There is a place near my house that is extremely popular. It’s basically a recreation center for marijuana consumers. It started out just being for Oregon medical marijuana patients, but with the implementation of Measure 91, anyone over 21 years old with a valid ID can get in now. The place has ping pong, Foosball, board games, karaoke night, bingo night, and just about everything else that you could imagine other than arcade games. The place was very popular prior to Oregon Measure 91 taking effect, and is exponentially more popular now.

KALISPELL, Montana — In a retrofitted garage in his suburban backyard, Mike Eacker tends to his marijuana plants while he waits to see whether his crop will continue to turn a profit.

For Eacker and other growers here in Montana, there is uncertainty as they anticipate the outcome of a state Supreme Court case that could effectively end commercial sales of medical marijuana and render their businesses unprofitable.

Montana is among several vanguard states whose voters eagerly legalized medical cannabis by passing broad ballot initiatives as many as 19 years ago, but left lawmakers struggling to regulate an industry that grew quickly with few rules.

Be unafraid. Be very, very unafraid.

The only reason Arizona residents would vote against a ballot proposal legalizing marijuana in a way that treats pot like alcohol --  is fear.

That’s it. That’s the only argument against it:

FEAR!

We know already that fear tactics will be the primary strategy used by those opposed to legalization. Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, who is serving as vice chairwoman of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, and is doing everything she can to make the case against marijuana legalization by scaring people.

OSAGE, Iowa – Before making a decision one way or another about marijuana for it’s medicinal or recreational use, the town of Osage is meeting to open discussions.

The town hall meeting sponsored by the Mitchell County Substance Abuse Coalition is geared toward giving information to those who have yet to make a decision.

Speakers focused on the impacts that full legalization of the substance would have and what research is being done to allow for certain use.

Nurse practitioner, Jennifer Sleiter explained how the research to date does not support the advocacy of medical marijuana, which she clarified is use of the entire plant in most likely it’s smoked form.

Most people don’t know it but Japan has a centuries-old history with a simple yet popular plant that has only been making waves here and abroad for the past few decades.

It was once a sacred substance in Shinto religious tradition. Lore has it that ninja once jumped over it day after day as it grew, training to leap incredible heights because it grew, well – like a weed. Even today, it is a key ingredient in a common household condiment. What is it?

Marijuana.

PASCO, WA- With an increase in crime related to outdoor medical marijuana plants we talked with the Washington Board of Health about rules and regulations for growers. 

According to the Washington Board of Health Policy Council, Kristi Weeks, she told us, "no see, no smell, no more than 15 plants in a single housing unit, regardless of how many patients or designated providers or caregivers live in a single housing unit, no more than 15 plants can be grown in that housing unit". 

Brian Smith, with the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board told us regulations are stricter with recreational growing, "you can't be viewed from the public, they have to have an eight foot fence, security and alarms including video cameras, all that stuff". 

In cars stuffed with clothes, boxes and furniture precariously tied to car roofs, they come to sit patiently in waiting rooms at social service agencies, in soup kitchens and motels.

They’ve made it to Pueblo, Colorado, a city of just over 100,000 where recreational marijuana sales became legal in 2014.

The new arrivals aren’t on a so-called “weedcation” to visit the swath of new pot shops and spots with weed-tasting menus, which are now sprinkled throughout the state. Instead, they hope to settle and make a new life in the pot industry.

THE Mighty Diamonds, whose 1982 song Pass The Kutchie is an anthem for ganja lovers worldwide, is one of the acts for the November 12-15 Cannabis Cup in Negril, Westmoreland.

Billboard magazine announced the event's music line-up on Friday. It also includes singer Fred Locks, best known for the 1975 hit, Black Star Liner.

The list of artistes is completed by Tarrus Riley, Luciano, I Wayne, Kabaka Pyramid, Jah9, and Jawara 'Tosh1' McIntosh, son of reggae great Peter Tosh.

Tosh, who was killed by gunmen at his St Andrew home in September 1987, was from Westmoreland. His 1976 album Legalize It is one of the great statements for the legalisation of marijuana.

Besides the big question of who will be president, marijuana legalization may be the most hotly debated issue in Florida going into the 2016 election cycle. United for Care is working to get a medical marijuana measure onto the November ballot, while two other groups are looking to get recreational weed legalized. Each of these proposals would amend the state constitution. To make it onto the ballot, each measure needs 683,149 verified signatures by February 1. Last week, United for Care was the furthest along, at 38 percent of this goal.

When recreational marijuana laws first began appearing on ballots in 2012, voices frenzied around the topic of underage cannabis consumption. Surely legalization sends a message to kids that it’s okay for them to use cannabis, and surely it would make it easier for them to get their hands on it. Right?

The evidence in national surveys on drug use has been interpreted in a variety of ways by analysts. So what’s really going on, and more importantly, how does this information inform drug policy and education?