Young New Zealanders are less likely to use cannabis than their 1990s counterparts. But if New Zealand decides to legalise recreational use, teens will have easier access.
Students rolling a joint in a classroom. Marijuana may not lead them to other drugs, a study suggests.
fotoNino/Shutterstock.com
Parents of teens often worry about marijuana use and whether it might lead to other drugs or behavioral problems. A recent study suggests it doesn't, but that there are real dangers to be aware of.
Has marijuana legalization reached a tipping point?
AP Photo/David Dermer, File
Two-thirds of all US states now have some kind of legal pot, and support for legalization has never been higher. But ballot initiatives can only take legalization so far, researchers say.
Utah residents show support for a ballot initiative that would legalize medical marijuana in the state.
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Midterm voters in Utah, Missouri, Michigan and North Dakota will decide whether to join the 31 US states that have some form of legal marijuana. But ballot initiatives can only take pot so far.
Rastafarians celebrate after the South African Constitutional Court ruled that the personal use of marijuana is now legal.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
The legalisation of the private use of cannabis in South Africa is a victory for human rights. But, much more work needs to be done to make it practical.
A man celebrates the landmark marijuana ruling.
KIM LUDBROOK/EPA
The Constitutional Court judgment is to be applauded for doing away with the assumption that marijuana use by adults in private is always wrong.
The Second Cup Ltd. says it is actively reviewing locations in Ontario for potential conversion to cannabis stores in light of a decision by the new provincial government to allow private retailers to sell the drug.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Ontario must quickly create rules for cannabis stores. How the Ford government decides to regulate retailers will have a major impact on how many retailers will get into the business.
Will U.S. border officials have problems with Canadians who purchase weed online when they try to enter the country?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch
As Canada moves to legalize marijuana and online sales become commonplace, privacy concerns can’t be an afterthought; they must be built into the system from the outset. That's not happening.
Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s finance minister, and Attorney General Caroline Mulroney talk to the media after announcing Ontario’s cannabis retail model on Aug. 13.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Ontario’s change to private sector cannabis stores will give consumers more convenience. That will mean stronger competition against the black market, but potentially higher consumption too.
A parade of bar men protest Prohibition along Yonge Street in Toronto in 1916.
Library and Archives Canada
History has shown that prohibiting popular intoxicants spurs illegal and sometimes excessive use. Ontario municipalities taking up Doug Ford's offer to ban local retail weed sales should take note.
Kids teething? Back in 1885, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, containing morphine, was close at hand and earned the nickname the “baby killer.” Concerns about the dangers of readily available medications played a big role in how Canada’s drug laws evolved.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine
Canadian drug policy began to take shape well before anti-immigration attacks on Chinese establishments in 1908. Drugs like opium and coke were causing grave public health concerns.
Medical cannabis in the UK? Don’t hold your breath.
Actors Luana Anders and Peter Fonda smoking a joint in a scene from the 1969 film ‘Easy Rider,’ a countercultural movie that influenced drug use by baby boomers in the 1960s.
(Columbia Pictures)
Australian laws are less progressive than the Australian public's attitude to cannabis in term of decriminalisation, access to medicinal marijuana, and to some extent, full legislation.
More places, including Canada, are legalizing cannabis, but how do we figure out when it's no longer safe to drive?
A woman lights up at Sunset Beach in Vancouver, B.C., last year on April 20. A new Calgary bylaw, meantime, bans the public consumption of cannabis and restricts people to smoking weed only at home, unfairly affecting those who rent.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A new Calgary bylaw prevents people from smoking weed in public; only homeowners can spark up on their private property. Here's why that unfairly targets and penalizes racial minorities.
Marijuana varieties on display in a California dispensary.
AP Photo/Mathew Sumner
Research from the last few decades suggest marijuana helps more than it harms. But Jeff Sessions' proposed crackdown would take us back nearly a century.
Patients in 29 states can legally use medical marijuana to treat their symptoms.
SageElyse/shutterstock.com
Galen J. Roush Professor of Law; Director, Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology & the Arts and the FUSION Certificate Program in Design, Innovation & IP Management, Case Western Reserve University