Throughout the past year we have no doubt seen groundbreaking strides in the cannabis universe.

Our continued efforts to dismantle the failed experiment of prohibition are full of excitement but also frustration.

But even though we still have a lot of work to do, it is simply awe-inspiring to look back on this year in cannabis.

To celebrate and share our gratitude, here is a month-by-month snapshot of cannabis in 2015. The resulting story arc is a powerful indication that momentum is stronger than ever – cannabis legalization will not be stopped!

It comes as no shock to anyone who knows cannabis that it’s something of a miracle herb.

But as we bring this plant out of the dark and into the light, it continues to blow our minds – just how great the benefits of marijuana actually are!

We are talking about benefits to public health, to the economy, and to each and every person who develops a positive relationship with this therapeutic plant.

2016 is going to be a big year for cannabis and education is critical – if you agree don’t hesitate to share this list and spread the word!

The holiday greenery in the nation's capital this year isn't mistletoe; it's marijuana. This Christmas is the first since the DC marijuana legalization, Initiative 71, went into effect earlier this year, and that means DC residents can legally give skunky-smelling Christmas presents to each other.

“It's a lovely holiday season because you can give cannabis to your friends in Washington DC,” said initiative organizer, political activist, and all-around DC gadfly Adam Eidinger. “Giving cannabis has become like the latest, ‘Hey, I baked a pie. I grew this. Would you like it?’ And it is a very special gift,” he toldFox News 5.

lombia on Tuesday became the latest in a growing number of nations around the world to legalize the use of cannabis for medical reasons.

However the rules vary widely across continents, with some countries permitting cannabis cultivation and others only allowing pharmaceuticals extracted from the drug.

A state of play:

– LATIN AMERICA –

– COLOMBIA: President Juan Manuel Santos signed a decree Tuesday making it fully legal to grow, process, import and export cannabis and its derivatives for medical and scientific use.

In 2010, Patricia Spottencrow, an Oklahoma mother of four, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for selling just $31 worth of marijuana. For many, the sentence was too harsh, especially since the convicted woman was a first time offender who had fallen on hard times.

Before rapper Snoop Dogg takes the stage tonight at the Crystal Ballroom, he and his crew will be handed some of the best weed Oregon has to offer.

When Andrew Lamb, a marijuana aficionado from Hermiston, heard the musician would be in Portland this month, he put out a call on Facebook for Oregon pot producers to donate a sample of their products to the entertainer, whose love of cannabis is well known.

Just last month, Snoop launched his own line of marijuana, which will be sold in Colorado stores.

Joshua Jardine Taylor, who writes about cannabis for The Mercury, helped spread the message throughout Oregon's marijuana community.

When 2015 dawned, it was illegal to grow, smoke or buy marijuana in Oregon unless you held a medical marijuana card. Now, all of those things are legal for adults.

July 1, 2015 was a day many Oregonians had been waiting for for decades. As midnight drew near, crowds gathered in downtown Portland to count down the minutes until marijuana use became legal for all Oregon adults. TV news crews were there to capture the moment.

"Many here are yelling ‘Weed, we want weed,’” a reporter noted.

When the clock struck midnight, people lit up to celebrate their new freedom to smoke pot. Never mind the fact that using it in public remains illegal, provision of the 2014 voter-approved ballot measure that legalized marijuana in Oregon.

Marijuana represents a potential "revenue opportunity" for the Saskatchewan government, but Premier Brad Wall says he's not thinking about selling it in provincial liquor stores.

In an interview, Wall told CBC News that because the federal Liberals campaigned on legalizing marijuana, he's expecting to see that happen at some point.

However, the government hasn't given much thought to selling the drug in its 75 provincially-owned stores.

"We're not looking for an expanded role," Wall said. "We're actually looking in another direction."

That was a reference to the Wall government's proposal to privatize 40 of its stores if the Saskatchewan Party gets re-elected in the spring.

'Revenue opportunity' for governments, Wall notes

SYDNEY: An anti-marijuana campaign in Australia featuring a human-sized lumbering stoned sloth acting foolishly has backfired and become the brunt of jokes on social media.

Launched this week using the slogan “You’re worse on weed”, it attempts to warn teenagers of the dangers of sustained cannabis use by depicting those who smoke it as grumbling, oversized “stoner sloths”.

But it has been widely mocked as “ridiculously funny” with thousands of comments on its Facebook page, which has attracted more than 16,000 likes.

“Smoke weed, become one of the most adorable animals in the world. Where do I get some weed?” wrote Andrew Watton-Davies while Scott Hobson noted that: “I literally can’t tell if it’s satire or legit.”

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed a decree Tuesday legalizing and regulating medical marijuana, the latest softening of the country’s hardline tactics in the war on drugs.

Now that the decree had been passed, cultivators can apply for licenses from the National Narcotics Council, and manufacturers from the health ministry. Colombia is planning to give tracts of land to affected coca farmers.