Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., is a mecca for joggers and families out with their strollers. Along with the smell of sweat and goose poop, weed is an equally present aroma.

Police seemingly take a "light up and let live" attitude here. But Nashanta Williams, who's out walking her dog, says it's not like this in other parts of the city.

"I have been pulled over and been told that my car smells like marijuana and put on the sidewalk and had my vehicle searched," Williams says. "And I felt like they were fishing."

For decades, small growers in Humboldt County have made a living cultivating and selling cannabis. But over the last 10 years or so, outsiders have been pouring in to the region trying to cash in on the “green rush” for commercial cannabis.

The medical marijuana industry has certainly sparked a cannabis boon, but if Californians vote for Proposition 64 and allow adults to smoke cannabis purely for recreation, it will be a game changer for the industry.

It’s not hard to find local farmers who worry that larger corporations will eventually squeeze out their smaller operations.

Voters in the state of California will get a chance to express their opinions on 17 ballot propositions come November 8. The Secretary of State’s official voter guide is 224 pages of words and charts. Who’s got time to read all that?

A California Democratic Party activist, Damian Carroll, has you covered. He has composed 17 haikus to explain simply what you are voting on.

Proposition 64, to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state, is among our favorites:

Legalizes pot!
Also raises some tax funds
(Perhaps a billion?)

After two years of being able to walk into a store and buy weed, Coloradoans have become slightly jaded and a bit spoiled.

We rarely think twice about what we’re purchasing, because we usually know ahead of time what we’re looking for on that day’s shopping trip.

However, newcomers and visitors to the state may not have such a clear idea of what they’re looking for during their first trip to a dispensary.

They rely solely on the knowledge of their budtender and the fact that they want to get high.

Here are some questions to help guide first time buyers through their experience with legal weed.

Do you want to smoke or consume marijuana?/How do you want to get high?

Nevada joins California, Arizona, Massachusetts and Arizona as one of five states voting this November on whether to legalize recreational marijuana. Here are things to know about Question 2:

HOW DOES IT WORK?

If the measure passes the statewide ballot in November, it would allow adults to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana, or 1/8 ounce of concentrated marijuana, effective Jan. 1.

The measure directs the Nevada Department of Taxation to adopt regulations by the end of 2017 on details such as how to issue recreational marijuana business licenses, how to prevent the substance from getting to people under the age of 21 and how to test marijuana's potency.

A majority of Maine voters favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use, according to a new Portland Press Herald poll showing a groundswell of support among residents under age 50 and among those living in southern or coastal areas.

Roughly 53 percent of respondents in the newspaper’s statewide survey indicated they support a November ballot question that would add Maine to the growing list of states where marijuana is legal for adults. By comparison, 38 percent of participants opposed marijuana legalization – Question 1 on the November ballot – and 10 percent were undecided.

Wiz Khalifa has his own marijuana strain. Snoop Dogg has an entire line of edibles, concentrates and flower. Willie Nelson’s company is actually growing its own cannabis plants. And now Bob Marley’s youngest son has a pot shop branded with his name and aesthetics.

Reggae star Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley is in Colorado this week for a show at Boulder’s Fox Theatre on Friday, but he’s also celebrating today’s opening of Damian Marley’s Stony Hill — By Tru Cannabis, a rebranded pot shop near Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

“It’s the entire store,” Tru Cannabis operations director Andrew Kaplan told The Cannabist. “You’re in Damian’s branded facility — you could not be anywhere else.”

We have all heard never to mix bud and beers. “Grass before beer, you’re in the clear”. Still, anyone who has tried or tasted the two cannot deny they share a remarkably alike aroma. Why is that?

A lot of smokers tend to think of themselves only as smokers, opting always for a joint over a beer, while some hardcore drinkers would never even entertain the notion of having a smoke. What is it about the two drugs that is so different? Well actually, not that much.

TERPENES AND TERPENOIDS

The campaign to legalize marijuana unveiled a new ad Thursday touting the potential financial benefits to Arizona public schools.

The ad features a teacher and two parents who said Thursday they support marijuana legalization because the state's education system desperately needs increased funding. The campaign staged a news conference outside of a Tempe charter school, where one of the supporters teaches.

The ad will air on Facebook, Instagram and other digital platforms, said Barrett Marson, spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. The campaign is spending "six figures" on the ad, Marson said. He said it could also appear on TV.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to double the amount of medical marijuana that qualified city residents can buy each month.

Bowser announced Wednesday that she will propose allowing patients to buy 4 ounces of pot a month, rather than 2 ounces. The regulatory change requires approval by the D.C. Council.

The Democratic mayor says the change would better meet the needs of patients.

The city has nearly 4,000 registered medical marijuana patients. City residents must be diagnosed with one of a small list of conditions — including cancer, glaucoma or severe muscle spasms — to be eligible.