BOSTON - When Cristina Barbuto of Brewster took a job with a marketing firm, she told the company that she used medical marijuana to treat symptoms of Crohn's disease.

Barbuto says she worked for only one day for Advantage Sales and Marketing, promoting products in a supermarket, and then the company fired her. The reason they gave was that Barbuto failed a required drug test by testing positive for marijuana.

When she complained, she said a human resources representative told Barbuto that the company, which has offices nationwide and in Massachusetts, follows federal, not state law.

Barbuto's claims were laid out in a complaint she filed in Suffolk County Superior Court accusing Advantage Sales and Marketing of discrimination and invasion of privacy.

• Marijuana smokers found to be 65 per cent more likely to have blood sugar 
• People who've smoked it 100 times are 50% more likely to get prediabetes
• One in 10 people with the condition develop full-blown type 2 diabetes

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Cannabis smokers are far more likely to develop the early stages of diabetes, according to new research.

People who smoke marijuana were found to be 65 per cent more likely to have abnormally high blood sugar, which is a precursor for type 2 diabetes, a study found.

The national capital continues to witness rampant marijuana trade with 122 per cent increase in the recovery of the drug this year compared to the average of the past three years.

Around 3,350 kg of marijuana has been recovered till August 31, making it the highest recovery for any year in the books of Delhi Police. In 2014, around 1,780 Kg of marijuana was recovered in the entire year.

The police, however, claimed the steep increase in seizure reflects sincere efforts on their part and not that the city has a flourishing cannabis market. "We have a dedicated team for tracking narcotics traffickers. The high recovery rate reflects ceaseless and sincere efforts by the team," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.

Washington, D.C., voters overwhelmingly supported marijuana legalization last November with more than 70% of the vote. While many voters across the nation support cannabis legalization efforts because of the additional tax revenue sales will bring in, D.C. residents couldn’t regulate commerce due to the our nation’s capital weird relationship with Congress and the federal government. Prohibitionist federal lawmakers ridiculously blocked any regulated cannabis commerce D.C., and the ensuing new revenue it would bring to the local community, but they couldn’t stop the ability to legally possess and cultivate cannabis. Following the first legal harvest in the District, marijuana growers have gotten creative with how they dispense the fruits of their labor.

Imagine taking a trip to a beautiful, secluded yoga retreat in the mountains of Colorado. Picture walking through the lovely setting, heading to your comfortably rustic cabin room, meditating...and then lighting up a joint. Twisted Sister invites you to do just that at Align With Your Heart, a cannabis-friendly mountain yoga retreat in Evergreen September 16 through September 20. This high-end, women-only retreat organized by Twisted Sister Yoga and sponsored by DANK dispensary will be full of deep personal exploration both on and off the mat.

Marijuana continues to be a highly polarizing issue for the United States. Despite growing momentum for the marijuana industry, highlighted by nearly two dozen states passing medical marijuana legalization laws and four states also allowing for marijuana to be sold legally for recreational purposes, marijuana is facing a veritable mountain of hurdles.

As the cannabis industry grows, so does corporate and government interest. From publicly traded companies with long standing histories, to the pharmaceutical industry and beyond, these larger player’s involvement is unavoidable.

GMO marijuana is not a question of if but rather when. The rumor (which most likely isn’t a rumor) that Monsanto has been cooking up its only genetically modified cannabis in some secret lab has been mentioned in blogs and internationally recognized publications alike.

This is only one example of nasty corporate intervention that will most definitely plague the industry’s future. But one thing the blogosphere seems to be leaving out is the buying power of the everyday consumer.

Williamsburg techie Michael Christopher wants to merge the cannabis industry with the herbal wellness movement and “tea renaissance.” With a name inspired by the Brooklyn loft culture, Loft Teais a line of “natural remedy” teas infused with CBD — a non-psychotropic cannabinoid, or chemical compound found in the cannabis plant. Christopher publicly launched Loft Tea in June.

Words matter

There are hundreds of nicknames for cannabis. Pot, weed, dro, chronic, wacky tobaccy — the list is long. Some are bizarre. Others are hilarious.

But one of the most common nicknames, marijuana, is “downright nasty,” according to High Times writer John Gettman.

Gettman argues in a recent article for High Times that marijuana is a pejorative term that ought to be replaced by the proper cannabis terminology, which is — you guessed it — cannabis.

More from High Times:

California lawmakers quietly passed Friday the state’s most significant medical-marijuana legislation in almost two decades, but some leaders in the space worry that the law’s good intentions could get lost in the weeds. Paving the way for what supporters say is a much-needed regulatory framework for the state’s multibillion-dollar medical-cannabis industry, the California Senate and Assembly voted to approve the historic Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which will require licenses for cannabis dispensaries and create a new state agency to oversee the industry.