A new survey will add to the momentum behind a bill to legalise medical marijuana.

More than two-thirds of Australians back the use of medicinal cannabis, according to a new survey likely to bolster support among MPs and senators who are set to vote on the issue in the coming months.

Palliative Care Australia has found 67 per cent of people are happy to see the drug used to help patients with chronic pain and illness – and support is strongest among the elderly.

The survey found people in older age brackets were more supportive of legalisation than the young: 72 per cent of 75 to 84-year-olds are in favour, compared to 62 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds.

To those on the outside, government relations is perceived as a synonym for lobbying, which, in turn, is viewed as advocacy (or, in some cases, something less legitimate). Let’s forget for a moment that the field encompasses a variety of activities. The fact is, describing government relations processes as “advocacy” does little to highlight the ongoing communication strategies employed in relationship building.

Kelly Clarkson is the latest musician to speak out in favor of marijuana legalization. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the "Invincible" singer said that while she doesn't smoke herself, she still finds it perplexing that alcohol and certain pills are legal while marijuana isn't.

JOHANNESBURG: To legalize or not to legalize marijuana is a question for South Africans.

Amid a heated debate on the issue, Head of the Cannabis Working Group, Andre du Plessis made headlines last week when lighting up dagga joint live on air while discussing the legalization of cannabis on a TV program run by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

Du Plesssis demands that South Africa government consider the legalization of cannabis for recreational and medical purposes.

He told Xinhua that the decriminalization of smoking the herb would be positive as it would also reduce the number of people who were imprisoned for smoking the “blessed herb”.

Medical marijuana supporters are gearing up another ballot initiative for 2016, and the Florida lawmaker who sponsored a failed medical marijuana bill this past session and said he would never support a consitituional amendment, said he doesn't blame them.

"As little as the Legislature moved on this, good for them," said Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota. "I think this should be done in the Legislature but if we don't act, it gives them no other option."

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) vetoed three bills on Friday that contained major criminal justice reforms, including one which reduced penalties related to cannabis use.

SB 517 contained legislation to reduce marijuana paraphernalia penalties to a civil offense. The governor also vetoed two other bills: SB 528, which would have limited asset forfeiture seized by police, and HB 980, which would have restored the right to vote to felons who have been released from prison.

Like many Vietnamese children, Hien was brought to Britain for a life of modern slavery. He ended up in prison on cannabis offences. We report on the gangs expanding across the UK and efforts to help their victims

Hien was 10 when he arrived in Britain. He did not know where he was or where he had been. He knew only that he was here to work. Since he emerged from the back of a lorry after crossing from Calais seven years ago, his experience has been one of exploitation and misery. He has been a domestic slave, been trafficked into cannabis factories, been abused and beaten and was eventually prosecuted and sent to prison. It has been a life of terror, isolation and pain.

I have long favored marijuana legalization and now devote myself full time to advancing the industry. I supported it on principle at age 15, years before I had ever even consumed it, wondering as a young Libertarian by what right our government could prohibit its use. Much later in life, I learned of other important reasons to support legalization: Medicinal benefits, social justice and plain and simple economics.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Governor Jay Nixon commuted the sentence for Missouri’s only man serving life in prison for non-violent marijuana-related offenses.

Jeff Mizanskey, now 62, was arrested during an undercover drug bust in Sedalia in 1993. He was sentenced in 1996 under the state’s Prior and Persistent Drug Offender Law, which is a three-strike system.

Governor Jay Nixon has commuted the sentence of Jeff Mizanskey, a 61-year-old grandfather serving a life sentence for three non-violent marijuana convictions.

"The executive power to grant clemency is one I take with a great deal of consideration and seriousness," Nixon said in a press release announcing the commutation of Mizanskey's sentence. He also pardoned five other non-violent offenders.

Regarding Mizanskey, Nixon's remarks imply that he will be given a parole hearing:

"In the case of the commutation, my action provides Jeff Mizanskey with the opportunity to demonstrate that he deserves parole," Nixon said.