Who says stoners are lazy?

Marijuana advocates already are taking another shot at legalizing pot in Ohio.

Last year, voters soundly defeated a proposal to make weed legal for both recreational and medical use. Issue 3 never stood a chance.

Only four states in the Union allow recreational marijuana use. Were voters from Ohio, America's most ideologically divided swing state, really going to join crunchy Oregon to legalize "Fun Weed" even before California and New York did?

How absurd was it to think we could legally blaze up a recreational joint in Holmes County before lighting up in San Francisco?

SALT LAKE CITY — Tears filled Enedina Stanger's eyes as she watched the Utah Senate pass a controversial medical marijuana bill that she says won't help her but would help thousands of Utahns.

"This is a win for Utah. This is a win for love and compassion," the former West Weber woman said from her wheelchair after the 17-12 vote. "This is such a miracle."

Stanger, who has a rare connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, moved with her husband, Michael, and two young daughters to Colorado last December for access to medical cannabis.

A Cambridgeshire woman who has endured horrific nerve pain for 11 years has launched a petition calling for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis.

The Wimpole resident, who does not want to be named, suffers from Peripheral Neuropathy (PN), chronic nerve pain which gives her a burning feeling in her feet, legs and more recently hands. Over the years, she has been prescribed numerous drugs to try and dull the pain but nothing has worked.

To keep her feet cool she wears open-toed sandals all year round and at night time has the air conditioning on in an effort to sleep.

The 71-year-old tried cannabis when she was in Amsterdam - and found she got instant relief - after a colleague with multiple sclerosis (MS) said it was the only way to alleviate her pain.

The Nimbin Hemp Embassy will apply for a licence to cultivate medicinal cannabis following the passing of laws in Federal parliament this week.

Hemp Embassy president Michael Balderstone said the Embassy had contacts with a network of growers and healers on the north coast of New South Wales.

‘We are a non-profit organization and we know the cannabis culture really well,’ Mr Balderstone said.

‘This is an opportunity to create genuine legal, taxable employment in this region.’

His comments followed the passing of legislation that clears the way for Australia’s State and Territory governments and companies to apply for a license to locally cultivate or manufacture medicinal cannabis products.

Oregon and Washington state lawmakers are making another try at introducing a new crop to the Northwest: Industrial hemp, the non-drug cousin of marijuana.

For the fourth year in a row, the Washington Legislature is considering whether to legalize hemp farming. The initial, lopsided votes in favor suggest this might be the session it happens.

Hemp produces oil seed and fiber that processors turn into a wide range of goods from clothing and food to body care products and biofuels. Several hemp advocates testified Tuesday in separate public hearings in Salem and Olympia that the plant can even be used in building construction.

Pennsylvania's bill to create a medical marijuana program is nearing a vote in the state House of Representatives, where amendments to the proposal abound.

House Majority Leader David Reed, R-Indiana, plans to bring the measure, Senate Bill 3, up for a vote when members return from recess the week of March 14, said Steve Miskin, spokesman for the House Republican leadership.

Passed 40-7 in the Senate last May 12, the bill is bound to go back before the Senate — if passed by the House — because of the amendments to be considered, Miskin said.

Gov. Shumlin applauds action, urges House to follow suit.

In a tight vote Wednesday afternoon, Vermont state senators approved a measure to legalize recreational marijuana.

The 16-13 preliminary vote means the measure will be up for final approval in the Senate Thursday afternoon.

Sen. John Campbell, the president pro tem, voted no. He said the bill sends a terrible message to Vermont children.

Sen. Peg Flory, a Rutland Republican, joined in the opposition. "We need to remember we may say it's legal in Vermont but it’s still violating federal law."

But supporters said they had learned from the advice of officials in Colorado and Washington, devising a controlled system to allow the sale of small amounts of marijuana to adults 21 and older.

The man who once had the power to initiate a federal reclassification of marijuana now says he supports it.

“I certainly think it ought to be rescheduled,” Eric Holder, the former U.S. attorney general, said in a newly published interview. “You know, we treat marijuana in the same way that we treat heroin now, and that clearly is not appropriate.”

Cannabis is currently classified under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the most restrictive category, which is supposed to be reserved for drugs with no medical value and a high potential for abuse.

BC’s NDP is planning a trip to Washington State to learn more about how well the legalization and regulation of marijuana is working out.

Mike Farnworth and Carole James are heading to Washington state.

“Prime Minister Trudeau made [legalization] a key election plank in his quest for victory, and I believe that it’s responsible for us here in BC to start addressing this issue and being prepared for when that actually happens,” says BC NDP leader John Horgan.