Over 30 people were hospitalized yesterday in New York City, the latest event in an epidemic that's been affecting the country's poorer populations since 2008. Synthetic marijuana, also known as K2 or Spice, was long available over the counter in corner stores and head shops, an unregulated, unpredictable chemical substance that physically resembles marijuana.

The Truth About Synthetic Marijuana Known as Spice »

The Washington Poison Center unveiled a new warning label that could be used to prevent children from consuming marijuana edibles.

The poison center received a record-high 272 calls related to marijuana exposures last year, and already has more than 150 calls so far this year. The phone number included on the label is an emergency, confidential helpline.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board will include the symbol on all edible marijuana products in its draft rules, set to be filed Aug. 10.

"Should the symbol become part of our permanent rules, this will be another important tool in preventing child access to marijuana," WSLCB Chair Jane Rushford said.

With more states moving toward decriminalizing marijuana and rumors that the federal government might reclassify cannabis as a Schedule II drug, the era of pot prohibition is waning in the United States. Yet even as use of the drug becomes more accepted, both for medical and recreational use, questions about marijuana side effects remain.

More than 30 people had to be taken to hospital in New York after a mass-overdose of synthetic marijuana, police have said.

They collapsed or were barely able to walk in the same neighbourhood of Brooklyn after smoking K2.

Witnesses reported seeing victims lying on the pavement, shaking and leaning against trees and fire hydrants.

In total 33 people were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. It was not immediately clear what drugs the victims had ingested, but police said some of the victims had been smoking K2, also known as synthetic marijuana.

Dennis Gonzalez, of Bushwick, told WNBC-TV that K2 use in that part of Brooklyn was out of control.

After a nearly four-hour public hearing Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed to place a measure on the November ballot to tax legalized marijuana to bolster local funds for homeless services.

The board voted 3-2 to levy a countywide tax on recreational cannabis should California voters pass the Adult Use of Marijuana Act Initiative in the November election. Based on rough estimates, a 5 to 10 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana, for example, is projected to generate between $78 million and $130 million annually.

A group of Nevada lawmakers and industry leaders recently traveled to Denver where Marijuana has quickly grown into a billion dollar business.

But with the successes come challenges and Colorado regulators are still working with lawmakers to shape the state's marijuana industry.

Regulators there are trying to combat some of the same issues they faced a year ago, including some new ones.

When you ask state regulators and industry insiders in Colorado what the biggest issues are related to legal weed in their state, there are two that come up consistently.

One of them is a problem that plagued Nevada's fledgling medical marijuana industry -- regulating pesticides.

Something Colorado's Director of Marijuana Policy, Andrew Freedman knows all too well.

A loophole allowed applicants with no background in medical marijuana to be treated as if they were law-abiding, taxpaying veterans of the industry.

On July 1, when the Cannabis Patient Protection Act (SB 5052) took effect, all dispensaries without an I-502 license were forced to shut down, sending many of the state's medical marijuana patients into a panic. Patients worry that the recreational market doesn't have enough medicinal cannabis for their needs and that what is available is not affordable. Many point to the fact that the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) issued only 222 new retail licenses to replace more than 1,500 medical marijuana dispensaries.

The marijuana legalization initiative that will be on the November ballot in California is a disappointment to many in the cannabis decriminalization movement. California NORML, the granddaddy of political pot groups, has not fully endorsed it.

These critics say that Proposition 64, which will allow Californians 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, is about as conservative as it could be without defeating the very purpose of legalization, which is allowing folks to enjoy weed without fear of arrest.

"It's 60 percent legalization," Ellen Komp, deputy director of California NORML, told us earlier this year.

In a bold and commendable move, Portland is proposing to use their revenue from legal cannabis taxes to support drug treatment programs and expunge convictions from when cannabis was illegal.

According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, Oregon has decided to drop the state cannabis tax to 17 percent starting in 2017. Cities will have the option to add their own additional three percent in taxes if they choose to. If Portland decides to allow this tax, Commissioner Amanda Fritz has a proposal that will put local tax to good use.

Bavaria and Texas have a lot in common: distinctive local patriotism, unique dialects, a strong sense of tradition, and a whole lot of cows and cattle. The cannabis policy of both regions has remarkable parallels, too — much to the disappointment of cannabis consumers in München, Houston, Austin, or Nürnberg alike.

Bavaria’s strict stance is also feared by neighbors in Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, and neighboring states, as the police harass even recognized cannabis patients. Many foreign visitors are surprised that the Bavarian police perform drug checks at train stations and on motorway parking areas without probable cause, often ending in a humiliating body search.