With marijuana legalization on the horizon in Canada, Edmontonians are starting explore ways they can get involved in what could be a multi-billion dollar industry.

Women Grow Edmonton is already looking at how female entrepreneurs, in particular, can get in on the green.

The group launched a month ago, with the goal of starting a conversation on the future of legal cannabis in Edmonton.

But chair Alison McMahon says it's already creating a buzz.

Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia now have laws on the books that legalize marijuana in some form. Most regulate consumption of marijuana for medical needs; only Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington have legalized pot for recreational use. Despite the fact that many local law enforcement officials believe any focus on marijuanaprevents them from working on more pressing community needs, ingesting cannabis in any form is still a crime under federal law.

The Missouri House twice this year killed attempts to legalize medical marijuana.  A measure with the same aim could appear on the November ballot.  It’s backed by a group called New Approach Missouri. 

Spokesman Jack Cardetti says enough signatures were collected, but they must still be reviewed for verification by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office.

One medical marijuana proposal is dead, another could end up on ballot

Ready or not, with its legalization in several states and those old-school taboos surrounding weed being febrezed away, a massive dollar sign hangs above Marijuana industry as its potential growth projections outpace the smartphone industry.

LEWISTON (Sun Journal) -- A new coalition aimed at defeating a November ballot question that will ask Maine voters to make marijuana legal for recreational use is growing, according to a release from a coalition leader Tuesday.

Mainers Protecting Our Youth and Communities includes parents, health experts, clergy and police, said Scott Gagnon, the coalition's spokesman and chairman of Smart Approaches To Marijuana, which previously worked to successfully defeat a Lewiston ballot question to legalize marijuana in that city.

The above lyrics are taken from a Bob Marley song which has been covered by UB40 entitled Legalise It; arguing for the legalisation of cannabis. The issue of drug use has been discussed recently due to critics arguing that events such as Glastonbury promote the culture of illegal drug taking. I can picture many of you, who are perhaps a bit naive when it comes to drug use reading this with a look of disgust on your face, but let's just consider the facts for a moment before we jump to the conclusion that if cannabis is legalised the United Kingdom will become a massive drugs ghetto with tens of millions of people suffering from mental health issues such as schizophrenia.

Marijuana taxes are a two edged sword. On one hand, the tax revenues that the marijuana industry generates (or can generate) are very popular with the public and elected officials. But on the other hand, if taxes are too high, it can really hurt the cannabis consumers that rely on safe access the most. Marijuana can absolutely be taxed too much, and unfortunately that’s exactly how some politicians in California would have it. See the troubling alert that I received below:

A pair of measures facing Siskiyou County voters next week would create strict rules on growing marijuana, including banning outdoor growing and creating fines of up to $1,000 per day for violations.

The measures — both referenda on rules enacted by the Board of Supervisors last year — would also limit the number of plants that anyone could possess to 12, ban delivery of marijuana in the county and require anyone who grows to obtain a license.

Supervisors contend they've modeled the rules after other counties' in California. Their rules closely mirror those of Shasta County, which enacted an outdoor ban and 12-plant limit among other measures last year after voters approved a measure brought by a referendum.

One upside to new Senate voting rules is that they have driven a micro-party alliance giving rise to Australia’s first apparently irresistible political platform: sex, drugs and rock’n’roll.

Well, sex and drugs anyway. The Australian Sex party and the Marijuana (Hemp) party – in a liaison aimed at corralling the progressive end of the minor party vote – are running their “joint ticket” in all states and territories except New South Wales and Victoria, where they will preference each other.

Still, Fiona Patten, whose role as an MP in the Victorian state upper house gives the Sex party real skin in the political game, notes the party’s previous teamwork with Gotye’s Basics Rock’n’roll party. “We’ve got strong arts policies and we certainly support rock’n’roll,” she says.

The Illinois House has approved a plan to expand the state’s medical marijuana pilot program by two-and-a-half years and add post-traumatic stress disorder and terminal illness to the list of allowed conditions.

Lawmakers voted 86-27 on Monday to advance the measure, which Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner supports. It now goes to the Senate, where it’s expected to pass.

Illinois’ four-year pilot program is set to sunset at the end of 2017. Under the bill, it will continue to July 1, 2020.

Democratic Rep. Lou Lang is the bill sponsor. He says the changes are in the best interest of patients and will help ensure the viability of the program.

The program started in 2014 but the first medical cannabis sales didn’t occur until November 2015.