Monterey County Supervisor John Phillips chuckles when he talks about his interest in regulating and protecting the medical cannabis industry. He admits it’s a little weird for someone like him – a Republican ex-prosecutor – to take up the cause.

But since taking office in January, Phillips has heard from a number of constituents and their representatives, asking for a county policy on pot. “Some of them were pretty credible people,” Phillips says.

One was PR strategist David Armanasco, who’s repping growers (although he won’t say who). “They believe there are areas in the Salinas Valley that will be good for cultivation of medical marijuana,” he says.

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul is welcomed before making a speech during a campaign stop at a sports bar in the Cherry Creek area Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Denver. Earlier in the day, Paul made a stop at a cannabis industry convention in downtown Denver to speak to people in the marijuana industry behind closed doors.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Equipment found in Middlesbrough could have set house on fire, police say :: 269 plants found, man has appeared in court

Cannabis growing equipment found by police was so hot it almost set a house on fire.

Cleveland Police are now warning of the dangers associated with cultivating the drug, after a cannabis farm was raided on Tuesday.

Officers discovered a transformer used to on drug-growing equipment burning through wood at a property on Acton Street, central Middlesbrough.

Police found 269 plants inside the property, with a street value over £100,000.

• Justice minister warns of crisis in ‘terrible’ overcrowded penitentiaries
• Congress expected to approve reduction in age of criminal responsibility to 16

Brazil’s justice minister has described his country’s violent and overcrowded prison system as “terrible” and warned that it will only get worse if congress votes this week to lower the age of criminal responsibility.

José Eduardo Cardozo ordered the early publication of a justice ministry report on prison overcrowding ahead of a vote on Tuesday over legislation which would reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 for serious offences involving violence.

The amendment to the law is not as clear cut as it sounds so hopefully the following will help to clarify matters.

The good news for many is that in article 36.18 of the law regarding citizen safety, a paragraph is included with an amendment regarding the cultivation of cannabis that states it is punishable “only in public places”.

Franco’s original law on April 8 1967 prohibited the cultivation of cannabis although violators were often not punished. That law stated that it was forbidden to germinate seeds. Now, growers can germinate seeds in Spain.

Grow shops and registered growers can sell cuttings/seedlings provided they do not display them openly to the public. You certainly can’t start selling bags of the product at the local rastro.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Transport, Dr Morais Guy, said a provision is to be added to the Road Traffic Act to prohibit smoking of ganja while driving.

He said if a person smokes ganja while driving or in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place, he or she would be fined J$10,000.

“We feel that we have the obligation and the responsibility to ensure that people who are driving should not be smoking at the same time,” Dr Guy said in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (June 30).

He was closing the debate on the report of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament on the Road Traffic Act, which was adopted.

Rob Thibault is happy to have his life back.

He was part of a small rally every year Canada Day to celebrate and educate people about medicinal marijuana.

After a motorcycle accident that left him with injuries to his knee, he went through the gamut of prescribed painkillers without much success.

Thibault said that three years ago, he was in a wheelchair and a lot heavier than he is now.

“This is what I use for pain relief,” he said as he took a drag from a joint.

This was the fifth year the Niagara Cannabis Club held the event in front of the St. Catharines courthouse.

“There is a huge stigma, it affects people,” said Thibault. “We’re about protecting people from that.”

At least four people were arrested as the so-called protest stretched into a long, hot day full of pro-pot propaganda on the concrete steps of the art gallery.

What a bong show.

Pot activists and Vancouver police clashed at a Canada Day demonstration on Wednesday at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

At least four people were arrested as the so-called protest stretched into a long, hot day full of pro-pot propaganda on the concrete steps of the art gallery.

Marijuana industry bigwigs paid $2,700 to hear Rand Paul speak at the National Cannabis Industry Association's business summit in Denver on Tuesday. Paul is the first major presidential candidate to raise money from the marijuana industry.

"This is a historical moment, that our industry is now working together with a presidential candidate," Tripp Keber, owner of Denver-based Dixie Elixirs, which makes cannabis-infused sodas and sweets, told the AP at Tuesday's event. Roughly 40 people paid to see Paul speak behind closed doors, which would have brought in more than $100,000 for his campaign.

Smoke filled the air at the Burnside Bridge in downtown Portland last night as marijuana smokers lit their celebratory joints, marking Oregon’s legalization of recreational use.

Oregon’s marijuana supporters have been waiting for this moment since last November, when voters backed Measure 91, a law that allows for recreational use, Reuters reported.