Some have dubbed it the modern-day gold rush while skeptics warn of the hostile attitude of the current administration in Washington D.C. Whatever the view there is no denying that the marijuana legalization landscape is contentious and demands attention, including from trademark attorneys who will increasingly see their clients interested in cannabis related business activities, and consequently in obtaining cannabis trademarks.

North Carolinians overwhelmingly want to see medical marijuana legalized, according to a new Elon University poll. 

Twenty-nine states have signed off on the medical use of marijuana, and a majority of North Carolina voters polled say they want their state to become the 30th – 80 percent say they approve of legalizing it. Seventeen percent of those polled opposed legalization.

Democrats and independent voters were the most likely to support medical marijuana legalization, with 83 percent approval. Republicans weren’t that far behind, with 73 percent approval.

Congress extended protections to 44 states that have legalized medical marijuana in its proposed $1 trillion spending bill that funds the government through September.

The language prevents the Justice Department from using any of its funding to “prevent” those states from “implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”

This amendment, championed by former Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., Sam Farr, D-Calif., and current Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., more than 10 years ago, finally became law in 2014 as part of the omnibus bill that funded fiscal year 2015.

The Republican governor told a forum on substance abuse that it's "not time for us to be cool and say, 'Pot's OK.'"

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie didn't hold back against lawmakers in his state that want to legalize marijuana Monday.

The Republican governor told a forum on substance abuse hosted by the New Jersey Hospital Association it's "not time for us to be cool and say, 'Pot's OK.'"

Democrats in New Jersey's state Senate are expected to unveil a proposal that would make it the twelfth state to legalize, tax, and regulate recreational marijuana use – a move Christie says is "beyond stupidity."

Here are five myths about marijuana legalization that Colorado officials and businesses say have been debunked in the state, where recreational pot was first legalized in 2012:

1. It's a tax windfall.

Marijuana sales surpassed US$1.3 billion in Colorado in 2016, but that's only a fraction of the state's $333 billion GDP, said Ashley Kilroy, Denver's executive director of excise and licences, which oversees marijuana policy.

In 2016, the state collected $199 million in tax and fee revenue, of which $40 million was earmarked for school construction projects and $5.7 million was designated generally for public schools. Colorado's overall budget is $26.8 billion this year.

This report, prepared by the foreign law specialists and analysts of the Law Library of Congress, provides a review of laws adopted in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, and Uruguay with regard to decriminalization of narcotics, and touches specifically on cannabis and legalization.

As the state Department of Health looks to license five new companies to operate, four current registered organizations sue to block action.

Four of New York's five medical marijuana companies have filed suit against the state Department of Health to stop it from licensing additional operators to take part in the tightly run state program. The companies argue that the expansion could tank the nascent industry and potentially harm thousands of patients who rely on medical marijuana to treat their ailments.

A judge did not immediately grant a request for an injunction to stop the process. 

DOH spokeswoman Jill Montag said the agency "will continue to fight any attempts to block patients from the relief they deserve."

After facing criticism from patient rights advocates earlier this year, the South Australian state government announced earlier this week that it will create an Office of Medicinal Cannabis and Industrial Hemp to “support the establishment of medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp industries.” The office, which will oversee production of industrial hemp, was announced in tandem with an updated medical cannabis patient access scheme.

A U.S. consultant hired by Ottawa to assess Canada's eventual recreational pot market says jurisdictions that regulate cannabis should expect "unbelievably high" sales growth in the first few years as criminals are driven out of business.

Adam Orens, a founding partner of the Marijuana Policy Group, said he is not yet authorized to discuss his findings on the future Canadian pot market because his organization is under contract with Health Canada.

However, a look at the group's estimates for Colorado's regulated cannabis industry suggests Canada can expect its own sector to generate billions of dollars per year in direct and indirect economic activity.

Recreational marijuana sales are just two months away with sales set to begin on July 1.

The legal and heavily taxed sales of pot are expected to bring tens of millions of dollars into the state by the end of the year.

So, Nevada … are you ready for the green rush?

Jason Sturtsman thinks so. He’s a cannabis advocate we met in a North Las Vegas production plant which creates cannabis vape pens.

“Some dispensaries may very well stay medical but in Colorado, recreation is about 80-percent of the market,” said Sturtsman.

Sturtsman is confident early retail pot sales are on track for a July 1 launch.