The November election will be a pivotal moment for the future of U.S. marijuana policy. Voters in five states, including California, will decide whether to legalize weed for recreational use by adults, and citizens in four others will cast ballots on whether to allow medical marijuana.

If all of the measures succeed, it could force federal lawmakers to reconcile restrictive federal drug laws with shifting public opinion. Marijuana is classified by the federal government as a Schedule I controlled substance, which puts it in the same category as heroin and LSD, yet the latest national polls show 57 percent of U.S. adults now think weed should be legal.   

If voters were unsure of where Hillary Clinton stood in regards to marijuana reform, the latest round of the Democratic presidential nominee’s emails released by WikiLeaks’ on Friday revealed what Clinton was planning to say about legalizing cannabis before her first debate.

From the sound of the preparatory document included in campaign chairman John Podesta’s hacked emails, Clinton intends to follow in President Barack Obama’s footsteps and take a “hands off” approach to marijuana.

That new ad trying to scare voters into opposing Question 4 is so over the top, so replete with retro alarmism, it’s kind of adorable.

People in nine states, including California, Florida and Massachusetts, will vote Nov. 8 on ballot proposals permitting recreational or medical use of marijuana. These initiatives could give a big push to legalization, prompting the next president and Congress to overhaul the country’s failed drug laws.

This is a big moment for what was a fringe movement a few years ago. A Gallup poll released on Wednesday showed 60 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, up from 31 percent in 2000 and 12 percent in 1969.

We live in a time of political acrimony, a moment when both candidates for president are loathed by large chunks of the public and our elections have come to feel like quadrennial skirmishes in a cultural civil war.

As Massachusetts voters get set to decide if recreational marijuana should be legalized, millions of dollars have been flowing into the state seeking to sway the result.

And as Nov. 8 approaches, look for the commercial airwaves, and your social media feed, to contain more and more advertisements for and against Question 4.

For the last two years, proponents of Question 4 have been amassing nearly $4 million advocating for legalization. Last month, more than 80 percent of expenditures went straight into television ads.

Meet the lobbyists who helped make pot respectable.

Every other Tuesday for the past several months, a group known as the “Cannabis Caucus” has gathered in the downtown offices of a leading lobbying firm to discuss, over takeout lunches, the latest political news around marijuana. Reporters aren’t allowed into the meetings, but participants acknowledge it is a testing ground for proposals on taxes, regulations, public health provisions and a slew of other details now surrounding the marijuana trade.

Laws that prohibit drugs aren’t meant to keep the public safe, they are meant to silence opposition. And, when making decisions at the ballot box, voters must consider and compare how the candidates would spend taxpayer money. Candidates that support the war on drugs must be voted out and it is time voters push for the closure of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

Call it a crash course in cannabis — Alberta's Justice Minister and Solicitor General is Colorado-bound to see how the state south of the border has handled legal weed.

Kathleen Ganley flies out Thursday to Denver, where she's slated to meet with the attorney general, municipal government, police and fire services, building and licensing experts, and the environmental health department.

A new survey conducted by the Centre for Addictions Research of BC helps explain why Big Pharma is so afraid of cannabis.

The pharmaceutical and alcohol industries, both powerful influences in Washington, have long lobbied against cannabis legalization in order to protect their profits.

However, the tide has turned as decriminalization of medical and recreational cannabis sweeps the nation and the continent. With legalization, more and more people are discovering how this plant can provide a safe alternative to the dangerous effects of prescription pills.