Virginia probably will ease up a bit in its laws against marijuana by making it easier for epilepsy patients to obtain cannabis extract oils and by relaxing the penalty for people caught with small amounts of marijuana.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe is expected to sign the handful of marijuana-related bills passed by the General Assembly during its recent session. They include SB 1027, which will allow Virginia pharmacies to make and sell marijuana extract oils for treating intractable epilepsy, and HB 2051 and SB 1091, which will eliminate the state’s punishment of automatically suspending the driver’s license of adults convicted of simple marijuana possession.

Last week police arrested Marc Emery for the 30th time. It is believed this is the first time he's been arrested since police in Montreal picked him up in December, but it's tough to keep track. Police also raided Cannabis Culture dispensaries owned by him and his partner Jodie in Toronto, Vancouver and Hamilton. Emery faces 15 charges relating to distributing marijuana, and Jodie Emery has been charged with five such offences.

More people will soon have access to Medical Marijuana, but first Florida lawmakers have to set the new rules.

There's a lot of confusion since the passing of Amendment 2 last year, which expands the 2014 law -- the one everyone is operating under right now -- to give more patients with more ailments access to the controversial weed.

To clear up some of the confusion, News4Jax was the only local TV station taken inside a secure Florida facility, west of Tallahassee, to reveal just how medical marijuana is being grown and sold, how it's getting ready to serve even more patients and when new rules allowing more people to legally use it will likely be in place.

Take a second to appreciate this picture.

If you’ve seen cannabis before, we’ll forgive you for not recognizing it here.

That bowl of what looks like stuff you might dig out of an old lawnmower is actually government-approved medical marijuana. Since the 1960s, the United States has required that  all cannabis used for research be sourced through the government.

And there it is, in all its glory.

Now that Florida has legalized marijuana for medicinal use, a couple of state lawmakers want to ensure that law enforcement doesn’t put more people in jail for pot possession.

Democratic Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith and Democratic Senator Jeff Clemens recently introduced bills in the state legislature aimed at eliminating the criminal penalties associated with marijuana possession. These bills would allow anyone caught with up to an ounce of weed to simply repay their debt to civil society through a small fine and/or community service rather than through the criminal justice system.

Ira* has a condition called multiple sclerosis, which debilitates her brain, spinal cord, and nerves. Every attack is different: Sometimes, upper and lower extremities weaken. On some days, she goes blind. Often, Ira cannot stand, or walk, which for MS patients, can become extremely painful. Due to her illness, Ira has wrestled with bouts of depression and helpless agony. So when a cured epileptic patient told her his story about the miraculous effect of cannabis oil, she had to try it. She uses it sparingly: Two drops before sleep, and her tremors dwindle.

New Hampshire is the only state left in the New England area to not have marijuana decriminalization laws on the books already, but a bill that was introduced – and just approved by the House – would make the current criminal misdemeanor a civil violation in the future. Similar bills have been introduced in the past, but none have ever made it out of legislature. However, the future of this bill might be brighter, considering the recent legalization of cannabis in nearby Maine and Massachusetts.

DIRECTOR of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), Delano Seiveright has said that 2017 will be the year of action for cannabis locally.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer following last week’s story on the ganja farmer who outlined how cannabis is grown, prepared, sold, and who sought answers from the CLA, Seiveright said that he understands the concerns of the farmer, but encouraged the youngster and other ganja growers to get their licences as things will soon be looking up.

Lawmakers have been busy introducing a variety of marijuana bills since the election. While there is no guarantee that any of these bills will actually become laws, a perusal of the bills introduced offers useful insight into how the decisions made regarding cannabis might affect our lives more immediately than the slow churn of Washington, D.C.

In the current political climate, it more important than ever to spend some time getting familiar with these bills. Please click on the links to get more information about each proposed bill. We strongly encourage you to get in touch with your elected representatives to express your views and opinions.

Below are six (6) cannabis-related bills that are worth following closely:

State lawmakers will hear public testimony Monday on House Bill 81, which would reduce penalties for low-level marijuana possession.

“House Bill 81 would eliminate the arrest, the jail time, and most importantly, the criminal record currently associated with small amounts of marijuana,” explained Heather Fazio, the Texas political director for the Marijuana Policy Project. “The bill will recalibrate penalties for low-level possession, making it a simple ticket, rather than jail time and a criminal record.”