The majority of the voters in New Mexico would like to see marijuana legalized for recreational purposes, according to a new poll conducted by the Albuquerque Journal.

The survey, which was published this past Sunday, finds that 61 percent of the voting public would support a measure aimed at establishing a taxed and regulated cannabis trade – similar to what is currently underway in Colorado. Only 34 percent of the respondents said they would oppose such a proposal. Others were undecided when asked their position.

A California lawmaker is pushing to get rid of the Drug Enforcement Administration's pot eradication program, arguing it's fiscally irresponsible to spend millions burning up marijuana plants at a time when several states are legalizing the drug. 

Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat, proposed an amendment to a fiscal 2016 spending bill that would cut the DEA's $18 million budget for the program in half. It would redirect $9 million to fund programs that help children who are victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

“Next year, I will bring another amendment to eliminate the program completely,” Lieu said in a written statement. 

As many as five states could approve its recreational use this November, potentially signaling a point of no return for legalized pot.

Recreational marijuana users can now legally light up a joint in states representing about 5 percent of the U.S. population. By the time Americans wake up on November 9, that percentage could be swelling to more than one-quarter.

Cannabis and music have always gone hand in hand, but even since Colorado legalized recreational pot use in 2012 with Amendment 64, it is still illegal to consume cannabis in public and in private businesses that are accessed by the public – including concert venues. 

This November, voters in Denver will have the opportunity to address the issue with Ballot Question 300, which, if passed, will create a pilot program that allows limited social cannabis consumption in permitted private establishments.

With legislation legalizing marijuana expected in the spring, Eastern Ontario’s largest craft brewery is rolling around the idea of expanding into the recreational cannabis industry, its chief executive said.

“I don’t want to say categorically no and I don’t want to say categorically yes,” Mr. Beauchesne said. “If there is a way to do it in a way that’s responsible and fun – because for us, if it’s not fun, we just don’t bother – then maybe.”

For generations of Americans, marijuana’s description as a gateway drug was embedded into drug prevention education lessons. The federally endorsed D.A.R.E. program that ran from 1983 to 2009 demonized the substance itself, and often the users in the process, because the use of marijuana was believed to lead to harder and more dangerous drugs.

The term “gateway drug” was consistent with the ideology of Ronald Reagan’s administration’s War on Drugs that sought total elimination of drug use and trade.

The research of the day suggested that marijuana consumption was directly linked to the subsequent use of other licit and illicit substances and played a role in the development of addiction.

Hezekiah Allen is a third-generation marijuana farmer in this Northern California county, where the cool coastal fog pours off the Pacific Ocean, coaxing pot plants to heights of 20 feet.

The executive director of the California Growers Association trade group, Allen has long sought an end to what he calls “prohibition” and has looked forward to a day when he and the thousands of pot farmers here would no longer be outlaws.

But he said he can’t bring himself to vote for Proposition 64, a referendum on California’s November ballot that would legalize cultivation, sale and recreational use of marijuana.

Even as they shed old stoner stereotypes, cannabis growers are already being labeled with a new stigma: resource hogs.

In Oregon, where many consumers want everything to be sustainable, there's a retail-side push for growers to use different methods. But varying climates throughout the states, as well as an uncertain regulatory environment, can make things hard for growers who want to use more eco-friendly methods.

Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2012, making it the first American state to legalize recreational marijuana. Since January 2014, when the residents began legally buying marijuana, a billion–dollar–a–year legal marijuana industry has emerged (expected to surpass $1 billion in sales by November 2016).

Did legalization cause marijuana abuse to skyrocket? Or did marijuana legalization actually work? The just-released Colorado Department of Public Safety report shows how legalizing recreational marijuana has affected Colorado. Here’re the key findings:

Solvent-based cannabis extracts, often referred to as hash oils or dabs, have completely dominated cannabis concentrate markets over the last several years. With the advancements in solvent extraction technologies and methodologies, new products are constantly circulating the shelves of dispensaries.