Communities across the state have been debating whether or not to allow growers of medical marijuana into their communities, and the discussions have been more or less enlightened, depending on where you live.

Kent and Washington counties support it, and Baltimore County has passed zoning laws for growing, processing and distributing. Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh — as an example of one of the less enlightened — wants to ban it, even though the first specialty clinic with three consultants and three physicians opened in Annapolis in June, and by August had seen more than 100 prospective patients.

ResponsibleOhio disagrees with Zaino’s reading of the proposed amendment. “It’s clear that our opponents are trying to come up with any reason they can, regardless of legitimacy, to justify their anti-marijuana reform agenda,” said Faith Oltman, a spokeswoman for ResponsibleOhio.

Bud tenders Ieasha Semler, 23, left, and Anna Marie Alcantara, 22, roll marijuana cigarettes at the Chalice Farms dispensary in Dundee, Ore. Oregon is exploring a new path in regulation and punishment as its legal recreational market takes shape. By KIRK JOHNSON September 20, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. — About 15 years ago, when she was in her 20s, Erika Walton handed a bong to someone who turned out be a police officer, and was cited for marijuana possession. She paid the fine, she said, but the violation lingered on, haunting her record.

As new cannabis activist, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference was exactly the event I had hoped it would be. I learned a ton about the emerging cannabis industry, like all the specifics with Oregon’s new laws and regulations, and I got a chance to hear great insight from industry experts. Because everything is so new, events like this are critical to success. The more we come together and educate each other now, the better things will turn out in the long run for Oregon’s legal marijuana industry.

After UFC champion Ronda Rousey criticized the 5-year suspension of fellow fighter Nick Diaz (#FreeNickDiaz) for testing positive for marijuana, controversial ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith took exception and gave his take on the issue.

A proposal to legalize marijuana in Ohio would create a medicinal-only pot farm just east of Columbus.(Photo: Gannett Ohio file)

COLUMBUS – Dr. Suresh Gupta ticked off a list of conditions that marijuana could help alleviate: nausea, cancer, glaucoma, HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, irritable bowel syndrome.

“And chronic pain. I almost forgot that one, and I am a chronic pain doctor,” said Gupta, a Dayton physician who plans to open a 300,000 square-foot facility dedicated to growing medical marijuana in Pataskala, just east of Columbus.

That is, if voters approve Issue 3, which would legalize marijuana use for Ohioans older than 21 and create 10 marijuana-growing facilities across the state.

BOSTON (CBS) – Cristina Barbuto started a great new job last year.

It lasted one day.

“I felt discriminated against,” Barbuto told WBZ. “I felt like, this is wrong, this can’t be.”

As a condition of her employment, Advantage Sales and Marketing gave Barbuto a drug test.

“I wanted to be honest, so I was up front and honest with my supervisor and said, ‘You know, I am going to fail this part of the drug test, so I just wanted to make you aware,’” she explained.

Barbuto has Crohn’s disease. When she’s suffering from a flare up, the pain can be excruciating. From time to time, she relies on her prescription for medical marijuana.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission gave Nick Diaz a five-year suspension after testing positive for marijuana use in January, which could end the 32-year-old fighter’s career (but is lighter than the lifetime ban the commission originally wanted). Diaz’s positive test was the third in his career, and after Diaz’s hearing he called the NSAC “a bunch of crooks.”

Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports

During a press conference for her upcoming bout with Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey defended Nick Diaz and destroyed the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s policy on drug use.

DETROIT — With some medical-marijuana stores in Detroit now offering drive-through purchasing, the city's marketplace for medical pot has spiraled out of control and needs to be regulated, Mayor Mike Duggan said.

Dozens of dispensaries line 8 Mile and other major thoroughfares in the city, and a Free Press investigation found that at least three offer drive-through service.

BOSTON - When Cristina Barbuto of Brewster took a job with a marketing firm, she told the company that she used medical marijuana to treat symptoms of Crohn's disease.

Barbuto says she worked for only one day for Advantage Sales and Marketing, promoting products in a supermarket, and then the company fired her. The reason they gave was that Barbuto failed a required drug test by testing positive for marijuana.

When she complained, she said a human resources representative told Barbuto that the company, which has offices nationwide and in Massachusetts, follows federal, not state law.

Barbuto's claims were laid out in a complaint she filed in Suffolk County Superior Court accusing Advantage Sales and Marketing of discrimination and invasion of privacy.