Republican Rep. Brad Daw thinks the dozens of states that have implemented medical marijuana laws have approached the issue incorrectly.

Instead of determining what constitutes medicine through science and research, Daw said, they have done so through legislative or initiative-bound mandate.

"It became clear to me that we need to do it the right way," said Daw, from Orem. "Let's let the research be the guiding factor to decide what is medicine and what is not."

Lawmakers took a first step to that goal Monday, when a House committee unanimously approved Daw's measure allowing for expanded research into medical marijuana in the state.

The South Australian government will consider lobbying the commonwealth to change laws and regulations considered barriers to the development of a medicinal cannabis industry in the state.

The government has also brought key stakeholders together to consider economic opportunities that exist for medicinal marijuana and also for the production of industrial hemp.

Industry associations, lobby groups, research bodies, companies and government departments met on Monday to discuss the potential future for both sectors.

Manufacturing Minister Kyam Maher said the state government did not want to stand in the way of economic progress.

"We will look at what needs to be changed and then let the market decide," he told reporters.

The Irish College of General Practitioners says efforts to legalise cannabis for therapeutic use could begin within 12 - 24 months.

A new survey has found a substantial majority of Irish family doctors support the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use.

However, according to the same survey, more than half of Irish GPs do not support the decriminalisation of the drug for recreational use.

Over 60% of the doctors surveyed agreed that cannabis can have a role in palliative care, pain management and the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) - with 58.6% coming out in support of the legalisation of the drug for medicinal use.

It's a green Monday in Maine.

The first tangible results of state voters' decision to legalize marijuana are being felt as possession and home growth of marijuana becomes legal. Voters narrowly passed the ballot question in November, and the waiting period between the vote and legalization has expired.

Contentious aspects linger, including what rules should govern businesses that will sell marijuana, such as retail stores and social clubs. The Legislature has been hammering out those details, and they will take months to fully craft, meaning it will be months before marijuana businesses open in the state.

But it's legal to smoke it as of Monday. It's also legal to gift it, grow it and possess up to 2.5 ounces of it.

Maryland lawmakers are introducing legislation to regulate and tax marijuana for adult use. 

Supporters are scheduled to talk about the measure on Monday. 

One measure would make marijuana legal for adults 21 and older and regulate its production and sale similarly to alcohol. 

Another bill would enact taxes on non-medical marijuana. 

The General Assembly decriminalized marijuana in 2014. People caught with less than 10 grams are now issued a $100 ticket. The fine increases to $500 for repeat offenses.

When an Indiana Senate committee heard testimony on a medical marijuana-related bill, some proponents saw a glimmer of hope.

The measure would create a pilot program for “hemp oil” derived from cannabis plants, a far cry from a comprehensive medical marijuana program. But to supporters it marks a significant shift after years of medical marijuana-related bills dying in the Senate.

The state is among the last to forbid even the use of such marijuana extracts low in THC and high in cannabidiol, CBD, which studies suggest may help reduce epileptic seizures.

Oregon lawmakers are fighting to prevent companies from firing employees who get stoned after hours.

A piece of legislation (Senate Bill 301) has been introduced to the state’s legislative forces that would make it illegal for an employer to terminate a worker simply for using marijuana. The measure takes the issue a step further by stopping businesses from rejecting job applicants simply based on a positive test result for the THC compound.

The momentum behind marijuana legalization has been practically unstoppable since the beginning of 2016.

With the exception of Arizona, which narrowly voted against an initiative that would have legalized recreational pot, residents in eight other states voted in favor of legalizing medical or recreational cannabis in the November election. The year ended with 28 states having approved medical cannabis, and twice as many recreation-legal states (eight) as at the end of 2015 (four).

Governor LePage signed the marijuana moratorium bill into law on Friday afternoon, one day after the bill passed the legislature and three days before recreational pot becomes legal in Maine.

The moratorium law allows personal use of the drug starting Monday, but buys the Governor and Legislature a year to fine tune marijuana policy, before retail sales will be allowed to begin all over the state.

It was not certain if the governor would approve the legislation, since two provisions he wanted were shot down in a House vote Thursday.

Before Brad Austin arrived at work one recent morning, his stock market investments were up by $4,000. The bump was something the sales manager at an Edmonton car dealership has become accustomed to, despite having no prior trading experience and no financial advisers to guide him.

Austin says he knows what he’s doing, but he also has luck on his side. He won $20,000 playing slot machines at a casino in August and decided to drop all of the spoils, plus another $5,000 of his own cash, into another big bet: cannabis stocks.

He has not been disappointed.

Austin made $70,000 — close to what he’d earn at the dealership in an entire year — only five months into what he expects will be a years-long investment play.