On the first day the state of Colorado allowed the sale of recreational marijuana, Chris Elkins waited two hours in the freezing cold to buy weed.

“The line was down the stairwells, down the sidewalks, around the buildings, down the street,” Elkins, who had traveled to Colorado from Arkansas for a long-planned ski trip, recalled about that New Year’s Day in 2014.

The state may soon be the first to legalize recreational weed by law.

In the next few weeks, as Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin nears the end of his time in office, his state could make history. If he has his way, Vermont will become the first state in the union to legalize marijuana through its legislature. The four states that have already legalized recreational pot—Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska—all did so by taking the issue to voters through ballot initiatives. The Vermont Senate passed a marijuana legalization bill in February and it is currently being debated in the House.

We can all picture the scenario. Say it starts with girl meets boy (or, more likely, girl and boy swipe right). Girl and boy start chatting. Girl and boy meet for a drink. Conversation flows smoothly, and chemistry builds. The conversation turns to cannabis, and both are pleased to find that the other is cannabis-friendly. Boy invites girl back to his place for a nightcap joint. Boy and girl reach the door to the apartment.

With the goal of learning more about people’s cannabis-consumption patterns, professors and students from Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine in New Hampshire surveyed nearly 3,000 people on a wide range of marijuana-consumption-related topics.

In order to have a statistically relevant study, the researchers needed a representative pool of cannabis users from across the country—not an easy challenge, especially considering the fact that marijuana is still against the law in the majority of the nation.

Speaking at a drug abuse summit in Atlanta, the US president committed to tackling heroin and prescription opioid epidemic with prevention and treatment.

Obama speaking at a National Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta, Georgia on 29 March 2016. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Barack Obama committed Tuesday to take on America’s growing heroin and prescription opioid epidemic by devoting resources to prevention and treatment, rather than to the “war on drugs” policies of the last few decades.

In July 2001, Portugal decriminalized all drugs,including marijuana, cocaine, and heroin.

The possession of small quantities of those drugs was shifted to a public-health — rather than criminal — issue.

And rather than getting arrested for a small amount, you get sent to a "dissuasion commission," where a doctor, lawyer, and social worker prescribe treatment or give you a fine.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday signed legislation that allows dispensaries to sell marijuana-infused edibles and extracts to people 21 and older. The Oregon Health Authority must first draft rules for the new products before shops can begin selling them.

Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday signed a bill that allows anyone 21 and older to purchase marijuana extracts and pot-infused edibles from Oregon dispensaries.

The provision is part of Senate Bill 1511, which also allows recreational pot shops to sell tax-free medical marijuana to patients.

Right now it’s not hard to buy pot legally in California: $40 and a trip to the doctor, and you have yourself a prescription for medical marijuana, which you can use to treat things like back pain and anxiety.

But a campaign is underway to make pot legal for recreational use. Supporters are gathering signatures now to put an initiative on the November ballot, asking California voters if pot should be fully legal, like it is in Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

As the legality of cannabis drifts through a period of flux, the spotlight of scientific research is rarely far away. A new study, following heavy cannabis users, yields further insight into the drug's financial and social ramifications.

Both legal and public opinion of cannabis is changing in America.

Today, in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, the possession and sale of cannabis for medicinal and non-medicinal purposes is legal.

Alongside these four states, another 15 are considering legalizing recreational cannabis use.

Washington, DC, legalized the personal use (but not commercial sale) of cannabis in 2015.

And a national survey conducted in 2013 found that 52% of Americans thought marijuana should be made legal.