The main political campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in California spent months negotiating before finally unveiling its proposal last fall.

The high-stakes talks between deep-pocketed donors, drug-policy reformers, medical doctors, labor unions, environmentalists and many other groups representing professions with an interest in the process were so exhaustive that one observer, only in jest, compared the discussions to the Treaty of Versailles.

As Canada heads toward a new era of legal marijuana use, federal prosecutors are still trying to jail people who grow small amounts of cannabis in their home to sell to others, sending a tough-on-drugs message that some say is at odds with the new approach. And they continue to seek criminal records, and sometimes jail time, for people charged with simple possession of marijuana for their own use.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah state senators gave preliminary approval Monday to a medical marijuana proposal that would legalize edible, vapor and topical pot products.

Lawmakers voted 15-13 to advance the bill, saying the measure could help those with certain debilitating conditions who have not found relief through other medications.

Bill sponsor Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, said the plan would allow tens of thousands of residents with those medical conditions to use the drug but would ban smoking it.

Madsen expects a final Senate vote Tuesday. If approved, the measure must still be passed by Utah’s House of Representatives.

State Sen. Louise Lucas has been stymied in an attempt to legalize derivatives of the marijuana plant for treating cancer.

Lucas’ legislation, which sailed through the Senate on a 38-2 vote this month, was rejected Monday by a House of Delegates subcommittee after almost no debate, halting its progress for the year.

Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said afterward that she’ll try again next year.

Lucas’ bill, SB343, would have established a legal defense against prosecution for possession of two non-intoxicating marijuana derivatives, cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil, with a doctor’s certification that it is to be used for treating cancer.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the nation’s oldest and largest marijuana law reform organization, announced that its Board of Directors has formally voted to endorse the California ballot measure known as the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.

Since its founding in 1970, NORML has been a leading national voice for responsible marijuana laws in states all across the country and has helped increase public awareness of the failures and costs of marijuana prohibition.

As the state of Alabama and our elected officials stumble forward into our next fiscal year, we are once again hit with cries of budget cuts, tax hikes, and another movement of funds from our woeful education system into the general fund.

According to al.com, such budgetary solutions range from a lottery, which is a hidden tax on the poor and uneducated of our neighbors, to an additional tax on gas now that it's cheap. The governor, in his State of the State address, proposed new prison initiatives in order to stem the maintenance costs of the prison budget, which is the second largest agency siphoning from the general fund, at a whopping $400 million.

BILLINGS - The battleground for medical marijuana in Montana is back, with both sides fired up, making their case to voters as signatures for initiatives are due in June.

The SafeMontana campaign promoting Initiative 176 would repeal the use of medical marijuana in the state.

Initiative 176 would make state law the same as federal law with respect to illegal drugs, including marijuana, on Schedule One of the Federal Controlled Substances Act.

The petition's ballot language states that I-176  "repeals the Montana Medical Marijuana Act"  and "would eliminate differences between federal and state law with respect to the legal status of the possession and use of marijuana."

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said that while certain states in the US have legalised some drugs, they are struggling to manage the many drug abuse issues that have occurred as a result of the legalisation. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa 

KUALA LUMPUR — Legalising the use of marijuana will only worsen drug abuse in Malaysia, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said today, rubbishing the suggestion from a Youth Parliament representative who made the call recently.

Pointing to the United States (US) as an example, Nur Jazlan said that while certain states in the US have legalised some drugs, they are struggling to manage the many drug abuse issues that have occurred as a result of the legalisation.

After serving in the U.S. Navy for 10 years, Shane O’Neil left the service in 2009 with a lower spine injury and confirmed PTSD. In between and during fits of insomnia, his life was wracked with anxiety and pain. His story is not unique. 

Treatment from the Veterans Administration clinic brought opiates, amphetamines, benzodiazepines and SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) into his life in massive quantities. At his peak, O’Neil was downing 1,400 pills each month.

Donald Trump has called into many television shows and now we can add Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" to the list.

The host of the CBS late night broadcast started his show with a call from the GOP frontrunner. The call came via a bright orange phone with a blonde wig on it that Colbert called "The Trump Phone." 

"Hello, who is this?" Colbert said answering the call. 

"This is Donald Trump. Hello, Stephen," Trump responded. 

Colbert asked the caller to prove that he was actually Donald Trump by saying something only he would say. 

"Well, I could say, 'you're fired,'" Trump said to laughs.