Marc Paskin, who goes by the name Gary Ganja, on the air in the Smokin 94.1 studio in Denver. By JULIE TURKEWITZ June 19, 2015

DENVER — Some people who prosper in life choose to spend their hard-earned millions on private planes. Some buy a vineyard in Napa to indulge a love of wine. Some collect showpiece cars, or fulfill a dream of hiking Mount Everest.

Marc Paskin bought a radio station in Colorado and converted it to a marijuana-themed format.

Though cannabis in general has a learning curve, perhaps the most intimidating and mysterious aspect for new users is concentrates.

When a customer walks into a medical dispensary or recreational shop looking to try something new, a query about concentrates often results in a barrage of unfamiliar terms, and he or she has little to no frame of reference for quality, dosage, expected effects or ways to consume.

The stage is set for High Times’ annual Northern California Medical Cannabis Cup, expected to draw several thousand attendees, and hundreds of exhibitors and speakers to the Cow Palace in Daly City Saturday and Sunday.

Doctors will be on-site doling out recommendations for the sedating botanical this weekend, and qualified patients will be allowed to ‘medicate’ on-site in a massive zone, as well as sample and purchase products from exactly 420 collectives and their brands.

The golf crowd is not one usually associated with progressive marijuana policy, and yet as the U.S. Open begins this morning in Tacoma, Washington, the tournament will allow spectators to bring marijuana to the course.

When people head onto the grass of the Chambers Bay course from June 18 to 21, volunteers will be checking the attendees’ bags and confiscating items including weapons and water bottles, but not taking anyone’s personal supply of a different sort of grass, event organizers told SB Nation.

More than 30,000 marijuana plants were seized during a search in Patrick County earlier this week, deputies said.

The plants were found in 35 different grow areas in a remote area of Bull Mountain, Patrick County deputies said in a news release. Deputies believe it was the largest outdoor marijuana grow ever found in Virginia.

The search began around 6 a.m. Wednesday, and all 30,255 plants had been brought down the mountain by 1 p.m. Thursday, deputies said.

The plants were found amongst a network of makeshift terraces at least 2 miles from the nearest public road, deputies said. The plants ranged from 8 inches to 2 feet tall, deputies said.

Deputies said they also found trail systems throughout the mountainside that were cut by hand to avoid detection.

One of the key arguments used by opponents of legalizing medical marijuana in Florida should be put to rest. A study recently published in The Lancet Psychiatry concludes that medical marijuana laws do not increase use of marijuana by teenagers. As the supporters of medical marijuana prepare for another campaign for a constitutional amendment, this important study should reduce the overheated rhetoric and ease some public concerns.

LOS ARRIEROS, Texas - U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Rio Grande Sector successfully seized more than 1,600 pounds of marijuana late Wednesday night.

The seizure occurred when Border Patrol agents working with game wardens noticed an abandoned Chevrolet Suburban in the brush near Los Arrieros.  

As agents approached the Suburban, they found 72 bundles of marijuana.

The seizure had an estimated value of more than $1.3 million. 

A Colorado man has been sentenced to prison in a marijuana case in Iowa.

George Podes, 44, of Denver, received a sentence of 96 months in prison on Thursday.  He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute at least 100 kilograms of marijuana.

He was also ordered to serve four years of supervised release after the imprisonment.

Authorities said that between May 2011 and March 2013, Podes agreed with several individuals, including Jared Fromknecht, Morgan Hermiston, Charles Williams, Harrison Summers, Jacob Aldrich, Michael Wood and Austin Iossi to manufacture and distribute marijuana.

Authorities said Podes grew the marijuana in Colorado for distribution in Iowa.

The parliamentary intergroup for the legalization of cannabis has developed the cornerstones of the draft law to be presented to the rooms: the right to self, cannabis social club on the Spanish model, and state monopoly with regard to sales. Some details may change in future meetings, but the general structure of the bill will be this.

Objective Intergroup (which exceeded 150 accessions between MPs and senators of various opinions) to turn the draft into a real bill as soon as possible and look for the scheduling for the parliamentary debate before the summer.

RIGHT TO SELF

My home state of Maine is in the middle of a battle to let voters decide whether or not to allow marijuana to be legalized for recreational use. While there are certainly passionate people on both sides of the issue, there seems to be a lack of desire for honest discussion between the groups. Either marijuana is the best thing ever--or the worst.

Take for instance this exchange printed in the Bangor Daily News yesterday, in which an anti-marijuana legalization speaker described the effects of a "marijuana overdose." According to Bruce Campbell, the clinical director at an addiction treatment agency, it is "a problem" that marijuana overdoses do not resemble overdoses of alcohol or heroin.