A round the world, approximately 147 million people use cannabis. For many of them, the goal is to feel the effects of the plant’s psychoactive compound, ∆-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC. While today it’s no mystery that marijuana can get you high, it’s unclear when humans made this discovery. On Wednesday, in Science Advances, an answer emerged: Humans have used cannabis for its psychoactive effects for at least 2,500 years.

So much for being the chiller of the two mobile platforms: Google just changed its content policy for the Google Play Store such that all apps...

Illegal cannabis storefronts have persisted in Toronto despite raids and attempts to bar the store's entryways using other means, including steel doors. Now, there's a new weapon in the city's battle against illegal dispensaries: giant cement blocks. 

The Red Headed Stranger recently told ‘Rolling Stone’ that weed saved his life by helping him kick a booze habit. Willie Nelson is no stranger to weed, and in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, it may have kept him out of an early grave, too. The interview covered several aspects of Nelson’s life, including his celebrity-branded weed company and his ongoing musical pursuits. But the most shocking highlight came when he discussed how cannabis rescued him from his previous life as an alcoholic.

An analysis of pollen suggests cannabis evolved on the Tibetan Plateau, not far from a cave that was frequented by our ancient Denisovan cousins

Illinois is poised to legalize marijuana sales with sweeping legislation that would also automatically expunge the criminal records of people convicted of minor pot possession. State lawmakers gave final approval to the bill Friday and Gov. JB Pritzker said he will sign the measure, which make Illinois the first state to legalize marijuana sales via its legislature. Most other states that have legalized cannabis did so via a ballot initiative process.

New evidence from MSU suggests that those who smoke cannabis, or marijuana, weigh less compared to adults who don’t.

The Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee wants to counteract positive marijuana messages and identify problems with state legalization initiatives, according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News.

Travellers flying within Canada will be allowed to pack as much as 30 grams of cannabis. This what that looks like.

There was medical cannabis news out today in the UK. It emerged that within the next month, it will be available on prescription. Currently cannabis-derived medicines are only prescribed in exceptional circumstances and a medical panel has to agree. The latest move represents a shift in the tone and the procedure by the government's Home Office.

B.C.'s lucrative, underground marijuana business may soon go bust, starting Wednesday when recreational marijuana becomes legal in Canada. A new, legal industry has been preparing for months to serve the marketplace and that will hurt — or perhaps destroy — the province's multi-billion dollar illegal pot trade that has flourished for decades.

When researchers convinced a group of young people to stop smoking pot, their cognition quickly improved. This adds to research warning against teen pot use, despite marijuana's growing acceptance.

The first Food and Drug Administration-approved drug containing an ingredient derived from the marijuana plant went on sale Thursday in the United States.

In the latest issue of Genome Research, a group of North American scientists have, for the first time ever, published a full map of the cannabis genome. Among the myriad of interesting insights to glean from the chart is the finding that the genes that encode for THC and CBD production evolved thanks to bits of DNA introduced by viruses that infected the plant and successfully colonized its genome millions of years ago.

On Monday, the first business day after Utah’s medical cannabis initiative became law, state legislators supplanted it with a more tightly controlled plan for providing marijuana-based treatment. The Utah Medical Cannabis Act, designed as a replacement for voter-approved Proposition 2, breezed through the Utah House of Representatives and Senate during Monday’s special session. The one-day gathering of state lawmakers has been in the works since October, when Gov. Gary Herbert announced that supporters and opponents of Prop 2 had reached consensus around a legislative solution to their disagreements.

Catholic bishops in British Columbia and Yukon have endorsed medical marijuana use, but condemned recreational pot smoking as contrary to the teachings of the church. In a letter posted online in late November, the bishops — six from B.C. and one from Whitehorse — warn that “the mere fact that an activity is made legal by the government does not automatically mean that it is morally acceptable.” Recreational cannabis became legal in Canada on Oct. 17, one of the signature accomplishments of Justin Trudeau’s government.

This week, a plant that's nearly identical to marijuana is set to become legal to grow in the US. Thanks to the US Farm Bill, which the House passed on Wednesday in a 369 to 47 vote, American farmers will be able to plant and harvest hemp, a strain of the same plant species from which marijuana originates. The bill passed the Senate Tuesday in an 87 to 13 vote, and President Donald Trump has indicated his support. Hemp legalization has been a longtime goal of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, who believes it can help replace tobacco as a key crop for his state's farmers.

Legislation comes ahead of a referendum on recreational marijuana use in next two years

Thailand has become the first Asian country to legalize medicinal marijuana after parliament voted to amend a narcotics law. The country had a tradition of using marijuana to relieve pain and fatigue until the 1930s.

In a small study of infrequent cannabis users, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that, compared with smoking cannabis, vaping it increased the rate of short-term anxiety, paranoia, memory loss and distraction when doses were the same.

Permitting pot is one thing; promoting its use is another.

Scientists have found preliminary evidence that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other compounds found in marijuana can promote the cellular removal of amyloid beta, a toxic protein associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Buried deep inside a mountain on a remote Norwegian island, agricultural institutions from around the globe are collaborating to safeguard important crops in the event of global catastrophe. That includes marijuana. Currently, there are over 29,500 marijuana seeds – including 31 strains of marijuana and 8 strains of hemp being held in the vault. That is more seeds than there are asparagus, blueberry or raspberry seeds stored at the facility.

A few years ago, I went to a new physician for a checkup. She ran through the list of questions that doctors like to ask...

More than half of people who take medical cannabis for chronic pain say they’ve driven under the influence of cannabis within two hours of using it, at least once in the last six months, according to a new study. One in five of them said they’d driven while ‘very high’ in the past six months, researchers from the University of Michigan Addiction Center report in the journal Drug & Alcohol Dependence .

The figure doubled from the year before.

A new bill introduced in the Senate today would legalize weed, and it’s not just the text of the bill that’s a nod to marijuana culture. The bill, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), is labeled with a conspicuous number: S.420. The new bill would give the Drug Enforcement Administration 60 days to remove the drug from its list of controlled substances, while also barring the sale of marijuana in states where it’s still illegal. S.420 would also require merchants to add an excise tax to marijuana, an indirect tax that’s added to the price of the product, similar to how tobacco and alcohol are taxed.

Ten states and the District of Columbia now allow the sale, possession, and use of marijuana for recreational purposes, and 33 states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana. Critics argue that marijuana dispensaries are magnets for crime. A new study found an association between marijuana dispensaries and increases in rates of crime and disorder in neighborhoods in Denver, Colorado, shortly after Colorado commenced legal retail sales of marijuana.

The Food and Drug Safety Ministry said Tuesday that the National Assembly passed a bill to amend the law allowing imports and exports of non-hallucinogenic doses of medical marijuana. In November, the National Assembly of the country voted on amendments to the Act on the Management of Narcotic Drugs after the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said in July that the prescription of cannabis – based drugs Epidiolex, Marinol, Cesamet and Sativex for a number of conditions, including epilepsy and HIV / AIDS, would be finally allowed for patients.

We as a species would be miserable without yeast. Baker's yeast has given us leavened bread for thousands of years. And I don’t even want to begin to imagine a world without beer and wine, which rely on yeast to convert sugar into alcohol. Now researchers have turned to yeast to do something more improbable: manufacturing the cannabis compounds CBD and THC. By loading brewer’s yeast with genes from the cannabis plant, they’ve turned the miracle microbes into cannabinoid factories.

We as a species would be miserable without yeast. Baker's yeast has given us leavened bread for thousands of years. And I don’t even want to begin to imagine a world without beer and wine, which rely on yeast to convert sugar into alcohol.

Whether you agree or disagree with toking up, there is strong financial evidence in favor of allowing it. What are your views?

Many job-seekers would no longer face tests for marijuana use under legislation that New York City is likely to enact, taking a novel step as lawmakers and employers around the U.S. grapple with workplace policies about pot. The Democrat-led City Council passed a measure Tuesday that would ban pre- employment testing for the drug, with certain exceptions.

Curious about cannabis? Here, take a hit of this

Many prescription and over the counter drugs as well as foods that are safe for humans are not safe for pets. This includes pot and CBD.