Belgium has an unusual history in terms of drug policy. For decades after prohibition, all drugs were treated similarly harshly. At the turn of the 21st century, cannabis laws were relaxed and personal quantities tolerated. However, a change of government late last year may spell an abrupt end to this tolerant approach.

Legal aspects concerning consumption, possession and cultivation of cannabis

Cannabis possession & consumption

As many have been fighting for the legalization of marijuana in all states of the U.S., they may get a boost in their fight, as the DEA has stated now that they are going to be backing off of a focus on marijuana. So far few states have completely legalized the drug, including Alaska, Colorado, Washington, and D.C., with Texas recently passing to decriminalize marijuana. As many states continue to avoid legalization, it seems that events just keep pushing for it. As marijuana is considered to not specifically harm users, and most believe that the drug should be treated just like alcohol, many are still wondering why states have not just thrown in the towel on their fight against it.

Big changes are coming to the state Liquor Control Board, including a name change.

The same law that will change the Liquor Control Board's name July 24 to the "Liquor and Cannabis Board" also directed the agency to decide which unlicensed medical-marijuana shops and grow operations to legitimize by July 1, 2016.

The process will involve a merit system, the Olympian reported.

The agency assumes 825 unlicensed medical shops will apply for a license and half will receive one.

ILLINOIS — A bill that would extend a pilot program of marijuana decriminalization in Illinois cleared one more hurdle last week, but still faces at least one more.

ANCHORAGE -

There’s a proposal on the table that would treat marijuana smoke like tobacco smoke in Anchorage.

On Tuesday, Anchorage Assembly Chair Dick Traini plans to introduce an ordinance that would add pot to Anchorage’s secondhand smoking law.

“Where ever you can’t smoke tobacco, you can’t smoke marijuana if this passes,” said Traini.

“I’ve been getting calls from bar owners worried about people coming in and lighting up inside their bars,” Traini said. “They just want at least five feet away from the bar, anywhere you can’t smoke tobacco you should not smoke marijuana because smoke is smoke.”

“The two of them considered the same in my opinion is just crazy,” said Ben Adams, Alaska Pot Attorney.

Before he tried marijuana, he thought of trying suicide.

Heavy drinking hadn't helped. Nor had various pills prescribed by Veterans Affairs doctors. He was still angry, still depressed, still could not sleep.

But he found that marijuana helped. It took the anger and depression away. It took the sleeplessness away. Most of all, it took the 11-year-old boy away.

Pfc. Jared Hunter never knew the boy's name. He was just some Iraqi kid who liked to hang around the Army base outside Baghdad. “He didn't really speak English or nothing. He would just kind of follow us around and would point things out or tell us if there was somebody there who shouldn't have been.” The soldiers adopted him as a mascot. Hunter bought him a soccer ball.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) on Friday commuted the life sentence of a 61-year-old man who has been jailed two decades for marijuana offenses.

The governor's action makes Jeff Mizanskey eligible for parole -- an option he didn't have under the terms of his life sentence. Mizanskey was sentenced as a "prior and persistent drug offender" under Missouri's three strikes law, which was repealed last year.

Montevideo (AFP) - Fans of former Uruguay president Jose Mujica, known for fully legalizing marijuana, from the cannabis field to the joint, can now light up in his honor with the new "Mujica gold" strain.

The variety of pot was created "as a tribute" to the colorful iconoclast "in recognition of his work," said Javier Ruiz, part of the team that created the seed.

Under Mujica, Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana in 2013.

"Mujica gold," with its "fruity and floral" aroma, hit markets last year and was an immediate success, Ruiz told AFP.

The seed already has a committed following of growers.

"Those who cultivate it, cultivate it again," he said.

As New York nears awarding licenses to the companies who will grow and distribute the medical marijuana, critics are concerned the system won't be in place by the state's expected Jan. 1 target.

ALBANY - The 10-year-old girl stood smiling at the governor's side as he signed a medical marijuana bill into law last July.

Amanda Houser was so excited for the event, her mother said, her health problems -- a rare form of epilepsy -- were nearly forgotten for the day. And the photo from the New York City event of Amanda bashfully holding her cheeks next to Gov. Andrew Cuomo is one of the more memorable images from his time in office.

David Cameron has hired Sunday Times columnist Camilla Cavendish to head-up his Downing Street policy unit.

The journalist, campaigner and author studied PPE at Oxford and worked as a management consultant before joining the Times in 2002. She won a Paul Foot award for campaigning journalism in 2008 in recognition of her investigation into closed family courts and moved to the Sunday Times in 2013.

Her recent columns have focused on the need to close bad hospitals, tackle the welfare bill and the need to ban trans fats. Most interestingly, in a June 2014 Sunday Times column, Cavendish focused on the need to legalise drugs, writing: