."

Those in favor of "Yes on 205" say it would allow adults 21 and older to possess limited amounts of marijuana and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated similarly to alcohol.