Before long, recreational marijuana could be legal in Arizona.

Proposition 205, which would legalize marijuana in the state, passed a legal hurdle last week when a judge rejected a challenge to the initiative by anti-legalization group Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy.

The initiative's opponents, including the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are planning to appeal the decision, but there's a short timeline as mail-in ballots are scheduled to be printed within the next few weeks.

The group behind the initiative, Marijuana Policy Project, also worked to get legalization on the books in other states. The project's website states it is "responsible for changing most of the state marijuana laws that have been reformed since 2000."

With nearly a dozen state initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana on the November ballot, the market for legalized marijuana is certain to expand. But, because marijuana continues to be classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), private banks are effectively prohibited from fully participating in this market -- the compliance burden is too high and individual employees face the threat of prosecution.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked doctors for their opinions on the Liberals’ promised legalization of the recreational use of marijuana.

He’s about to hear an earful from them.

At one of the final sessions of the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association in Vancouver on Wednesday, delegates aired their concerns. Among them: the fact that a psychoactive drug is being legitimized to the point where the public thinks it’s a benign substance; the fact marijuana affects brain development, not just in the young but into the 60s; that there is no solid evidence it is safe and effective as a medical treatment so using the term medical marijuana is a misnomer.

An economic research think tank is calling for marijuana to be legalised saying it could save the country over $300 million a year.

Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) principal economist Peter Wilson said outlawing the drug had not stopped 10 percent of New Zealanders using it.

He said although policies reducing its harm were needed, Treasury had calculated changing the legal status of marijuana would mean the government rather than criminals would benefit.

Drivers heading south on the Pat Bay are seeing a new sign this week, as an electronic billboard has begun carrying a blunt message. 

“A euphoric shopping experience!,” exclaims one variation of the ad for “The Great Canadian Canna Mall,” a Victoria business billing itself as the country’s first marijuana mall.

Four pot-related businesses have now moved into the former Gazzola Tile store at the corner of Quadra and Balmoral streets, and partner Steve Omelus says three more will join them by the end of the month, with more space still available for lease.

“We are looking at taking over the whole building that will likely include a canna spa an infused restaurant [or] pizzeria,” he said.

High Society: Pardons for nonviolent marijuana offenders in states where weed is legal are becoming part of the debate as more states consider legalizing cannabis.  

Twenty years ago, Rico Garcia was 21 when he got caught up in a marijuana sting in Colorado with a friend who wanted to buy some weed. The seller turned out to be a police informant, and Garcia and his friend were arrested.

“The police came and arrested us and said we were selling weed,” says Garcia, now a 41-year-old marijuana advocate who runs Cannabis Alliance for Regulation and Education. “My friend said it was his, but … under Colorado law at the time, 8 ounces was possession with intent and I got a felony.”

Arkansas voters may have to choose between two separate ballot measures in the upcoming November election when trying to determine whether The Land of Opportunity should join the ranks of 25 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing medical marijuana.

In fields across Italy, the seeds of fundamental change are being sown—and they quite literally are seeds, hemp seeds.

Individually, a hemp grower has little power, but as part of a local hemp-growing collective, that power increases exponentially. Similarly, a sole collective has little influence, but a network of communities working together can garner power on a much greater and more meaningful level.

Poland Poland is an eastern European country on the Baltic Sea, with a population of almost forty million, a strong economy, and (in recent years) a generally progressive approach to drug legislation. However, despite legislative successes over the last decade, the drug laws remain relatively strict by modern European standards.

San Diego voters will be told this fall that passage of a ballot measure to tax businesses selling recreational marijuana could generate an estimated $22 million for city coffers in the first year, according to documents made available Tuesday.

The estimate is part of a fiscal analysis of Measure N, which will go before voters in November. The City Clerk’s Office released fiscal and legal analyses on the dozen city of San Diego propositions that will be decided in the general election.

Measure N would only take effect if voters statewide approve Proposition 64, which would decriminalize recreational marijuana use. The drug is currently allowed under state law only for medical purposes.