Global Ganja Report

A ground-breaking study is set to begin in Australia, to determine if cannabis can improve the quality of life of those suffering from dementia. Elderly care facilities are watching closely, hoping cannabis will prove a key to help those they look after lead happier lives, with less medication.

Among the multiple grim challenges facing humanity at this moment is the specter of "antibiotic apocalypse"—so-called "superbugs" developing resistance to common antibiotics, portending a plague of incurable infections. Research in Australia now reveals anti-bacterial properties in CBD, effective even against the growing ranks of resistant superbugs. Many in the stateside cannabis industry say the development is further evidence that legal barriers to research need to come down—and fast.

As New Zealand waits on a promised cannabis legalization referendum, a domestic industry is starting to blossom, with big capital inflows reported. But police cannabis seizures are actually up—and the government even shows sings of wavering on following through with its commitment to hold a binding referendum.

While Canada's move to officially legalize cannabis has been hailed as courageous and historic by advocates around the world, some of the planet's most intolerant governments are reacting with dismay—even threatening to have their own citizens arrested if they indulge in legal marijuana on Canadian sovereign territory.

With Canada now joining Uruguay as the second country to legalize cannabis at the national level, industry eyes are scanning the world map for which could be the likely third. Latin America may provide the candidate, as even UN experts now urge the region's governments to consider legalization as a way out of the endemic narco-violence. But pressure for legal cannabis is fast mounting in several European countries as well. Legalization may soon be on the legislative agenda in Australia, while New Zealand has promised to put the questions before the voters. 

The Green Party in Australia has just come out in favor of cannabis legalization, making a big media splash in the country. The Greens are a significant party in the Land Down Under, and all observers agree this marks a watershed moment. But it will be a challenge for the Greens to win enough allies in Parliament to make it happen.

Oakland-based cannabis industry research firm ArcView Group has released a new study, ambitiously entitled "The Road Map to a $57 Billion Worldwide Market." It provides a sweeping overview of recent progress and future prospects for legal or medical herb across the globe. But it also warns that, due to continued legal restrictions and bureaucratic overstretch, the market is in most areas bottlenecked from achieving its potential.

In a sure sign of changing times, the first cannabis-industry business has been listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange—raising clear questions about how long prohibition can hang on in the face of a burgeoning economic sector. Toronto-based medical marijuana producer Cronos Group won approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to become the first cannabis company listed on NASDAQ, New York City's second biggest stock market, Bloomberg reported Feb. 26.