Could alcohol abstinence campaigns like Dry January may do more harm than good? 

The Dry January campaign estimates that last year over 2 million people cut down their drinking for January, but popular doesn't necessarily mean effective, and the claims lack rigorous evaluation. Like 'don't buy gas on Tuesday', it isn't really changing anything if people engage in the same behavior a little later.

• Border agents discovered more than a ton of marijuana stuffed into fake carrots at the U.S.- Mexico border on Sunday
• The street value of the drugs is estimated at $499,000
• Police say that nearly 3,000 packages were mixed in with real carrots

Border agents say they discovered more than a ton of marijuana stuffed into fake carrots mixed in with shipment of fresh carrots at the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday.

Texas officials say they found 2,493 pounds of alleged marijuana after an imaging system flagged the truck transporting the produce for a secondary examination while it was crossing the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge along the Texas-Mexico border near the Gulf of Mexico.

Chandler Jones, brother of the UFC’s Jon Jones was allegedly hospitalized due to a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana on Sunday.

Last night, it was reported that Chandler Jones of the New England Patriots, and brother of UFC fighter Jon Jones, was hospitalized following a pill overdose. Today, much more information regarding the incident has come to light and it is now being reported that Jones actually had a reaction to synthetic marijuana. Chris Gasper of The Boston Globe tweeted about it:

Source with knowledge of the situation confirms it was synthetic marijuana that caused Chandler Jones’ bad reaction and hospitalization.

— Christopher Gasper (@cgasper) January 13, 2016

Oregon’s recreational marijuana industry is officially off to the races

PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — Oregon’s recreational marijuana industry is officially off to the races.

Just days into the license application process, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has received 282 applications as of Monday morning from producers, processors, retailers, wholesalers and even research facilities.

About half are for applications from growers, who will see their licenses processed soonest because they’re at the top of the supply chain, says Mark Pettinger, OLCC spokesman.

LONGMONT, Colo., Jan. 12, 2016 /Weed Wire/ — Today sees the official launch of the I Don’t USE Campaign – a comprehensive multimedia effort to help change stigmatizing language which prevents the full integration of marijuana into our culture.

Since the criminalization of cannabis products in the early twentieth century, lawmakers, media figures, and ordinary citizens have referred to consumers as “users”.

This term specifically marginalizes legal marijuana consumers by grouping them with hardcore drug users – thus reinforcing to society that marijuana is a dangerous, addictive substance which should be avoided, and whose consumers should be shunned.

A lot of marijuana users claim that smoking makes them feel closer to nature and more inclined to spend time outdoors. In particular, biking while under the influence of cannabis (or "stoned cycling") has proved popular — leading researchers to question whether the physical activity carries added safety risks while high. The answer turns out to be a resounding "no," a new study found.

Remember the “Gateway Theory” about marijuana? It’s still bullshit. In fact, marijuana is actually the gateway to harm reduction.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine declared that “There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.” The scientists found that while “marijuana use typically precedes” other illicit drug use, that’s only because “patterns in progression of drug use from adolescence to adulthood are strikingly regular.” Marijuana’s only considered the “gateway” because it’s the first illegal drug most people try, as “most drug users begin with alcohol and nicotine before marijuana.”

By Ricardo Baca, The Cannabist Staff

Fort Collins' budding marijuana industry started the year with two new retail stores.

Kind Care of Colorado and Natural Alternatives for Health both recently expanded beyond medical marijuana. The stores bring the number of retail pot shops in Fort Collins to eight.

The number of licensed marijuana retailers operating in the city doubled during the second half of 2015.

Natural Alternatives started selling marijuana for recreational use on Dec. 29 after submitting an application for a retail license in May. The company hopes an expansion of its 1,500-square-foot growing facility will follow.

Alaska is poised to become the first U.S. state to allow cannabis consumption in businesses open to the public. The Alaska Marijuana Board has been hard at work drafting regulations, and cafes could become part of Alaska's cannabis culture as soon as this summer.

Clubs for medical patients in Alaska have existed in a legal gray area for some time and began springing up after the state legalized medical marijuana in 1998. The medical rules were ambiguous, and combined with a lack of regulatory oversight allowed social clubs with onsite consumption to fly under the radar. They operate in a sort of loophole: Patients in Alaska are allowed to grow cannabis and consume it in private, which proponents say allows for clubs open only to members, not the public.