It may be nearly 80 years old, but for many Americans Reefer Madness is still terrifying.

Starting July 1, Oregon’s recreational marijuana laws are in effect. That means adults aged 21 and older can legally possess and use recreational marijuana in their homes or in private places.

Another one of the leading arguments against legalizing cannabis for adults is going up in smoke.

Last week, data showed concerns about children accidentally eating marijuana is widely overstated.

Monday, a major study from the medical journal Lancet concludes “medical marijuana use does increase adolescent marijuana use.”

The same activists who in 2012 successfully legalized the cultivation, sale and use of recreational marijuana in Colorado have started their next big initiative: The push to allow pot consumption in places now off limits.

Activists want a measure on the November 2015 Denver ballot that asks voters to OK allowing marijuana consumption in commercial establishments, including bars and clubs, that meet certain guidelines.

They hope to get the question approved by the clerk and recorder’s office and gather more than 4,700 signatures before summer’s end.

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Employers’ zero-tolerance drug policies trump Colorado’s medical marijuana laws, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday.

In the simplest terms, an advocate is a champion for a cause—a person or a group of people with the goal of influencing a larger population, be it on an economic scale, political scale or just to sway public opinion. Groups advocating for marijuana legalization seem to be making headway, though the current state of marijuana’s legality is anything but a sure thing.

More than 100 acres of industrial hemp will emerge during the next week after being planted Friday and Tuesday near Pembroke and Crofton. Kendall Clark and farm employee Landon Hopper used a Kubota tractor and a modified Kinze planter Tuesday to plant 95 acres of industrial hemp at Clark's Oak Lane farm. Clark says he decided to start out a little bigger than some farmers.

   
Clark says planting went well, but there were a few challenges he had to overcome to use a traditional planter.

Industrial hemp advocate Katie Moyer says it is exciting to see more than 100 acres of industrial planted in Christian County.

Hemp Historian Arinon Compass of Florida says Kentucky is at a critical stage in the reintroduction of industrial hemp in the United States.

Campaigners against medical marijuana often say they fear that legalizing marijuana in any form will lead to higher teen marijuana abuse, but a new study shows that this concern is misplaced.

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA IN GENERAL

Q: What is the purpose of legalizing recreational marijuana?

A: As stated in Measure 91, the purpose of the Act is to:

• Eliminate the problems caused by the prohibition and uncontrolled manufacture, delivery, and possession of marijuana within this state;

• Protect the safety, welfare, health, and peace of the people of this state by prioritizing the state’s limited law enforcement resources in the most effective, consistent, and rational way;

• Permit persons licensed, coegulated, and taxed by this state to legally manufacture and sell marijuana to persons 21 years of age and older, subject to the provisions of this Act;

FILE - This April 18, 2014 file photo shows edible marijuana products on display at a medical marijuana dispensary in Denver. Colorado's marijuana experiment is under threat by the very popularity of eating it instead of smoking it, so the pot industry is joining health officials and state regulators in studying the problem of consumers eating too much too quickly. They plan to meet Wednesday, April 30, 2014, at Children's Hospital Colorado to discuss the potency and serving size of pot edibles. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File) Related Coverage