The scale and sophistication of the first underground drug factory uncovered by police in Northern Ireland has been laid bare at the trial of a drug dealer and cannabis farmer.

Mark Cavanagh (40), of India Street in south Belfast's Holylands, was given a prison sentence of five years and seven months after he pleaded guilty to a litany of drugs charges including:

• Conspiracy to produce cannabis.
• Conspiracy to possess the drug with intent to supply.
• Possession of the drug with intent to supply.
• Fraudulent evasion on imported goods.
• Converting or concealing criminal property.

The offences were committed between July 1, 2012 and May 22, 2013 and followed 12 months of surveillance by the PSNI in Co Down.

ACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Democratic Party said Wednesday that a staffer did not violate campaign reporting laws by accepting edible marijuana and an e-cigarette filled with hash oil from a lobbyist for the marijuana industry.

The aide, Josh Drayton, works for the party's Senate Democrats on political campaigns.

Lawmakers and employees of the Senate are subject to gift reporting and limits. However, Drayton is exempt because he is not employed by the Senate but by the party, said Gary Winuk, former enforcement chief at the Fair Political Practices Commission.

BuzzFeed News first reported on the exchange, saying Drayton accepted the gifts at the end of May from a lobbyist with the California Cannabis Industry Association in the presence of a reporter.

From 2012 to 2014, the number of cannabis possession charges increased from 21,000 to 30,000 in the country, an increase that exceeds 40%. In ten years, the number of established events was doubled.

This is what was indicated Friday the Last Hour.

Meanwhile, the number of cannabis sales made increased from about 4,000 to 5,000, in two years (+ 20%). These figures relate mainly to marijuana and not cannabis resin. These developments are largely due to the activity of the police in Antwerp, Brussels and Liege with cumulative sales and possession made up a strong increase of 45%.

This is a "historic high" according to Michel Bruneau, the Commissioner for Federal police narcotics section.

Note this article was translated from its original in french.

The drug was transported hidden in a tanker. The driver was arrested.

LaPaz - 

Bolivia police seized 2.7 tons of marijuana in the Chaco (southeast) near the Paraguay, and was transported in a tanker, today as per the Special Force against Drug Trafficking.

The officers stopped the truck near the town of Palos Blancos, in the southern department of Tarija, but it had previously been on the border with Paraguay.

Police arrested the driver and found in the vehicle's tank several bags with a total of 2,714 kilos of marijuana.

So far this year, the anti-narcotics force has seized 36.8 tons of marijuana and 13.4 cocaine, and arrested more than 1,650 people for alleged drug trafficking.

An op-ed about ResponibleOhio’s “cartel-like” marijuana-legalization initiative and other options for Ohioans

by Eric Babalis

THE National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) says it is taking action to stem the prevalence of drug use among young people by educating them.

"Our primary responsibility right now is protecting young people from the negative consequences of using [drugs]," Executive Director of the NCDA, Michael Tucker told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

This comes on the heels of reports that students were ingesting marijuana in candies and the recent legislative amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act, which created several opportunities for the use of marijuana in Jamaica because of the decriminalisation of small amounts of the weed.

By Aaron C. Davis,

Medical marijuana is now sold in nearly half of all states, and even one red state has legalized it for recreational use. Veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are clamoring for access to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Loosening pot laws polls better in three swing states than any 2016 presidential candidate.

The friendly skies over Oregon just got a bit friendlier to residents who don’t want to leave their weed at home: Airport officials at Portland International Airport said travelers can now legally board planes with up to an ounce of marijuana — for in-state flights only, of course.

Officials point out that Transportation Security Administration is not focused on finding marijuana, but instead would rather expend energy keeping up with security and safety issues, reports UPI.

Five lawmakers from three states lit up the U.S. Senate in Washington by introducing the first-ever marijuana banking bill.

The bipartisan bill would give state-compliant cannabis businesses access to the banking system by protecting financial institutions against prosecution or asset forfeiture for providing services to those businesses.

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