Medical cannabis

Early in the morning on the Mantineia plateau, the air is chilly. Even in summer, the temperature drops considerably during the night despite climbing above 30 Celsius during the day. "Big swings in temperature aid the production of resin in cannabis plants," Argyris Mountzouris told us as he laid out a large cloth on the ground upon which to collect the plants.

Whether it was at a music festival, a student dorm, those cakes your friend brought back from Amsterdam or that house that always smells a bit funny, cannabis has a way of integrating itself into many different lifestyles and levels of society.

While its effects on the body are often disputed there is no denying its popularity and its widespread availability.

The Greek government has initiated a debate over the legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes.

Deputy Minister for Agriculture Yiannis Tsironis, said that cannabis should be cultivated legally, “even on someone’s balcony”, provided that the user pays a fee to the state.

More than 1,000 acres are the areas legally sown with cannabis in Bulgaria, Stefka Damianova, an expert from the Ministry of Agriculture, told BNR.

She announced that an ordinance by the Ministry, which is still in the project, stipulates that legal weed growing should be filed on an established specimen.

Police said they have destroyed more than 1,500 cannabis plants during an operation in the island of Crete.

Police said a helicopter was used to spot the illegal crop in the area of Rethymno.

The plants, reaching up to 1 meter in height, were uprooted by officials. There were no reports of arrests.

The name Weed already belongs to an old mill town in Northern Calfornia, announced The Independent.

The Cabinet approved a bill legalising the cultivation and commercial exploitation of medicinal cannabis in Cyprus during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

The announcement was made by Health Minister George Pamboridis to reporters outside the Presidential Palace.

Labour MP Paul Flynn making his case in the Commons for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis in parliament on Wednesday, urged people to come to Parliament to ‘break the law’ and smoke the drug on the premises of the House.

Flynn was arguing in favour of legalising medicinal cannabis for patients with chronic conditions.

Greece has become the latest European country to legalise marijuana for medical purposes.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said last week that doctors will soon be able to prescribe the drug for a variety of medical conditions.

Cannabis is normally prescribed for conditions like muscle spasms, chronic pain, PTSD, epilepsy and cancer.

A joint decision signed by the Health and Justice ministries opening the way for the import of cannabis-based pharmaceuticals was published in Friday's edition of the Government Gazette.