I’m excited that Rhode Island, my recently adopted home state, might become the first on the East Coast to legalize a commercial marijuana market. And not just for the obvious reasons, such as changing a war on drugs that disproportionately targets people of color or the option of purchasing and smoking marijuana without fear of jail time.

Drug laws remain vague and problematic, but what if you get sacked for taking drugs as part of a prescription?

We have all been intrigued by the effects of drugs at some point in our lives. But why do people use illegal drugs to satisfy their interest and pleasure? Are ice-cream and pizza not enough to give us the satisfaction we long for? Over the centuries mankind has developed various tendencies, from the violence of hunting to the  relaxing pastime of smoking small plants … But are these tendencies our friends, or foes?

Ahead of American Ultra’s release in UK cinemas, we look at the rise of the stoner in film, from the 30s to the present...

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) --

Police across the Valley have their eyes out for drunk drivers. But in this day and age, it's not just alcohol they're worried about.

"What's happening down the road is a lot of people are overmedicating themselves, and that's where they start becoming impaired. We're taking a special look at that, and it is a violation of the law," Clovis Police Officer Mark Bradford said.

Bradford is one of six drug recognition experts in the department. Officers are seeing a disturbing trend of more people being arrested for impaired driving. Recently, the department got a new tool to educate the public: marijuana goggles.

"A lot of people are really amazed on how much they feel impaired just putting those goggles on," Bradford said.

The first cut of Colorado's excise tax on wholesale recreational marijuana has been thrown into this fiscal year's pool of cash grants for capital improvements at public schools.

Three local projects are among the 26 statewide that are receiving funding.

Another three area school districts and a charter school will get a check in the mail next week from a $2.28 million appropriation from state marijuana sales taxes to pay for behavioral health counseling and drug prevention education.

But many districts say they have little hope of seeing any of the collections.

The day when recreational marijuana will be available for purchase in Oregon is fast approaching. At the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, jobs are being created to get ready for implementing recreational marijuana policies.

Some context: On Oct. 1, medical marijuana dispensaries in most areas will begin selling some kinds of marijuana products to consumers. On Jan. 4, the state will begin accepting permit applications for marijuana businesses. Oregonians voted to legalize recreational marijuana through Measure 91, which passed in 2014.

The Food Processor Question: Is Marijuana a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) Food Additive?

It's a university far off the radar of the Princeton Review annual college rankings, yet it boasts more than 25,000 graduates, all lured by the promise of careers in the rapidly growing cannabis industry. Through sheer force of academia, marijuana-centric Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California, is determined to foster a sense of legitimacy in a line of business that struggles with stigma.

When I was a teenager, I bought pot whenever I wanted. As an adult, I worked to keep pot out of the hands of anyone under 21, and to make cannabis use as safe as possible for anyone 21 and over.

I've been a part of Colorado's legal cannabis industry since regulation was approved by our state's citizens in 2012. Since then, I've seen firsthand that two of the biggest public concerns -- that regulation makes it easier for children to access cannabis, and that regulation leads to a rapid increase in cannabis users -- simply haven't happened.

Bob Lemmo, the first news editor of marijuana-enthusiast and lifestyle media brand High Times, died in hospice Aug. 9 at age 64.

In 1975, when High Times was in its first year of publication and on a meteoric growth track, Lemmo was brought in to help create a news section entirely focused on marijuana, hashish and other recreational drugs. Prior to that, he had been editor of underground newspapers in New York and Arizona.