MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -

Miami Beach commissioners unanimously passed a marijuana ordinance Wednesday to fine those caught with small amounts of marijuana instead of sending them to jail.

The move comes a week after Miami-Dade commissioners passed a similar ordinance.

Under the new law, police will have the option of issuing a $100 fine to those caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana. The difference between the Miami-Dade County ordinance is that the fines collected in Miami Beach will go to the city and not the county.

Vancouver taxpayers regularly subsidize public booze parties that cost millions, yet city officials are trying to rouse anger against pot protestors for the meager expense of their legalization rallies.

In Vancouver, the annual 4/20 rally has a peak crowd of about 25,000 and total attendance closer to 35,000. It has been attacked by city officials for supposedly costing the city $93,000.

I have read a lot of e-books and articles lately about branding in the marijuana industry. Most of the literature involves ‘re-branding,’ which by itself is OK, but a lot of people out there are using ‘re-branding’ as a way to alienate a lot of long time marijuana consumers, both patients and recreational users alike. I don’t like those types of branding articles and books. They are almost always written by someone who is new to the cannabis world, and thinks that they can use their MBA’s and/or public relations backgrounds to re-invent the entire marijuana industry.

Chile looks set to decriminalise cannabis after the country approved a bill yesterday to allow its people to grow small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes.

The public gallery in the lower house of congress erupted into cheers and applause as 68 members – compared with 39 – voted for the bill.

The announcement has been praised as being a ‘big step forward’ in the usually socially conservative country’s stance on drugs.

Until now, planting, selling or transporting marijuana in Chile has been a punishable offence which could have resulted in up to 15 years imprisonment.

Now, Chileans will be able to able to grow six plants at home, allowing the possession of up to 10 grams (0.35 ounce).

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The Guild, a subscription-based marijuana delivery service, launched in San Francisco, California, this year — on April 20, or "420," no less.

Founded by two New Yorkers who transplanted west in pursuit of like-minded cannabis users, The Guild is being dubbed the "Birchbox of marijuana" for its familiar business model.

Oregon has long been among the most 420-friendly states in the union. And with last week’s implementation of legal marijuana laws, the state officially joined Free America.

And our friends in Oregon are already acclimating to their new-found freedom quite naturally.

Take this Elevated Coffee event, for example. Seattle weed-lifetyle shop Trichome is bringing its weed-coffee party south to Portland for one day only.

From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday July 12, Elevated Coffee will take over the Maak Lab at 916 W. Burnside St. in Portland. Tickets, $10, gets those 21 and older admission and a Tulip House coffee “infused with cannabis from Portland’s Looking Glass Extracts.”

Skeptics say reformers are going too far

Denver residents are gearing up for another battle in the marijuana wars.

While activists in states like Nevada and Massachusetts are working on ballot measures to legalize recreational weed, a coalition in Colorado is collecting signatures to allow “limited social marijuana use.” As it stands, people in the state capital can consume marijuana only inside places like private homes or a rare “vape-friendly” hotel room. That, reformers say, can leave locals isolated and visitors not knowing where to turn.

Today is Alice's Day in theSequicentennial of 1865, the year when an English mathematician named Charles Dodson (aka Lewis Carroll) led us all down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. 

Centuries ago, women used to rely on cannabis to combat everything from cramps to swollen breasts—but can these remedies be applied today?

As more states move to legalize marijuana, more people are beginning to think creatively about how pot can improve our everyday lives. And while the drug’s potential to spice up women’s sex lives has been well-documented, medical professionals are only starting to look at how cannabis could benefit women in other intimate ways.

Rapper Snoop Dogg, a Long Beach, Calif. native, is an avid marijuana supporter and performs Saturday at the Common Ground Music Festival in Lansing. The appearance will mark his second at the event since 2008.(Photo: LSJ files)

LANSING – When Snoop Dogg performs Saturday at the Common Ground Music Festival in Adado Riverfront Park, it could inspire his fans and supporters of Michigan's marijuana legalization movement to take some tokes ... and chances.

The 43-year-old rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, is an avid marijuana supporter who has been known to light up on stage. He could inspire others to test the legal system in a Capital City run by Virg Bernero, who has become an advocate for legalizing marijuana in the state.