The moves in Santiago highlight a growing movement toward acceptance of pot in Latin America.

Despite the fact that drug stores in Uruguay have yet to start offering state-sanctioned cannabis, ancillary companies have started turning up, and more are wasing established on an ongoing basis.

One of the more popular business designs is store stores that sell house cultivation products, as it’s legal now to grow independently. There are at least 20 such stores in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, according to France 24. Their target market is the nation’s approximated 20,000 house growers.

Ministers will define whether it is crime carry narcotics for personal consumption

Brasília - The Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) begins judgment today to determine whether it is a crime or not to carry drugs for personal consumption. The trial is based on an appeal that reached the Supreme in 2011, due to a marijuana arrest  two years earlier, in the center of custody is Diadema (SP).

From that episode, the Supreme Court will consider whether or not the Anti-Drug Law criminalizing the possession of narcotics is a constitutional article. The tendency of the court is to decriminalize drug possession for personal use. Three of the 11 ministers of the Supreme Court have indicated to be in favor of decriminalization.

Here's an alphabetical list of Countries and States that have legalized treating yourself with the natural plant, cannabis: 

The first up is Argentina where it's legal for personal use in small amounts (in private).

Australia: Illegal (decriminalized in some states) One or two plants may be privately grown for personal use in the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia. Personal grows of up to two plants are decriminalized in the Northern Territory.

Belize: Illegal, but mostly tolerated.

Bolivia: Illegal (but decriminalized).

Botswana: Illegal, but mostly unenforced.

BLender’s hybrid model creates credit ratings based on financial, social, and demographic background to upend the banks’ foothold on peer-to-peer lending – and empower emerging markets

P2P lending platform, BLender, secured $5M in funding from Blumberg Capital, one of the leading American VC firms whose most notable influence is in the global FinTech market. The company currently operates within Israel, but with the funding, BLender plans expand into Western European and Latin American markets within the coming months. Blender CEO, Dr. Gal Aviv, told Geektime that targeted countries include Columbia, Brazil, Germany, and France, among others. He also indicated that some new features will be released, although he would not disclose any specifics.

Pfizer officially opened the new Center of Excellence in Precision Medicine (CEPM) on July 8 in Santiago, Chile. 

Precision medicine is a form of healthcare where disease treatments are customized for individual patients based on their genetic profile. 

CEPM’s goal is to create and validate new technology platforms that can precisely diagnose cancer through genomic sequencing without resorting to invasive procedures.

Uruguay’s National Drug Board released a report to the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations on shifting drug policy toward a human rights perspective.

The initiative [PDF], proposed on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, consists of 10 guidelines. One point decriminalizes drug use and ends the death penalty for it. Another point emphasizes respect for different cultures and plans to reduce drug use.

Evidence is mounting that moderate coffee intake may protect us from a range of diseases, and even increase life span.

So is it OK to be addicted to coffee? 

In March this year, after a project that lasted just shy of two decades, scientists at Japan's National Cancer Centre released some intriguing results.

Their study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, tracked the lives – and sometimes deaths – of more than  90,000 people. Its conclusion was remarkable: "The habitual intake of coffee is associated with lower risk of total mortality and three leading causes of death in Japan."