Entheogens

Konstantinos Syros turned to cannabis 26 years ago after a motorcycle accident left him with deformed arm and debilitating pain that conventional treatments could not assuage. For years he had to buy it illegally. Now, he plans to grow it himself.

Turkish security forces seized more than a ton of hashish in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, the provincial governor's office stated on May 20. 

After the Greek parliament approved a law for the cultivation and sale of medical cannabis this month, five international companies already have expressed interest in pumping over 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) into the country's burgeoning sector.

Five consortiums with investment plans to cultivate cannabis for medical use, adding up to over 1 billion euros on paper, have already knocked on the door of Deputy Economy Minister Stergios Pitsiorlas.

Parliament on Thursday approved legislation allowing the manufacture of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

The new legislation sets out the rules governing the cultivation and production of the particular types of the plant that are used for pharmaceutical purposes, as well as the operation of manufacturing units.

A 33-year-old man has been arrested after police raided a luxury home in Lagonissi, southeastern Attica, where hydroponic cannabis was been cultivated on a large scale.

The drugs squad carried out the raid following a tip-off.

A total of 564 cannabis plants were seized.

Police said that the man they took into custody was already wanted on rape charges.

Police in Kastoria, northern Greece, seized 61 kilos of hashish and arrested two people on Monday after a search of their car.

The 34-year-old driver and his passenger, a 31-year-old woman, were stopped by police for a routine check.

They were arrested after police found the cannabis resin in four sacks, as well as a pistol.

Greece's Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) has shut down a racket that smuggled large quantities of cannabis to Europe hidden in sacks of rice.

A visitor (l) speaks with an employee about products containing cannabis at the 1st International Cannabis Expo, in Athens, Saturday. The Greek government has announced it is set to propose changes to legislation covering the use and production of medicinal cannabis, which will allow the legal cultivation of industrial hemp. [Yorgos Karahalis/AP]

Australia said on Jan. 4 that it planned to become the fourth country in the world to legalize medicinal marijuana exports in a bid to score a piece of the estimated $55 billion global market.