World

In April 2026, the United States Department of Justice finalised the reclassification of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. It is the most significant shift in federal drug policy in the United States in decades, and it took over 50 years of advocacy, litigation, and science to get there. Schedule I vs Schedule III Schedule I classification, where cannabis has sat since 1970, means a substance is deemed to have no accepted medical us

The story of cannabis reform is usually told through North America and Western Europe. But some of the most significant changes in recent years have happened in Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico — countries that together hold over half a billion people, and where cannabis law has shifted dramatically, if imperfectly. Brazil Following landmark Supreme Court rulings in 2024 and 2025, Brazil decriminalised possession of up to 40 grams of cannabis, or six female plants, for person

Germany made history in 2024 when it passed the Cannabisgesetz — a law allowing adults to possess cannabis and form non-profit social clubs, known as Anbauvereinigungen, to cultivate and distribute it to members. It was a landmark moment. Germany, Europe's largest economy, had chosen a new path. The rollout has been complicated. The Clubs Are Growing Applications to form clubs could be submitted from July 1, 2024. By the end of that year, around 83 clubs had received formal l

On the first day of 2026, Czechia became the newest European nation to legalise cannabis for adult recreational use. Adults can now legally possess up to 25 grams in public and cultivate up to five plants at home. The shift makes Czechia one of a growing number of European countries moving away from prohibition and toward a regulated, health-led approach. A Continent Shifting Germany led the way in Europe with its landmark Cannabisgesetz in 2024, which allowed personal posses

In 2014, Colorado became one of the first places on earth to legalise cannabis for adult recreational use. More than a decade on, the results are in — and they tell a story worth paying attention to. The Numbers Colorado generated nearly $200 million in cannabis tax and fee revenue in 2025 alone. Since legalisation, the cumulative total has surpassed $3 billion. A significant portion of that money has gone directly into the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund,