Drug policy usually moves like an iceberg: slowly. And while and it can be hard to turn, sometimes it changes course in an unexpected direction. In the case of cannabis or marijuana, it may be picking up speed, but there are rough waters ahead.

Medicinal Cannabis Sativex and Bedrocan are now available in many European countries, and several have infrastructure in place to supply patients with medicinal cannabis. So which countries are moving with the times, and which are dragging their heels? Where are medicinal and recreational users most (and least) free to utilize their drug of choice? Let’s take a look at the facts.

The number of aggravated drug crimes uncovered by Finnish authorities declined slightly last year. Meanwhile seizures of marijuana, LSD and doping substances rose compared to 2014.

Any way you look at it, dagga is medicine. Even if you smoke it just to get “high”, the South African weed won’t just alter your consciousness.

It has a host of other powerful pharmacologic effects on body and mind, which make it medicine by definition.

Depending on which side of the legalisation or criminalisation fence you sit on, you’ll see those effects in a good or bad light.

“The dagga couple”, as the media have dubbed activists Julian Stobbs and Myrtle Clark, sit on the side of the fence bathed in the glow of a good light. They are part of an influential legalisation campaign in South Africa that has spread faster than the weed grows, and now includes medical doctors, psychologists, lawyers, and other interested parties.

If you are in the international market for marijuana, your legal options are limited. Though the cultivation of pot is widespread across the world, its legal status has only just begun to shift, with some countries choosing to decriminalize the substance and others loosening up enforcement regulations for users and growers.

The plant can grow just about anywhere, making it generally accessible to the global population, and, subsequently, one of the most commonly used illicit substances everywhere from the Americas to Europe. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, there are more than 177 million cannabis users globally.

Finnish-Swedish study analyzes link between psychotropic drugs and homicide risk.

A study analysing the Finnish homicide and prescription drug databases discovered that the use of certain drugs that affect the central nervous system are associated with an increased risk of committing a homicide. The greatest risk was associated with the use of painkillers and tranquillizing benzodiazepines, while anti-depressants were linked only to a slightly elevated risk. The study is the first one of its kind in the world.

Professor Jari Tiihonen's research group analysed the use of prescription drugs of 959 persons convicted of a homicide.

The purity and potency of illegal drugs is Europe is on the rise, according to a new report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). In its annual analysis of European drug trends, the EMCDDA also found that heroin use was in decline, that London's sewers had the highest concentration of cocaine among all European capitals, and that two new psychoactive substances hit the market every week.

The knowledge that cannabis extracts can directly treat cancer has grown tremendously in the past couple years. An explosion of scientific research and anecdotal evidence has shown beyond doubt that cannabis extracts can, in many cases, kill cancer in humans. However, some patients and cancers are resistant to cannabis treatment, and we still don’t know what doses and cannabinoid ratios are best for which types of cancers.

ORLANDO, FLA. — Hemp ingredients may add protein, magnesium, phytosterols and fiber to products, said Tom Vierhile, innovation insights director for Datamonitor Consumer. Hemp is non-allergenic, and the plants are sustainably grown, he added.

Yet many people may associate hemp with marijuana, and that perception could put a buzz-kill on hemp’s entry into food and beverage product launches.

“Hemp is misunderstood,” Mr. Vierhile said in an April 9 presentation at Ingredient Marketplace in Orlando. “That is really one of the key problems with hemp going forward.”