The Consolidated Appropriations Act - or Spending Bill - of 2016 continues protections for medical cannabis businesses following state law, but does not include additional reform to further facilitate cannabis commerce. Section 538 of the 2015 Spending Bill - the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, noted in last week’s report - was renewed in this year’s appropriations legislation. Combined with District Court Justice Charles Breyer’s defense of the law and continuing cuts to federal asset forfeiture programs, medical cannabis growers and dispensaries in states with legal systems will be able to operate with a significantly lessened threat of federal intervention.

Number one: Canada elects a marijuana-legalizing prime minister.

The global anti-drug regime has been in place for more than a half century now, but the prohibitionist consensus has been crumbling for at least 20 years, and the decomposition continued apace this year.

The international treaties that make up the legal backbone of international drug prohibition still stand, but they are under increasing attack at the United Nations, which will take them up again next year. They are increasingly being breached (especially by marijuana legalization at the national and sub-national level) and nibbled away at around the edges by moves like drug decriminalization and some harm reduction measures such as supervised injection facilities.

Ella Turkington, 5, has intractable epilepsy and autism. Her parents Kim and Rob Turkington administer cannabidiol (CBD) oil in conjunction with her pharmaceuticals — as more families are experimenting with pediatric cannabis — to treat her epilepsy. Photograph by: Tiffany Crawford , Vancouver Sun

Mention Taylor Swift and five-year-old Ella’s eyes light up like the Christmas tree in the corner of her Surrey living room.

The tree scrapes the ceiling, and Ella is eager to play with the decorations, but her parents have set up a barricade so she can’t reach the branches.

That’s because the young girl has severe epilepsy and autism, and, although she is nearly six, the cognitive ability of a toddler.

In April 2016, the United Nations will have a chance to forge a smarter way forward for global drug policy.

In this video, George Soros, Bryan Stevenson, Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, and a number of drug policy experts and advocates discuss why the time for reform is now. 

• Equipment causes emissions equal to those of New Hampshire
• The industry's energy use is undoing cities' efficiency gains

Our new federal government has made it clear that legalized marijuana is just a matter of time. A visitor to Canada would be forgiven for believing legalization has already taken place: Cannabis dispensaries have been popping up across the country, especially in the past few months.

Many of these dispensaries are geared toward providing cannabis to people with a prescription from their doctor. But recent reports from Toronto show that many dispensaries sell cannabis with little more than the customer’s signature on a waiver form. Although illegal, the outlets seem to be operating more openly, presumably on the assumption that if legalization is coming, enforcement will leave them alone. Thus far, with a few exceptions, they seem to be right.

The medical benefits of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD, or cannabidiol, are many. From all forms of epilepsy and seizure disorders to cancer, Crohn’s, and lupus, this highly effective chemical compound is being leveraged by an increasingly large number of patients and medical professionals to treat a wide range of diseases and conditions.

Rebel Salute has become the second entertainment event to be granted exemption status under the amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act.

The two-day reggae festival to be held at Richmond Estate in Priory, St Ann, from January 15 to 16 follows behind the recent staging of the Cannabis Cup in Negril which was the first to receive exemption since the decriminalisation of ganja in Jamaica.

Making the announcement at the launch of Rebel Salute at the Marriot Courtyard Hotel in New Kingston on Thursday Justice Minister Mark Golding noted that the festival continues to live by the fundamental aspects of the Rastafari ‘livity’ which qualifies it for exemption.

Dan shines a light on the dark and dirty traditions of cannabis cultivation and argues that a sun-grown future is the only sustainable pathway for a burgeoning new industry. Recorded at TEDxVancouver at Rogers Arena on November 14, 2015.

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