New medical cannabis patients experience rapid and meaningful improvements in their health-related quality of life, according to a study published in the Journal of Cannabis Research. Researchers from the College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia, USA assessed  438 patients who were new to using medical cannabis [...]

Adults who consumed cannabis for a year did not show any reduction in working memory, reward, and inhibitory control brain function, a study has shown. The federally funded research, published by the American Medical Association in the journal JAMA Network Open, involved 57 patients who had been [...]

A pilot cannabis legalisation trial in Zurich, Switzerland is producing positive results, according to a press release from the city’s Health and Environment Department. Residents of Zurich participating in the trial have been able to legally purchase cannabis flower and extracts containing THC from approved sources [...]

People who consume more foods rich in flavonoids, such as berries, tea, red wine and dark chocolate, could lower their risk of dementia by 28%, a new study has found. The study, led by researchers at the Queen’s University Belfast and published in the journal JAMA [...]

The Ministry of Health in Poland has expressed support for the decriminalisation of up to 25 grams of cannabis and the cultivation of up to four plants at home, according to the cannabis activist organisation Wolne Konopie. The Wolne Konopie (Free Hemp) Association is a social initiative [...]

Psychedelic fungi containing psilocybin may have played a role in the development of human consciousness a scientific review has suggested. The study, published in the journal LILLOA, analysed multiple studies involving psilocybin, psilocin and human consciousness. Taking a multidisciplinary approach spanning studies from the fields of [...]

Classic psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin and ayahuasca could be effective as a treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD), according to two recently published studies. In the first open-label study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, researchers at the University of Copenhagen and the National Institute [...]

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has issued a warning to travellers arriving into the UK from Thailand, Canada and the United States, after reporting a huge increase in arrests of people smuggling cannabis.  So far in 2024, the NCA has seized around 15 tonnes of cannabis, [...]

A study published in the journal ACS Pharmacology & Translation Science has shown that giving mice long-term, low doses of a key cannabis component can reduce the effects of ageing on the brain. In the study, researchers treated elderly mice with small daily doses of tetrahydrocannabinol [...]

CBD applied to the skin can prevent and repair damage from ultraviolet-A radiation, a first of its kind study has found. The study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, recruited twenty healthy volunteers aged between 23-64. Participants were then given either a [...]

A new study has found medicinal cannabis use can have a positive impact on a child’s development by increasing the amount of time parents spend with them. The study, published in the Journal of Applied Econometrics, also found that men who are prescribed cannabis increase the [...]

Synthetic cannabinoids, widely known as spice, have been found in a worrying number of vape devices confiscated from 11-16 year old pupils in English secondary schools. Researchers from the University of Bath visited 38 schools in London, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and South Yorkshire. 100 [...]

A study, published in the journal Archives of Suicide Research, has found that medicinal cannabis can help lower suicidal thoughts by over 25% after three months and decrease self-reported levels of depression by 42% after 12 months.  Researchers studied the relationship between patients seeking medical cannabis [...]

The Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, has announced the country will now regulate cannabis through legislation rather than re-listing it as a narcotic, marking a swift U-turn from plans to re-criminalise the drug. Thailand decriminalised cannabis in 2022 by removing it from a list [...]

The independent drug policy charity Transform has launched a £50,000 crowdfunder to campaign for the legalisation of cannabis in the UK. Founded in 1996, Transform promotes drug policy reform in the UK and across the world. The charity has published numerous reports and publications on how [...]

The Czech Government is pressing ahead with plans to launch Europe’s first fully legal commercial cannabis market, similar to those seen in Canada and many parts of the US. Czechia already has some of the most lenient cannabis laws in Europe. The use, possession and cultivation [...]

Catalonian authorities have taken further steps towards their goal of closing all the cannabis clubs in Barcelona last week, as thirty venues across the city received notices ordering them to shut their doors until further notice. Deputy mayor and councillor for security, Albert Batlle announced his [...]

In 2022 the Southeast Asian country of Thailand shocked the world by removing cannabis from its list of controlled narcotics. The ruling created a legal vacuum – dispensaries opened up on ‘every corner’ in Bangkok and tourists and locals alike were smoking joints in public and [...]

An increasing number of adults in the UK are reducing their alcohol consumption in favour of psychotropic drugs such as cannabis and psychedelics, a report by High & Dry and KAM Insight has found. The Future Of Socialising report surveyed 975 adults in the US and [...]

A study has shown that essential hemp oil can successfully shrink cancerous lung tumours in mice and reduce chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain, highlighting the anti-tumour properties of the cannabis plant. Researchers at the China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry in Shanghai used an extraction technique to produce [...]

A study published in the journal Drugs & Aging has shown that over-65s respond favourably to the use of cannabis-based prescription medicines (CBPMs) and may benefit from them more than younger people.  Using data provided by patients in the UK via the T21 self-reporting scheme run [...]

A quarter of cannabis consumers are doing so to relieve pain, according to the results of an online poll conducted by US medical cannabis company Nugg MD. 23% said they use weed to deal with symptoms of anxiety, and 18% used it to deal with stress.  [...]

An ongoing trial by the Dutch government to regulate the adult-use cannabis industry has been extended to include another 8 cities, taking the total number involved to 10. The trial, initially launched in the cities of Breda and Tilburg in December 2023, was designed to replace [...]

On May 28th 2024, South Africa became the first country in Africa to allow its citizens to use cannabis for recreational purposes without the fear of arrest and prosecution. The country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, officially signed the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act into law on the [...]

Two men from Guernsey have narrowly escaped being sent to jail after admitting to authorities that they regularly swapped prescribed cannabis to prevent each other from running out while waiting for their medication to be delivered.  Both men, Nathan Alan Lucas and Reece Nicholas Charles Baudains [...]

An analysis of over 162 high-quality studies has found the link between cannabis and psychosis is weaker than previously estimated.  The study published in the journal Nature Mental Health, was conducted by a team at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Researchers analysed data from over [...]

A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Biomedicines has found that cannabis use may be associated with a reduced prevalence of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the 2nd most common cancer with 1.4 million diagnoses per year, a figure predicted to rise to  2.9 million by [...]

Research investigating how cannabis can be used to treat pain usually focuses on individual cannabinoids such as THC, CBD and CBN, with little attention paid to the role of medicinal role terpenes. However, in a recent study published in the journal PAIN, researchers found that terpenes, [...]

A study by researchers at New York University has found that people who stutter may benefit from the controlled administration of classic psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin. The qualitative study, published in the Journal of Fluency Disorders, analysed the self-reported experiences of people who identified [...]

A new report has revealed that nearly one in four adults living in the UK are currently being prescribed a psychiatric drug such as an antidepressant, and those under 25 are taking more than double the amount of these pills than they were a decade ago. [...]

A cross-sectional survey of serving police officers has found that over one in four respondents were unaware that cannabis can be prescribed legally in the UK. The survey, conducted between 24 October and 1 November 2022, was designed by a multi-disciplinary team of academic clinicians and [...]

The high-profile Californian cannabis brand Cookies will soon be available in the UK and Europe, after the company signed a deal to distribute dried flower and extracts with Portugal-based biotech company SOMAÍ. The deal, which will allow SOMAÍ to exclusively cultivate, manufacture, and distribute on behalf [...]

Researchers at the Salk Institute, a non-profit research organisation, have found that the cannabinoid CBN (cannabinol) may be able to treat neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. In the study, published in the journal Redox Biology, researchers first used existing data from previous studies [...]

Researchers from the Imperial College Medical Cannabis Research Group have published a study showing that patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) report significant improvements in health-related quality of life after 6 months of treatment with cannabis. Current treatment for MS focuses on slowing down the progression of [...]

A study published in the journal BioMed Central has shown how the psychedelic N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) could be used as a medicine to prevent the onset of the neurodegenerative condition Alzheimer’s disease (AD).  According to the NHS, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia [...]

Researchers concerned with the lack of regulation in the rolling paper industry have published a study in which they analysed 53 rolling paper products available on the US consumer market. The objective of the study, published in the journal ACS Omega was to evaluate if these [...]

Eight months after the Biden administration ordered a review into cannabis law, the DEA, the agency that enforces drug law in the United States announced that it would reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. The announcement means that cannabis will no longer be Schedule [...]

A study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science has found that chronic cannabis users are motivated and exhibit willingness to carry out tasks that require effort, contrary to the stereotype that stoners are lazy. The study queried 260 cannabis consumers five times per [...]

Researchers from the USA have published a study showing how fibromyalgia patients who deal with symptoms including pain, fatigue, and anxiety are using cannabis. A total of 1336 responses from patients at the specialist Integrative Medicine & Health at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota were analysed as [...]

Medicinal cannabis is legal in Jersey, and the island is home to a burgeoning cannabis industry. Now a politician on the island is making plans to have the plant’s status for personal use lowered from illegal, to decriminalised. Deputy Tom Coles believes that a softer legal [...]

Drug policy charity Release has launched a campaign to support the rights of patients prescribed medical cannabis in the UK. Despite medical cannabis being legalised in November 2018, many patients continue to report negative interactions with and harassment from the police due to what Release say [...]

A report published by the American Medical Association (AMA) has revealed that the legalisation of adult-use cannabis and the opening of dispensaries and retail stores does not lead to an increase in youth cannabis use. In fact, cannabis reforms were linked to more young individuals reporting [...]

Deputy Kirsten Morel has stated that the medicinal cannabis industry in the island nation of Jersey has now started to yield positive results, although as the industry began its journey there were many hurdles to navigate such as high start-up costs, strict regulatory minefields both domestic [...]

A literature review published this month in the Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists found the detection of THC or its metabolites in the blood, breath, urine, or saliva of a driver is not an indicator of driving impairment. Scientists affiliated with the University [...]

Researchers from the Canadian Government’s Office of Cannabis Science and Surveillance examined patterns in cannabis use during the period 2018, when those aged over 18 were allowed to purchase and use cannabis legally for medical and non-medical purposes, to 2022 Using responses from a national online [...]