One in 10 synthetic cannabis users have described "feeling like they were either going to die or that they had died already" in a new survey into the use of the drug.

Respondents said they experienced everything from intense panic attacks, vomiting, seizures and paranoia right through to heart attacks and addiction.

The University of New South Wales' National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre study involved the largest ever survey about synthetic cannabis use, asking 1700 young Australians about their experiences, 1100 of which had tried synthetic drugs.

Lawmaker pushes for legal marijuana in Michigan

Lawmaker pushes for legal marijuana in Michigan(Photo: Phil Dawson)

Lansing, Mich. (WZZM) - State Representative Jeff Irwin, (D) Ann Arbor, says punishing people for possessing and using marijuana is not working.

He says it's not preventing people who want it from buying the drug.

"Prohibition is ineffective," he says. "It's been a failure."

So Representative Irwin says he is introducing legislation to legalize marijuana.

Not decriminalize marijuana. Legalize recreational marijuana for adults.

"It would be much safer for our communities and much smarter as a policy to legalize and regulate marijuana and create an appropriate legal place for people to buy and sell," he says.

If Minnesota approves limited industrial hemp growth, a state senator with a long-time law enforcement background fears recreational marijuana use will be close behind.

"To me, it is baby steps toward recreational marijuana and I think we will find that out by the end of the session," Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, said Wednesday after a committee approved a bill to allow hemp to be grown by researchers.

Ingebrigtsen predicted attempts will be made to amend the hemp bill to include recreational marijuana use. Minnesota law allows a limited use of medical marijuana, but recreational use remains illegal.

Sen. Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, brought the hemp bill to the Senate Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Finance Division.

As for the European market for cannabis (EMCDDA), according to the result of the EU drugs agency in Lisbon in recent years there is a major change: "Morocco" is virtually "out", "indoor" plantations are "in". The Cannabis plants are increasingly grown locally for the local market. This is especially dangerous for those behind the smuggling are bypassed.

The numbers have changed little in recent years. For example, 24 percent of the Viennese have at least once consumed hemp products, 13 percent within the past three years, six percent in the last 30 days. This is what the "drug monitoring study" found in the past year.

Consumption pervades all age groups

Online searches for Denver hotel rooms around the marijuana celebration date of April 20 are soaring, according to data from booking website Hotels.com.

Search totals also spiked last April, during the first year of legal retail weed in Colorado.

Hotels.com said the numbers suggest that the oft-asked question — does legal marijuana generate an increase in tourism? — has been answered affirmatively.

Marijuana enthusiasts hold so-called 4/20 rallies each spring that attract thousands of publicly-smoking participants, even though Colorado’s statute prohibits public consumption.

The cartels are still smuggling harder drugs but advocates point out the success of legalization in cutting illegal trade

In the midst of this seething mountain capital, Mexico’s security ministry houses a bizarre museum — a collection of what the army seizes from drug traffickers. The Museo de Enervantes, often referred to as the Narco Museum, has drug samples themselves (including the rare black cocaine), diamond-studded guns, gold-coated cell phones, rocket-propelled grenades and medals that cartels award their most productive smugglers. It also shows off the narcos’ ingenuity for getting their drugs into the United States, including “trap cars” with secret compartments, catapults to hurl packages over the border fence and even false buttocks, to hide drugs in.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Oregon is racing the clock when it comes to setting the rules for retail pot sales.

Now, some lawmakers are considering letting medical marijuana dispensaries sell recreational weed starting July 1, 2015 when Measure 91 goes into effect.

But That Could Change—If You Care About This Issue, Contact These Representatives in Olympia Right Now

 few years ago, my friends Monica and Nate got ahold of a few marijuana cuttings, also known as "clones," and planted them in their backyards. Neither of their plants grew into the towering, gawky, bamboo-like stalks you see in stock news photos of professional marijuana grows. Monica pruned hers to grow smaller and bushier, less conspicuous, almost ornamental—the bonsai of marijuana. They were stupidly easy to grow, both said, no more difficult than tomatoes or basil. One year, the wind knocked over Monica's pot planters, breaking one and crunching lots of the stems—but they hurtled back to life.

Introduction: Mark Thornton is Senior Fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, with articles published often in the Mises Daily. He serves as the Book Review Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics and was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Libertarian Studies. He has served as the editor of the Austrian Economics Newsletter and as a member of the graduate faculties of Auburn University and Columbus State University. He has also taught economics at Auburn University at Montgomery and Trinity University in Texas.