Cannabis is the most widely produced and consumed illicit substance globally. A significant number of states have long engaged in soft defection from the UN drug control regime in relation to tolerant policies on the personal possession, cultivation and use of cannabis. Recently, there has been growing debate within political circles on the benefits of regulated cannabis markets. This has been driven by a number of factors including the continuing illegality of supply, the associated and often violent involvement of criminal elements and the use of finite criminal justice resources. In this section you will find an overview of our most recent blogs on the issue.

• The present continuous of cannabis clubs in Catalonia, Sustainable Drug Policies Commission, March 30, 2013

• How does a Cannabis Social Club work? A visit to Trekt Uw Plant in Antwerp, Balázs Mészáros & Lena Oddbal, February 18, 2013

• The will of the voters: Colorado and Washington have put legal marijuana on the map, John Walsh, November 13, 2012

• Taking the initiative on legal marijuana: Voters in Washington State appear poised to approve legal, regulated marijuana, John Walsh, November 2, 2012

• Cannabis pass abolished? Not really: Half-baked compromise in Dutch government coalition agreement continues disastrous coffeeshop policy, Tom Blickman, October 30, 2012

• Portugal progresses toward integrated cannabis regulation: Proposed legislation would authorise growing for personal use and the creation of Cannabis Social Clubs, Martin Barriuso Alonso, October 25, 2012

• The Dutch 2012 election result and the coffeeshops: The future of the Dutch coffeeshops is in the hands of the liberal-conservative party, Tom Blickman, September 14, 2012

• Far but near: Marijuana reform in Mexico? The quest for a new "Mexican approach" to marihuana regulation, Jorge Hernández Tinajero, August 20, 2012

• Between collective organisation and commercialisation: The Cannabis Social Clubs at the cross-roads, by Martín Barriuso Alonso, August 9, 2012

• Cannabis regulation in Uruguay: "Someone has to be first ...", John Walsh & Martin Jelsma, July 17, 2012

• Cannabis reaches parliament: The debate on regulating Cannabis Social Clubs in the Basque country, Martín Barriuso Alonso, June 26, 2012

• Uruguayan Government Announces Unprecedented Plan for Legal, Regulated Marijuana Markets, Coletta Youngers, June 23, 2012

• Government opposes Copenhagen City Council on cannabis shops: In Parliament majority in favour of decriminalization unlikely, Tom Blickman, May 28, 2012

• Hollande will not go Dutch on cannabis: No major changes expected on drug policy in France, Tom Blickman, May 17, 2012

• Copenhagen wants controlled cannabis shops: Regulating the cannabis market after a failed attempt to re-criminalise, Tom Blickman, January 9, 2012

• Legal cannabis in Basque Country? Confusion about the regulation of cannabis social clubs, Tom Blickman, December 16, 2011

• Cannabis social club activists in Spain liberated, Tom Blickman, November 18, 2011

• Dutch government to ban tourists from cannabis shops? Tom Blickman, June 28, 2011

• The future of Dutch cannabis policy, Tom Blickman, March 14, 2011

• California's Proposition 19 Falls Short, but Moves the Marijuana Policy Debate Forward, John Walsh, November 3, 2010