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.

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.

A law for the promotion of the cannabis chain has been approved by the Senate.

"We have finally regulated a sector that represents a great potential for our agriculture, not only from an economic point of view, but also for what concerns sustainability. We supply information to the many producers interested in this, potentially, profitable sector. Thanks to its qualities and characteristics, in fact, cannabis cultivation can reduce environmental impact," explains Minister Maurizio Martina. 

In particular, the provision identifies the varieties suitable for cultivation, as well as the sectors in which it can be employed, ranging from food, cosmetics, industry and energy, down to education and research.

South Tyrol (Alto Adige in Italian) is an autonomous province in Italy with a population more than 500,000. Recently, in Bolzano, the capital city of the region, the libertarians issued a motion to legalize cannabis use, however, it was rejected by the South Tyrolian State Parliament.

Cannabis is coming out of the shadows in Italy. In Rome, Carlo Monaco and Luigi Mantuano recently opened a patient-operated cannabis café run in the citadel of San Lorenzo, a few blocks south of the city’s central rail station. And in Bologna, Luca Maria Cauterucci and his partners at Foglie d’Erba, or Leaves of Grass, have launched an unusual new shop of their own.

During the first weekend in September, the small Italian town of Jesi hosts a festival in celebration of two of the region’s hottest agricultural products: cannabis and spicy chilies. The plants, both quite popular in the region, combine in what some call the “indecent couple” — loved by some, maligned by others, and often misunderstood.

In fields across Italy, the seeds of fundamental change are being sown—and they quite literally are seeds, hemp seeds.

Individually, a hemp grower has little power, but as part of a local hemp-growing collective, that power increases exponentially. Similarly, a sole collective has little influence, but a network of communities working together can garner power on a much greater and more meaningful level.

Fabrizio Pellegrini is a 47-year-old street artist, pianist, and painter from Chieti, a small town central Italy’s Abruzzi region. For years he’s treated his fibromyalgia with cannabis and yoga. But while medical cannabis has been legal in Italy since 2007, Pellegrini and thousands like him are still suffering under political indifference. The artist’s case has garnered an unprecedented wave of solidarity and support — and it could mark a turning point for the country.

Medicinal Cannabis Sativex and Bedrocan are now available in many European countries, and several have infrastructure in place to supply patients with medicinal cannabis. So which countries are moving with the times, and which are dragging their heels? Where are medicinal and recreational users most (and least) free to utilize their drug of choice? Let’s take a look at the facts.

For the previous week, Italy’s parliament has been discussing whether or not to legalise the possession, use, and manufacturing of hashish. Whereas these in favour argue that it will strip the nation’s mafia of a serious supply of earnings, the mission additionally has many opponents, conservatives and the Catholic Church particularly.

If the legislation ended up being voted in, consuming hashish would nonetheless stay forbidden in public locations, possession could be restricted to 15g at dwelling and 5g outdoor and folks wouldn’t be capable to domesticate greater than 5 crops.

Legalising hashish has been a debate that has taken centre stage lately, one which many countries throughout the globe have began to tackle.