Hello and welcome to the weekly roundup where each Sunday we look back at some of the news items making the headlines over the past seven days.

On Monday the Sunday World reported on an Australian father who could be in serious trouble for giving his dying daughter cannabis oil as a medicine

Also on Monday it was reported that a judge had ruled that an individual who was minding a package to pay off a drug debt, probably thought the heroin he was holding was cannabis



On Monday it emerged that a man on free legal aid while facing trial on cannabis culitivation and dealing charges has been given his passport so he can take his children to Disneyland Paris

On Tuesday it was reported that a female garda who was arrested due to her alleged involvement with drugs trafficking could be under threat from her alleged criminal associates

On Tuesday a 54-year-old Vietnamese woman allegedly found locked inside a grow-house has brought a legal challenge to a refusal to declare she is the victim of trafficking

On Wednesday it was reported that Migrant Rights Centre Ireland claim people were being trafficked into the country to produce cannabis

On Thursday it was reported that Jamaica has approved new laws to decriminalise possession of small amounts of cannabis and pave the way for a legal medical marijuana industry

Also on Thursday it emerged that a former Leeds United goalkeeper has been sentenced to 10 years in prison at Naas Circuit Court for possession of cannabis worth €3.5m

On Thursday a witness in the Ian Bailey case said that another individual left a Garda car with cannabis in his possession before he photographed him. The individual with the cannabis claims he was given it by gardai

On Friday it was reported that a man who was caught with €86 worth of cannabis will avoid a conviction for possession of cannabis if he pays €150

On Friday it was reported that a man who arrived in Dublin from Barcelona was found to have €200k worth of herbal cannabis in his luggage

On Friday it was reported that a drugs “delivery boy” caught with almost €65,000 of cannabis herb has been given a five year sentence with the final two years suspended

Also on Friday it was reported that some scientists are worried about the effect of pro-cannabis tweets

On Saturday it was reported that a young man who was caught in possession of €30 worth of cannabis herb has been convicted and fined €300

Today (Sunday) the sad news emerged that Howard Marks has inoperable bowel cancer

I would like to take this opportunity to say my thoughts are with Howard and his family and friends.

Articles:

This week I posted an article looking at the culture of the fifty bag in Ireland. The post proved to be a massive hit, providing me with the three busiest days ever on the blog.

In 18 hours the blog managed to achieved just over 4,000 views. As of posting the blog has just over 9,200 views since it launched in November 2014. So this 32 hour period represents around 40% of all views to the blog since it launched.

The previous daily best had been around 350 views, so this shows you the massive increase. In fact for three days straight the 350 mark was broken with 2,130 views on Thursday, 1899 views on Friday, and just under 500 views on Saturday.