The marijuana policy landscape changed rapidly between 2002 and 2013. During that time, 13 states passed medical-marijuana laws, 10 states relaxed penalties for marijuana use, and Colorado and Washington became the first states to fully legalize recreational pot use.

Canada’s medical marijuana fiasco came into sharp relief on Thursday when police in Toronto raided 45 illegal pot dispensaries and seized hundreds of kilograms of cannabis and its related products. Activists were outraged, the police were both apologetic and unapologetic, and, as always, the public was confused.

The situation is a mess. It is now looking as though the Liberal government should have anticipated Canada’s chronic confusion when it announced last month that it would wait an entire year before introducing long-promised legislation to legalize marijuana.

According to a recent report by a joint EU watchdog, published on May 24, 2016; Europeans spend a colossal 24 billion euros ($26.8 billion) on illicit substances which, according to the report, fund crime syndicates and terrorism and“are one of the key threats to the security of the EU”.

The largest proportion of this expenditure goes to cannabis, which makes up 38% of the illegal drug market in Europe. That amounts to 9.3 billion euros ($10.4 billion). The majority of this cannabis is grown within European borders.

Read the full transcript below: 

HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS ANCHOR: So Jackie Calmes, how big is this problem of people walking away from a job interview when they hear that there’s a drug test?

JACKIE CALMES: Well, it’s bigger than I thought! Clearly, because this whole subject came to me in a completely separate news story I was reporting. And employers, local leaders, just volunteered to me that as the unemployment rate came down, the biggest hurdle they were facing in finding – in filling jobs was finding people who were willing to take a drug test, and if they did take a drug test, could pass it. And I thought, well, that can’t be as big a problem as they’re making it out to be.

The legendary stoner comic celebrated No. 78 at Mack Sennett Studios in L.A.

Hours after Tommy Chong's daughter Rae Dawn Chong posted on Facebook that her famous father was "heartbroken" over being uninvited to speak at a rally for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the legendary stoner comic looked to be back in good spirits at his 78th birthday party.

Chong believes Sanders' camp dropped him from the Los Angeles rally because of his association with marijuana, but that didn't stop him from loading his May 24 bash full of the green stuff — and 700 friends, who gathered at Mack Sennett Studios in Los Angeles.

With the surge in cannabis consumption at a recreational level becoming increasingly more legal, it’s only fitting to explore cannabis and food pairings on a deeper level. Through some thoughtful research online I noticed that not many people were really having this conversation in a public forum.

Sure, there were some menus where some restaurants had taken it upon themselves to pair strains with featured menu items. But I wondered, how did they make those decisions? What made them the voice of authority? Was there a bad ass formula that I was missing out on? I needed to know how to elevate my cerebral foodie experience.

General marijuana use among teens is also dropping

According to a survey of over 216,000 adolescents from all 50 states, the number of teens with marijuana-related problems is declining, despite increased marijuana decriminalization and legalization.

After analyzing data on drug-use collected from young people aged 12 to 17 over a 12-year timeframe, the scientists from Washington University School of Medicine found that the number of adolescents who had pot-related problems declined by 24 percent from 2002 to 2013.

Featured guests: Christian Sederberg, a cannabis industry attorney who helped draft Colorado’s marijuana legalizing Amendment 64, and Denver Post reporter Nicki Jhabvala, who covers the NFL and other sports.

LOTS TO TALK ABOUT

California pioneered the legalization of medical marijuana in 1996.

But since then the Golden State has had to toke in the shadow of states like Colorado and Washington, which have legalized recreational pot.

In 2010 a statewide ballot measure that would have made weed legal here even without a doctor's note was defeated.

Almost since then, anti-prohibitionists have been eyeing 2016 as a breakthrough year for California legalization. It's a presidential election year, when more voters turn out. 

A new gym in San Francisco plans to dispel stereotypes about pot smokers while teaching them how to use the drug to reach fitness goals.

Power Plant Fitness is in the final stages of securing a lease that will allow gym rats to experiment with marijuana while they put on muscle. Co-founder Jim McAlpine bills the venture as the world’s first cannabis-friendly gym.

“It won’t be a place to get high and just screw around. We are focused on the athletic side, not the cannabis side,” Mr. McAlpinetold Tech Insider Wednesday.