MANILA, Philippines – A group pushing for the legalization of marijuana for medical use has called for the inclusion of the controversial issue in presidential debates.

Kimmi del Prado, Philippine Cannabis Compassion Society founder, said they want to know the stand of the presidential candidates on the issue.

“We need to ask the presidential aspirants whether or not they are for the legalization of medical cannabis in the Philippines,” she said.

Del Prado expressed belief that the 16th Congress would not be able to pass House Bill 4477 or the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act.

But the group is not losing hope the proposed measure will be approved by the next Congress.

A UN agency censored an official paper calling for drug use decriminalization. But its message is here to stay

Most people don’t know it but Japan has a centuries-old history with a simple yet popular plant that has only been making waves here and abroad for the past few decades.

It was once a sacred substance in Shinto religious tradition. Lore has it that ninja once jumped over it day after day as it grew, training to leap incredible heights because it grew, well – like a weed. Even today, it is a key ingredient in a common household condiment. What is it?

Marijuana.

Dehra Dun : No Uttarakhand is not going the way of some of the states of the USA or Holland where marijuana has been legalized for smoking. Resident of this small mountain state, except for the Terai and Bhabar regions will now be able to take up cultivation of cannabis purely for industrial purposes as it will have a tetra hydro cannabinol (thc) content of 0.3 to 1.5 percent.

Experts point out the plant’s cultural significance. 

Today Japan has some of the strictest anti-cannabis laws in the world.

Punishment for possession is a maximum 5 years behind bars and illicit growers face 7-year sentences. Annually around 2000 people fall foul of these laws – their names splashed on the nightly news and their careers ruined forever. The same prohibition which dishes out these punishments also bans research into medical marijuana, forcing Japanese scientists overseas to conduct their studies.

For years I’ve been an advocate of allowing Thai farmers to grow hemp. Hemp is the same plant family as pot.  Pot can get you high, hemp can’t because it doesn’t have more than a minute amount of THC.  I’m still as jazzed about allowing hemp to be grown in Thailand as I’ve ever been, but now I’ve added pot to the list.  I’ll start off articulating why pot should be allowed to be grown in Thailand, then will close with some mentions of hemp, along with some comparisons of drugs, including the world’s (and Thailand’s) most harmful group of drugs: alcoholic drinks.

Peshawar:  For decades, Taj Muhammad Afridi has been growing some of Pakistan's finest marijuana. By now, at his family homestead in the Tirah Valley in Pakistan's tribal belt, hundreds of marijuana plants should be full-grown, some as tall as a one-storey house. Usually, at this time of year, he would be ready to produce a sought-after range of hashish. But Afridi's crops - and those of others nearby that produce eye-popping amounts of marijuana - have been abandoned, and are in danger of becoming another casualty of Pakistan's decade-long war against terrorism and Islamist militancy.

It is billed as the biggest gathering in the world. Every three years, millions of Hindus come together to bathe in a sacred river to wash away their sins. 

The Kumbh Mela festival, which rotates between four different holy sites in India, is taking place over two months this year in the city of Nashik in the state of Maharashtra. Its name, which means "Pitcher Festival," comes from a Hindu myth about an epic battle in which gods and demons fought for nectar that would grant them immortality. The gods won — but during the ruckus, drops of the nectar spilled from the pitcher that was holding it, onto the four different locations which now host the festival.

The national capital continues to witness rampant marijuana trade with 122 per cent increase in the recovery of the drug this year compared to the average of the past three years.

Around 3,350 kg of marijuana has been recovered till August 31, making it the highest recovery for any year in the books of Delhi Police. In 2014, around 1,780 Kg of marijuana was recovered in the entire year.

The police, however, claimed the steep increase in seizure reflects sincere efforts on their part and not that the city has a flourishing cannabis market. "We have a dedicated team for tracking narcotics traffickers. The high recovery rate reflects ceaseless and sincere efforts by the team," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.