Taxing medical marijuana could generate tens of millions of dollars and sustain 10,000 jobs for the state of Michigan, according to an economic impact analysis.

Director of economics at Hillsdale College Dr. Gary Wolfram believes taxing marijuana could rake in between $44.3 and $63.3 million per year for the state.

“It will create a robust economy in the sense that it will make a safe place for people who currently have registration,” Wolfram told FOX 17. Wolfram based his estimates on proposed legislative reforms that would tax medical marijuana dispensaries at 3 percent and patients would pay a 6 percent sales tax.

A national group’s campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio would allow up to 15 large-scale grow sites and an unlimited number of smaller-scale growers.

Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, a campaign committee formed by the Marijuana Policy Project, announced the new ballot language Tuesday, with hopes of putting the constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot.

If approved – and polling has shown support for medical marijuana after an effort to completely legalize marijuana failed last year – entrepreneurs will have a variety of ways to profit.

Jamaica decriminalized cannabis last year, thanks in a large part to Justice Minister Mark Golding. But Golding’s party was voted out of power last week. There’s a good chance his replacement will move forward on reform, but it’s no sure thing.

In April 2015, the government of Jamaica, under the People’s National Party, amended the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) to decriminalize cannabis possession, legalize home cultivation of up to five plants for medicinal and sacramental use, and create a new, licensed industry for medical cannabis and hemp. Such reform was hailed at home and abroad.

 The Senate Wednesday rejected a Democratic effort to add $600 million to a bipartisan bill targeting heroin and opioid abuse.

Supporters of the immediate funding won a majority of the Senate votes. But the 48-47 tally fell short of the 60 votes required for an attempt by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to add the money.

Shaheen praised the underlying bill, which has sweeping bipartisan backing, but said "the reality is unless we provide the resources to make these programs work it's like giving a drowning person a life preserver that has no air in it."

Republicans opposed to the proposal said there's plenty of previously approved money in the pipeline and that additional funding can wait until this year's round of regular spending bills.

Utah's Legislature has two messages for the federal government: End the direct election of U.S. senators and allow marijuana research.

On Wednesday, the Utah House joined the Senate in passing resolutions urging the repeal of the 17th Amendment and the reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug.

"The federal government is way, way behind on realizing that there are some medical possibilities with cannabis," said Orem Republican Rep. Brad Daw, who sponsored the marijuana resolution, SCR11.

Daw's resolution received the unanimous support of the House, following a similar vote in the Senate last month.

More than three-quarters of Iowans now favor allowing people to use marijuana as medicine, but most remain opposed to legalizing it for recreation, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.

Iowans have steadily become more comfortable with the use of medical marijuana, which now is supported by 78 percent of the state’s adults, according to the  Iowa Poll. That is up from 58 percent in 2013.

But most Iowans continue to oppose allowing people to smoke or eat marijuana for recreational purposes. Just 34 percent of adults favor that idea, up 5 percentage points from 2013, the poll shows.

The poll’s results come as state legislators consider expanding Iowa’s tiny medical-marijuana program.

Robert Reich Bill Clinton’s Labor Secretary made political waves by endorsing Bernie Sanders last week, despite deep ties with the Clinton family, which even includes a date with the future Democratic front-runner during college.

But zoning rules might curtail plans

Companies like Dank House, Motown Meds and Your Grass Station were among 82 businesses that applied to operate medical marijuana shops in Detroit on Tuesday, when the city’s new marijuana regulations went into effect.

Of the first 79 businesses that applied for zoning approval, 23 were from Detroit, 11 were from Howell, six were from Bloomfield Hills and the rest were scattered throughout the state, mostly in southeast Michigan.

Canada’s new pot-friendly prime minister has signaled police should continue to arrest people for marijuana possession despite Ottawa having already taken its first steps towards legalizing the drug.

“The laws haven’t changed yet,” Justin Trudeau said during an interview with News 1130 this morning (March 1). “Pot is still illegal in this country and will be until we bring in a strong regulatory framework.”

A News 1130 journalist subsequently asked what Trudeau would say to a teenager stuck for life with a marijuana charge on their record, and whether marijuana could be decriminalized on an interim basis, until a regulatory framework allows for full legalization.

Notorious for its strict marijuana laws, Louisiana is looking at legalized weed as a way to get out of debt. What will happen to its prisoners?

One of the harshest states on pot offenders is reportedly exploring the idea of a recreational marijuana program. Saddled with $850 million in state debts, experts say Louisiana’s move is less motivated by safety as it is by money.