The Irish College of General Practitioners says efforts to legalise cannabis for therapeutic use could begin within 12 - 24 months.

A new survey has found a substantial majority of Irish family doctors support the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use.

However, according to the same survey, more than half of Irish GPs do not support the decriminalisation of the drug for recreational use.

Over 60% of the doctors surveyed agreed that cannabis can have a role in palliative care, pain management and the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) - with 58.6% coming out in support of the legalisation of the drug for medicinal use.

I will enter an experiment: a politician can take my usual cocktail of drugs for a week and I’ll take medical cannabis and let’s see which of us comes out in the best shape

For almost 50 years now I’ve suffered from a debilitating, often crippling and painful condition called Still’s Disease, a form of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis which strikes children. I contracted the disease at 12 years of age. When I search for an image for the condition I imagine “a hard winter of the bones”.

Doctors are successfully using cannabis to treat a schoolboy with an ‘uncontrollable’ form of epilepsy.

Billy Caldwell, 11, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland has been suffering frequent and life-threatening seizures for almost all his life.

But he’s gone 15 days without a fit after doctors in Los Angeles started giving him daily doses of cannabis oil to swallow.

His mother Charlotte, who flew to the US with him now hopes politicians in the UK will legalise the drug for medicinal use.

‘Billy isn’t sitting smoking joints, obviously, he gets daily syringes of the oil into his mouth – and the results speak for themselves,’ said Charlotte.

On the 30th of November, politicians from the European Parliament gathered with a range of patients, activists, campaigners, entrepreneurs and scientists from the European cannabis community to discuss the future of the industry at the inaugural International Conference on Medical Cannabis.

The event was organised by the European United Left/Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group, led by German MEP Stefan Eck and Greek MEP Stelios Kouloglou. 

The aim of the Conference was to share knowledge about the state of legislation around the world today, and to educate regulators present about the importance of building legal, regulated cannabis markets in Europe.

The country with the biggest weed habit? That might surprise you.

A new report claims the UK government should legalise marijuana because it's “the only solution to crime and addiction problems”.

The strongly-worded study - titled The Tide Effect: How the World is Changing its Mind on Cannabis - was produced by the nonpartisan Adam Smith Institute and has the backing of several cross-party MPs including former deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg.

Medical marijuana may soon be available for patients in Ireland after the minority government approved Thusday a new amendment allowing use of the plant. The bill, drafted by Ireland’s People Before Profit group, still has another round of approval by the government before it can become law.

Ireland moved closer to legalising marijuana for medicinal use when the minority government said on Thursday it would not block the first reading of a bill that is backed by all other parties.

Relaxing marijuana laws would signal a further acceptance of liberal values in once staunchly conservative Ireland. Last year Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage through a popular vote, having only decriminalised homosexuality and made divorce legal two decades ago.

Health Minister Simon Harris, whose government is not large enough to block legislation, said he would seek some amendments at a later stage pending a review of scientific and clinical advice that was commissioned earlier this month.

A new report claims the UK government should legalise marijuana because it's “the only solution to crime and addiction problems”.

The strongly-worded study - titled The Tide Effect: How the World is Changing its Mind on Cannabis - was produced by the nonpartisan Adam Smith Institute and has the backing of several cross-party MPs including former deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg.

Independent ministers could vote against Fine Gael during a medicinal cannabis bill next week after saying they will exercise their right to a free vote on the issue.

The decision was made by Independent Alliance TDs at yesterday’s cabinet meeting.

As part of an opposition bill put down by the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit, the Dáil will tomorrow hold a two-hour debate on whether to allow cannabis use for specific medical reasons.

The debate on the bill, which will undergo a Dáil vote next week, has been sought by AAA-PBP TDs Gino Kenny and Brid Smith in response to concerns that patients with certain conditions are needlessly living with chronic pain.