As many states consider legalizing recreational weed, lawmakers also are taking a look at the currently banned industrial hemp market. Industrial hemp can be used to make more than 25,000 types of products, while marijuana is known for its psychoactive properties and medicinal uses.

Here are four ways growing industrial hemp is environmentally beneficial.

The future of medical and recreational marijuana in Canada remains blurry.

What is clear is that we’re in the midst of a pot predicament, and health authorities, law enforcement officials and politicians, as well as citizens in Saskatchewan and elsewhere, have a lot to contemplate.

Public sentiment seems to favour decriminalization or even legalization of marijuana for recreational use. One poll established that two-thirds of Canadians favour altering the law so that people are not given criminal records for minor, non-violent offences, whereas in a recent Leger poll, not only do 86 per cent of Canadians support regulated access to medical cannabis with physician support, but 76 per cent believe that health insurance companies should cover the cost.

Russ Belville of MarijuanaPolitics.com recently unveiled a disheartening announcement issued by the Oregon Health Authority: indoor cannabis cafes, like Portland’s World Famous Cannabis Café and The Other Spot will be forced to shut down come January due to unfortunate changes to the Oregon Clean Air Act.

Lawmakers have introduced the following changes to the law (bolded emphasis courtesy of Mr. Belville):

The menorah bong is having a moment.

By now, you may have seen the year-old YouTube video of a bearded guy in a blazer lighting all eight bowls of the Grav Menorah — a cross between a glass bong and a traditional hanukiah — and taking one massive toke.

But the religiously inspired cannabis consumption device, which retails for, yes, $699 at 420Science.com, was not originally intended for sale. In fact, David Daily, the 35-year-old glass blower and businessman behindGrav Labs — the scientific glass company he founded a decade ago in Austin, Texas — made the menorah bong a few years back for the sole enjoyment of his family.

Hey, it's possible to overdo any good thing, even getting high! Responsible cannabis use involves setting some boundaries and sometimes saying no. Recreational marijuana should enhance one's life, not muffle or hobble it. All things are not best experienced high!

We all have different lifestyles and tolerance levels, but here are some signs that you just may be using too much. Don't think if you check four yeses you must check into rehab! But if a question resonates with you, you might consider cutting down.

While THC remains federally illegal, the legalization of hemp has opened up the way to powerful – and legal – cannabinoids.

Although limited in scope and requiring reams of red tape, the U.S. Farm Bill signed into law by President Obama in 2013 contained a relatively well-known but underappreciated provision which lifted federal restrictions on cannabis cultivation – in the form of hemp – in states which had passed equivalent reforms.

A postman with a keen sense of smell discovered something not quite right with a Christmas card he delivered this week.

In fact, he sniffed out what he believes was the smell of cannabis on the package, that was being sent to an address in South Devon.

Suspicious that the envelope contained a festive gift of drugs instead of a five pound note tucked inside a card, the postman handed it into police.

They are now investigating the incident, according to the Plymouth Herald.

A Quebec judge handed down what might be called a loonie sentence intended to call out Canada’s “ridiculous” marijuana laws — and it’s not the first time he has gone easy on an accused pot smoker.

Mario Larouche was in a Gatineau, Que., court last week, charged with possession of 30 pot plants.

Larouche, 46, of Outaouais, had tried unsuccessfully to obtain a medical marijuana licence so instead grew his own to help him deal with injuries from a 2000 car accident, according to La Presse.

He pleaded guilty, and the Crown asked for a sentence of 90 days in jail and a $250 fine.

As if to blow smoke right back at police, three Nanaimo marijuana dispensaries that were raided by RCMP have reopened – with a message.

“We will have product on site by the end of the day,” said Matthew O’Donnell, a worker at Phoenix Pain Management.

On Tuesday morning, the grey area that has allowed marijuana dispensaries to operate in dozens of cities became black-and-white in Nanaimo.

Mounties acting on a cease-and-desist order issued last month escorted 16 employees away from three different pot shops and seized thousands of dollars in marijuana and cash.

“They showed me the warrant for my arrest, and I was charged subsequently with possession for the purpose of trafficking cannabis,” said Rich Scott, manager of Nature’s Source Society.

The locals around the mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, have been raising some of America’s best homegrown cannabis since the '60s. “There are a lot of fragrant tool sheds and storerooms around here,” one local farmer told Leafly during a recent visit. When legalization arrived two years ago, Nederland was ready. The 1,500 residents in this former mining outpost, 8,233 feet high in the Rockies, support two grow supply stores, an uncounted number of commercial grows, two retail cannabis shops, and the state’s first licensed cannabis consumption club.