New York State's new medical marijuana programme is predicted to be flawed, due to restrictions on producer and dispensary numbers as well requirements for doctors to prescribe the medication.
The annual HIT Hot Topics conference took place once more in 2015 with presentations on various drug related topics held, including one by Jamie Bridge from the IDPC.
The update to the Rules aims to provide greater protection to persons deprived of their liberty by limiting the use of solitary confinement, searches, coercive measures and disciplinary sanctions; requiring inspections of places of detention; and demanding the investigation of all deaths and all possible cases of torture or ill treatment.
Alaska is the first state in the US to allow the opening of cannabis cafes, and the first shops could be running by the summer and also selling edible treats infused with cannabis.
2015 has been a year of positive developments and progress regarding drug policy reform in the United States on a political, social and judicial level.
An international panel of experts, moderated by Brian Winters discussed the role of drug crop cultivation in environmental devastation such as deforestation and launched a report on the subject.
The move came as the president is pressing for an overhaul of criminal justice laws to reverse decades of steep penalties that disproportionately affect African-American and Hispanic men.
The loosening of marijuana laws across much of the United States has increased competition from growers north of the border, apparently enough to drive down prices paid to Mexican farmers.
