Friday could be a very bad day for marijuana growers. That’s because, tucked into the vast spending bill Congress needs to pass to avoid yet another government shutdown, is the extension of a provision designed to prevent the federal government from prosecuting marijuana growers in states that have legalized cannabis. If it’s removed, it would allow more than a dozen currently stalled federal prosecutions of weed growers up and down the West Coast to go through.

The NDAA outlines a position on pot policy, and it’s not good news for cannabis advocates.

The National District Attorney’s Association (NDAA), which created a policy group in January to advise the Trump administration on marijuana decisions, is taking a highly oppositional stance to legalization and urging the Justice Department to enforce federal prohibition laws in states that have legalized the drug.

According to the group’s white paper, which was released on April 20 (of all days):

Iowans overwhelmingly support legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, but they don't support allowing recreational uses, a new Iowa Poll shows.

Two state senators, one Republican and one Democratic: One voted in favor of the medical cannabis bill that passed in the final hours of the legislative session, one voted against it. Both are unhappy.

In a legislative session that tended to defy prediction, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that medical marijuana was the issue that kept lawmakers up all night as they tried to adjourn. It created odd, bipartisan political alliances as well as conflicts among lawmakers who support medical marijuana.

Although pharmaceutical companies have the most to lose from the legalization of marijuana, no company has taken it as far as Insys Therapeutics (INSY); the company responsible for developing and oversubscribing a fentanyl spray that resulted in hundreds of deaths and overdoses.

In 2016, the disgraced pharmaceutical company donated $500,000 to promote opposition to Arizona’s recreational marijuana ballot initiative.

11 Execs Arrested for Overprescribing and Kickback Schemes

Perhaps more people know of marijuana because of the stigma surrounding it and its users. But that was then. Now, as more and more people are learning about the benefits that marijuana can provide, its popularity as medical substance has increased. This time, an increasing number of people are starting to ask for its use to be legalized not just in the medical aspect, but also for recreational purposes. Indeed, studies have shown a downward trend of the percentage of people who voted against the legalization of marijuana with an inversely upward trend of those who voted for it to be legalized. It’s still an ongoing debate, but what does legalizing marijuana entail?

State Law vs. Federal Law

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down Monday with reporters and staffers from Vice for a live interview about the recently introduced legislation to legalize cannabis. Over the course of an hour, he fielded questions—including from celebrities like Seth Rogan and cannabis activists like Jodie Emery—about what the changes will mean for the country.

Here are five key takeaways from the discussion: 

It is stretching the truth for the South Australian Government to suggest medicinal cannabis products can now be easily prescribed for patients in the state, doctors have said.

SA doctors are allowed to prescribe medicinal cannabis for periods of up to two months without having to get government approval, but a longer-term prescription still needs that formal approval.

The chair of the SA branch of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Daniel Byrne, said there were no approved medicinal cannabis products in Australia which doctors could readily prescribe.

The cannabis workers protection bill is moving swiftly through the California Assembly.

At a hearing today, members of the Business and Professions Committee voted to move the bill forward after brief testimony from its sponsor, the UFCW Western States Council. The Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment will hear the bill next.

Nevada Senators Give Marijuana Bills Thumbs up, MostlyTwo marijuana bills skated through the Nevada Senate on Tuesday, another deadline day, and two others squeezed through. 

All bills introduced in the Senate and the Assembly had to be heard in their respective body by the end of the day on Tuesday, unless they were exempt due to fiscal notes. 

The UK should have a legal, digital-only cannabis market in the UK, according to a new report.

The regulated market would limit access to anyone younger than 21, with checks similar to buying alcohol online.

The report, from pro-drug legalisation think tank Volte Face, argues that a controlled market would offer safer products and offer the ability for revenues to be taxed - potentially raising around £800m for the exchequer.

"We believe that Britain's multibillion-pound cannabis market should be developed and operated exclusively online by a private sector that is stringently controlled and regulated by democratically elected governments," the report, called The Green Screen, argues.