In the heart of Northern California’s wine country, a civil engineer turned marijuana entrepreneur is adding a new dimension to the art of matching fine wines with gourmet food: cannabis and wine pairing dinners.

Sam Edwards, co-founder of the Sonoma Cannabis Company, charges diners $100 to $150 for a meal that experiments with everything from marijuana-leaf pesto sauce to sniffs of cannabis flowers paired with sips of a crisp Russian River chardonnay.

“It accentuates the intensity of your palate,” Mr. Edwards, 30, said of the dinners, one of which was held recently at a winery with sweeping views of the Sonoma vineyards. “We are seeing what works and what flavors are coming out.”

Rep. Mike Coffman is suggesting he might use the power of the purse to protect Colorado’s legal marijuana industry.

During a telephone town hall Wednesday evening the Republican congressman was asked about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ threat to crack down on states like Colorado that have legalized recreational marijuana.

Coffman noted that he opposed the ballot measures that legalized both medical and recreational marijuana in the state. But he added that since voters approved them they are now Colorado law. He said the federal government should not interfere and he hopes Sessions doesn’t follow through on his warning.

Law enforcement agencies busted a large-scale illegal marijuana grow and distribution operation across Colorado Thursday morning. Here are five things you need to know about the raids:

Where did the raids occur?

The Drug Enforcement Agency, which assisted local law enforcement agencies in the raids, says there were 20 locations in Denver, Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and El Paso counties.

Denver7 crews watched as crews pulled plants out of a warehouse at 37th and Salem in Denver late Thursday morning after prior raids in the 7300 block of Valdi Court in Aurora and at a house in Castle Rock.

By every estimate, California produces and consumes significantly more marijuana than any other state in America. But in much of the state, the multibillion-dollar industry still behaves as an underground enterprise, operating as if it were still illegal—because, for now at least, it still is.

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions has harsh words for the use of marijuana.

He wrote the criticism into a prepared speech for law enforcement officers in Richmond, Virginia.

In the speech, Sessions describes marijuana as "only slightly less awful" than heroin. After the speech he told reporters "medical marijuana has been hyped--maybe too much".

Dustin Chandler of Hoover calls the attorney general's comments disappointing. Chandler's daughter, Carly, was born with a neurological disorder. In 2014, Carly's Law was passed in Alabama, allowing similar patients to access cannabidiol oil through UAB.

Cannoperations, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cann Group Ltd., has become the first company to be granted a license to produce and cultivate medical cannabis for manufacture in Australia.

The Office of Drug Control, the country’s medical cannabis regulator, made the announcement on March 8, just weeks after the office granted Cann Group a license to grow cannabis for medical research purposes.

While licenses have been issued to state governments, these are the first granted to a commercial entity. Cann Group has not announced whether it has also applied for a manufacturing license or whether the company will provide cannabis to other manufacturers.

The only marijuana researchers can legally obtain for studies looks like something you would scrape off the bottom of your shoe after walking on a grassy field.

This is the marijuana that researchers were sent for a study looking at whether pot can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Due to federal prohibition and regulations, all of the marijuana used for US research is provided by one facility at the University of Mississippi through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). But researchers have complained for years that the quality of marijuana that NIDA supplies is terrible — typically far below what you can get from state-legal medical or recreational marijuana markets or even the black market.

The Manitoba government is set to introduce legislation to help police crack down on drivers who are high on marijuana.

Justice Minister Heather Stefanson says the bill, expected Thursday, will also include measures dealing with health and safety concerns stemming from the expected federal legalization of pot.

Stefanson hasn't provide details in advance of the bill's presentation, but says the aim is to have checks and balances for when marijuana becomes legal.

She says technology that would let police officers test drivers for pot impairment is still being developed, and the bill will propose different tools for law enforcement.

One in 10 drivers tested had drugs in their system

A bill to legalize marijuana for recreational use has been introduced to the West Virginia House of Delegates.  House Bill 3035 was submitted on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, by Delegate Sean Hornbuckle of Cabell County.  The opening text of the bill reads as follows:

“In the interest of allowing law enforcement to focus on violent and property crimes, generating revenue for education and other public purposes and individual freedom, the Legislature of the State of West Virginia finds that the use of marijuana should be legal…”