All across the United States, tens of millions are getting ready to decide both the immediate and long-term future of cannabis legislation. Quite the contrary to the picture in the United Kingdom, lawmakers are putting it all in the hands of the people…as opposed to just making their minds up for them. Well, they are in nine US states, anyway, where both medical and recreational cannabis laws could be overhauled massively by the end of the year.

Carl Sagan was famous for intoning about “billions and billions” when describing how many stars, galaxies and planets existed in the cosmos. That mantra should be chanted by anyone trying to understand marijuana use and policy in the United States. In the aggregate, Americans report smoking pot about 4 billion days a year (totaling up all the days each individual reported pot use for that year). But under the assumptions that some people understate their marijuana use on government surveys and that some users smoke more than once a day, the true annual total of use episodes could easily exceed 10 billion.

British Columbians are split on how recreational marijuana should be sold once it’s legal, but stand-alone shops like the dispensaries that line Vancouver’s streets are the most popular option, according to a new poll.

The latest survey from Insights West suggests 38 per cent of people in this province would prefer to see pot-specific stores, beating out weed sales in pharmacies (23 per cent) or liquor stores (24 per cent).

That’s welcome news to Sunny Bhayana, co-director of The Herb Co. on Main Street, one of the few licensed shops in Vancouver. He believes the dispensary system could have a potent effect on the country’s economy.

The Nov. 8 election can't come quickly enough for some people -- especially for supporters of California's recreational marijuana legalization initiative, Prop 64.

Diners smoke marijuana as they eat dishes prepared by chefs in Lyons, Colorado. Brennan Linsley/AP

Science tells us that the munchies — a phenomenon in which marijuana users overeat while high — is a real thing. Pizza never tasted so good after a joint.

Now a school in Denver, Colorado, aims to add a touch of class to this stoner tradition.

The New West Summit at the Hyatt hotel in downtown San Francisco looked similar to other business conferences held there throughout the year. Men and women in business suits hurried around, people huddled in corners talking shop, and unembellished booths showed off varied graphs and charts.

But every once in a while, conference goers got hit with a strong waft of marijuana.

That's because this summit was all about weed. At their booths, companies displayed glass urns filled with buds, cannabis-laced chocolate bars and different kinds of vape pens and bongs. Yet among the firms touting this typical pot paraphernalia, there were other kinds of businesses dealing in marijuana: tech startups.

The big day for Californians is less than one month away. On Nov. 8, millions of registered voters will be headed to the polls to decide whether or not Proposition 64, which would legalize recreational marijuana within the state and impose a 15% tax at the retail level on consumers, will pass or fail.

Last year, Golden Leaf Holdings, a leading cannabis company, paid $3.3 million for almost 100 acres of land in Oregon to build a marijuana growing, processing and research site.

The future looked bright: Oregon voters had legalized recreational marijuana in 2014. But Measure 91 gave counties and towns the opportunity to opt out and ban pot businesses.

Days after Golden Leaf signed the papers on the property in Marion County near the town of Aurora, the county banned marijuana businesses in unincorporated areas. So did about 100 other towns and counties.

“That shut us out completely out of the recreational market, which was our original strategy,” said Beau Whitney, a Golden Leaf vice president.

The expansion into recreational status has gifted the cannabis industry with a new B2C marketing target: the casual and occasional consumer. This target market is overlooked because they aren’t perceived as worth catching, but these potential customers are curious about trying cannabis… they just don’t know where to begin. The draw to the occasional user is that they make up most of the population, what they lack in large quantity purchases they make up for in an enormously untapped customer base that extends to every single person in the country. A very necessary aspect to recognize about the casual consumer market is the diversity; every income level, gender and age bracket consumer has at least some sparked interest in casual, occasional recreational use.

Comedian, musician and pot activist Tommy Chong says he intends to keep "priming the pump" until marijuana is legalized across the United States and in Canada.

Chong, 78, said the introduction of legislation promised for next spring to legalize recreational marijuana in Canada could set an example for the United States, where a state-by-state approach isn't ideal.

Chong, who is scheduled to appear Thursday at the two-day International Cannabis Business Conference in Vancouver, said he hopes the next American president will legalize pot throughout the U.S. so states can rake in millions of dollars from taxing the drug.