When Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November to legalize recreational marijuana, Josh Miller saw this as a sign that his time had finally arrived. 

The Rhode Island state senator has a reputation among colleagues as a cannabis crusader — a battle that, so far, he’s lost. For the last three years, Miller introduced legislation to legalize recreational pot, and for the last three years, his efforts have died in committee hearing rooms.

But now, in a turnaround, some of Miller’s colleagues are signaling an interest in legalized weed — and raking in the tax dollars that come with it.

A bill to legalize cannabis for medical purposes cleared a South Carolina House of Representatives subcommittee this week – even as the state’s leading law enforcement agency lobbied furiously against the measure.

A four-member House health care subcommittee advanced H. 3521 – the “Compassionate Care Act” – by a 3-0 vote.  One member of the panel abstained from voting.

In hemp fields across Canada, farmers spend months planting, watering and weeding the hemp. But when harvest time comes, part of the plant is tossed aside, even though it’s quite valuable.

It’s called cannabidiol, better known as CBD, and it’s contained in the flowering parts and leaves of the hemp plant.

“Just the leaves themselves, we’re not allowed to harvest,” said Keith Jones, the general manager of Rowland Farms.

“We have to just spread them back on the ground.”

Jones manages the largest hemp farm in the world, located in Taber, Alta. He says they’re forced to waste CBD-rich parts of the plant.

“Unfortunately, Health Canada’s regulation only allows us to harvest the seed and the stalk,” he said.

As legalized marijuana spreads across the United States, most observers remain skeptical that recreational marijuana will be legal anytime soon in Alabama.

"We're the Bible Belt," said Gary Hetzel, a retired warden at Donaldson and Holman prisons and now executive director of the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility. "We're too conservative."

Marijuana activists are hopeful, but realistic.

When Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November to legalize recreational marijuana, Josh Miller saw this as a sign that his time had finally arrived. 

The Rhode Island state senator has a reputation among colleagues as a cannabis crusader — a battle that, so far, he’s lost. For the last three years, Miller introduced legislation to legalize recreational pot, and for the last three years, his efforts have died in committee hearing rooms.

But now, in a turnaround, some of Miller’s colleagues are signaling an interest in legalized weed — and raking in the tax dollars that come with it.

The government has given the green light for the manufacture of cannabis for medicinal use – with the IFP hailing it a “major victory” and tribute to its late MP, Mario Oriani-Ambrosini who fought for the legalisation of the drug.

IFP MP Narend Singh said a letter sent to him by the Medical Control Council’s working group on cannabis – and seen by The Mercury – indicated it would publish its proposed guidelines on cannabis production for medicinal use following its presentation to the council last week. 

“This is a major breakthrough and fantastic news for freedom of choice,” said Singh. 

A medical marijuana initiative that had been in the works since 2015 won’t be on the ballot in 2018 after the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office did not receive petitions by last Tuesday’s deadline.

Nonetheless, medical marijuana supporters said they will continue to push for legalization of medical marijuana in Wyoming.

The deadline for the petition was 18 months after the petition began in 2015.

While the Wyoming chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) helped with the signature drive, the organization was not the official sponsor of the petition.

From marijuana-laced candy to body lotion infused with marijuana, this controversial plant is becoming a big business in the United States as more states make it mainstream. 

Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is now legal in 28 U.S. states for either medical or recreational use. Of those states, four of them legalized recreational marijuana last November, including California. At a dispensary in Los Angeles, the experience for customers is more similar to a trip to the winery or high-end retail store. 

There are cannabis plants on well-lit display and available for a smell test, as well as other edibles. It’s an effort to dispel pot’s stigma and normalize its use.

Electoral Commission comes down on Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol party for ‘numerous failures’.

In news that will do little to dispel popular stereotypes about the productivity of fans of certain drugs, the Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol political party has been fined for repeatedly filing its accounts late.

The party must pay a total of £23,000 for what the Electoral Commission said were “numerous failures” to comply with rules on reporting political finances.

Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol (Great Britain) was fined £10,000 for the late filing of two quarterly reports on donations, and one set of accounts, and for not keeping proper accounts, the commission said in a statement.

Opposition to legal marijuana is dropping in Texas, with fewer than one in five respondents to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll saying they are against legalization in any form.

Support for marijuana only for medical use has dropped over the last two years, but support for legalization for private use — both in small amounts or in amounts of any size — has grown since the pollsters asked in February 2015.