A new study looking at how Canadians use cannabis is being launched by the B.C. Centre on Substance Use.

“The major goal is to understand better why Canadians use cannabis, what are their motivations, and what are the possible harms and benefits,” M-J Milloy, a University of B.C. assistant professor and research scientist at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, which is affiliated with Substance Abuse centre, said in an interview Thursday.

“The data to date describes how many Canadians use cannabis, but the detailed information that scientists and policy-makers will need to evaluate legalization has never been collected.”

Cross trainers? Check. Water bottle? Check. Headphones? Check. Tincture? Shit. Of all the things to forget.

The bitter winter wind whips my already-frozen cheeks, as I turn tail and trudge back to the end of the parking lot to fetch the little amber bottle from my trunk. It’s bro-dude rush hour at my gym and I just want to get my workout over with, but the walk is worth it – over the past 10 days, cannabis has become the most essential support element of my fitness routine.

When Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November to legalize recreational marijuana, Josh Miller saw this as a sign that his time had finally arrived. 

The Rhode Island state senator has a reputation among colleagues as a cannabis crusader — a battle that, so far, he’s lost. For the last three years, Miller introduced legislation to legalize recreational pot, and for the last three years, his efforts have died in committee hearing rooms.

But now, in a turnaround, some of Miller’s colleagues are signaling an interest in legalized weed — and raking in the tax dollars that come with it.

In just a few months, Parachute will be home to Colorado’s first drive-through marijuana shop. Tumbleweed, owned by Green Cross Colorado LLC, has won approval for drive-up sales out of a former carwash, across the street from Tumbleweed’s primary location. 

While the decision to repeal Parachute’s ban on marijuana establishments in June 2015 stirred months of controversy, the revenue pot sales has generated is critical to the town. 

At a Rifle Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon in February, Parachute Mayor Roy McClung said that personal feelings aside, without legalized recreational marijuana, the town’s economy would have been in serious trouble. 

Opposition to legal marijuana is dropping in Texas, with fewer than one in five respondents to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll saying they are against legalization in any form.

Support for marijuana only for medical use has dropped over the last two years, but support for legalization for private use — both in small amounts or in amounts of any size — has grown since the pollsters asked in February 2015.

Hundreds of couples lined up for the Cannabis Wedding Expo in Littleton for its second year Sunday.

Although most people probably have not heard of a cannabis wedding, that's not so for 1,000 people who are cannabis curious or already connoisseurs. At the Cannabis Wedding Expo, vendors work to marry marijuana with holy matrimony.

The sold-out event was held at the Falls Event Center and brought together more than 70 cannabis-friendly companies with hundreds of couples who want to incorporate weed into their weddings.

Event organizers said they created the event because they were turned away from other traditional wedding expos for trying to incorporate cannabis.

With all the excitement in the recreational marijuana space, it is hard for growth oriented investors to ignore this new market. Society has become more liberal with the idea of legalizing marijuana. Two polls from April 2015, found that the majority of Americans, 53%, were in support of this idea and it can be seen from the map below how the States have slowly began this process. Marijuana stocks in Canada and the USA have been rising since their respective elections.

As the cannabis movement continues to proliferate across the United States, legislators are faced with some difficult decisions about how to proceed. There is a steep learning curve for many after the global defamation of cannabis spanning 80 years. Medical science is uncovering immense benefits of the cannabis plant and educated Americans want convenient access now. What are the next steps in cannabis liberation and how do we educate our communities for the best possible outcome?

At risk of raising the ire of the White House, Colorado is on the brink of becoming the first state with licensed pot clubs. But the details of how these clubs will operate are as hazy as the underground clubs operating already.

Denver officials are working on regulations to open a one-year pilot of bring-your-own marijuana clubs, while state lawmakers are expected to consider measures to allow either marijuana "tasting rooms" run by marijuana dispensaries, or smoke-friendly clubs akin to cigar bars.

An increasingly large majority of Iowans from all walks of life favor allowing people to use marijuana for medical purposes, but relatively few Iowans want the drug legalized for recreation, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.

Eighty percent of Iowa adults now want marijuana legalized for medical purposes, the poll shows. That total is dramatically higher than the 58 percent who favored the idea in a 2013 Iowa Poll, and a bit more than the 78 percent who favored it in a 2016 Iowa Poll.

The new poll shows just 39 percent of Iowans want marijuana legalized for recreational purposes. Although still a minority, that figure represents an increase from the 29 percent who favored such a change in the 2013 Iowa Poll.