The debate over legalising marijuana fired back up in France on Tuesday after a minister said cannabis should be decriminalised.

Here are places where marijuana is already allowed for recreational or medical reasons. 

- Uruguay -

The South American nation became in 2013 the first country in the world to legalise marijuana, with a plan to distribute it through pharmacies for $1.40 (1.20 euros) a gram.

Under Uruguayan law, citizens and residents can buy up to 40 grams (1.4 ounces) of pot a month from the pharmacies, grow it themselves at home, or join cannabis clubs where members jointly tend to the plants.

The government has licensed two private companies to produce and distribute marijuana.

Patients in "exceptional circumstances" in the Australian state of Victoria will soon be able to access medical cannabis, thanks to a bill passed Tuesday by the local government.

The law, which makes the state the first in the country to establish a legal framework for access to the pain-relieving drug, will facilitate its "manufacture, supply and access" in high-quality medical form, the government said in a statement. An Office of Medicinal Cannabis will also be created to oversee the drug's production and its prescription by doctors.

Children with severe epilepsy will be the first patient group to benefit in 2017, the government said. The state will supply the initial medical products, but hopes to see a reliable manufacturing industry in the future.

Menstrual cramps could be added to the list of conditions that can legally be treated with marijuana-based products.

Ms Jimenez said: "For many women, the response to pain so severe that it causes them to vomit or faint is either 'just deal with it' or a prescription drug that may not even alleviate their symptoms."

Goldberg’s products provide a means for women to get relief from cramps using the THC compound found in cannabis without having to get high. She told Vanity Fair: “If you don’t want to get 'high high', this is a product specifically to get rid of discomfort.

“Smoking a joint is fine, but most people can’t smoke a joint and go to work.”

The woman at the forefront of a petition fighting for the legalisation of medical cannabis in New Zealand says positive words about the petition are spreading. 

Rose Renton, mother of Alex, 19 who passed away last year launched the Rose Renton Medicinal Cannabis Petition 2016 at the start of the month.

Ms Renton aims to collect 500,000 signatures to present to parliament by the July 1, marking a year since her son passed away.

Although she hasn't started counting the signatures yet, she said "the feedback is incredible and people on the street are signing up without a second thought".

Dave Murphy wants to pressure the federal government to legalize and regulate home-grown medical marijuana.

A Nova Scotia man living with brain cancer is appealing to the prime minister in an effort to get a licence to grow medical marijuana.​

Dave Murphy, 27, says he wrote to Justin Trudeau and is speaking out now because he wants to put pressure on the federal government to move forward with legislation to legalize and regulate home-grown medical marijuana

Dr. Larry Wolk says the introduction of legal pot in Colorado has gone smoothly.

A Colorado doctor says New Brunswick needs to get citizens up to speed on legalized marijuana well before it arrives.

Dr. Larry Wolk helped his state introduce legal pot four years ago.He says people there had many fears and state officials had to plenty of homework beforehand. (CBC)

New medical marijuana dispensaries in New Jersey are causing prices to fall as they compete with other dispensaries in the state.

The Philadelphia Inquirer says the state Health Department released a report last month saying the average price in 2015 was $489 an ounce. Advocates said that was among the highest in the nation.

But two dispensaries launched last fall have offered discounts and specials knocking that price down to the $300 range, as well as innovative products.

New Jersey has five dispensaries, but the amount of patients has fallen below expectations. Dispensary operators and patients say that’s due to strict state regulations that have made the program too expensive.

Federal authorities have announced that they are reviewing the possibility of loosening the classification of marijuana, and if this happens, it could have a far-reaching impact on how the substance is used in medical settings, experts said.

Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning it is listed alongside heroin and LSD as among the "most dangerous drugs" and has "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse."

In a reversal of policy, the Connecticut arm of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has reportedly gotten on board with an effort to expand medical marijuana legalization to sick children in the state.

Connecticut legalized medical marijuana for adults with serious illnesses in 2012, just one year after it decriminalized some cannabis possession. But the state is unique among its 22 other legal medical marijuana peers in that children are completely barred from access to medicinal cannabis.

New medical marijuana guidelines respond to doctors' complaints about having too little information.

Health Canada has significantly expanded its medical marijuana manual for health-care professionals, adding major new sections about the potential adverse effects on the teenaged brain and driving safety.

The document is much larger than the previous 2013 edition, and responds to doctors' complaints about having too little information on the medical science even as they're being asked to authorize marijuana for a growing number of patients.