UK wants no role in Caribbean ganja debate

VANCOUVER — Purple Kush is considered a lucrative marijuana strain, quick to flower and capable of producing fat, dark green buds that bring to mind berries when sniffed.

Growers love the stuff; so do many consumers. Purple Kush is renowned for its euphoric, long-lasting high.

It was the only strain offered by B.C.-based Greenleaf Medicinals Ltd., one of just a dozen companies that received Health Canada permits to produce and sell medical-grade dried marijuana, under a new regulatory regime that went into effect April 1.

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERSAccording to Wikipedia, April 20 - or '4.20' - has become a day of marijuana celebration, particularly in North America. Picture: Neo Ntsoma

Johannesburg - A party to raise funds for a legal challenge against dagga prohibition laws will be held in Johannesburg on Sunday, cannabis non-profit organisation Green Fields For All said on Saturday.

“This the second year of our 4.20 party, a date 'sacred' to the worldwide cannabis culture,” spokesman Julian Stobbs said.

In almost every other way, it was a very typical summer day for George. A sociology scholar turned documentary filmmaker, he was out for a coffee when he decided to stop by a local health store to visit a good friend, the shop owner. Unbeknownst to him at the time, what ultimately transpired though the course of his visit would send George on an 18-month long adventure that would deeply intertwine the lives of over eight different strangers. 

More drug users are buying their drugs online – including so-called legal highs as well as illegal drugs such as cannabis and MDMA – because they say the quality is better, there is more choice and it is more convenient, research has found.

The 2014 Global Drug Survey (GDS) – which questioned almost 80,000 drug users from 43 countries, and is the largest research of its kind – indicates that although the majority of drug users still use dealers, a growing number are following 21st-century shopping habits by going online.

Although the consensus isn’t the 100 percent sweep hoped for, more than half of U.S. physicians feel that medical marijuana should be legalized nationwide. Two-thirds of them say patients should have the option to use it as a treatment for pain and other ailments in which cannabis offers relief, according to a recent survey.

The survey was conducted by Medscape where more than 1,500 doctors were surveyed between Feb. 25 and March 3, and covered more than 12 different physician specialty areas.

Dravet Syndrome Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to aggressively raising research funds for Dravet syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy beginning in childhood, and related conditions. By offering research grants for syndrome-specific research with a novel approach, DSF can move researchers and the medical community forward to find better treatments and a cure while assisting afflicted individuals and their families.

This was video  was published on Mar 23, 2014 in honor of some of the many children we have lost to Dravet syndrome.

More than a dozen U.S. states have now completely decriminalized the act of possessing marijuana and both Colorado and Washington have made it legal to possess, sell, transport and cultivate the plant. But soon it may be legalized across the entire country following a decision Thursday by the federal government.

In a historic and significant moment in American history, last November, Colorado became the first US state to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The impact of the decision could soon ripple across the entire country with vast opportunities to educate millions on the top health benefits of marijuana.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Uruguay's drug czar says every legal marijuana plant in Uruguay will be registered and tracked using radio frequency tags, and that state-grown marijuana will be cloned to include genetic markers, making sure that what's grown here, stays here.

That's a much tougher tracking system than those imposed in Colorado and Washington, which recently legalized marijuana use. Unlike those U.S. states, Uruguay wants authorities to be able to test the pot in any drug user's possession to determine if it came from a registered, legal source.

The Lovech Regional Court acquitted Marin Kalchev who was tried for owning and growing two cannabis plants in his home. 

Kalchev, who is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, was using the plants for extracting cannabis oil to alleviate his symptoms, until last April his home was stormed by police, which found the two plants.