Oregon is gearing up for its grand opening into the retail marijuana business, but when exactly the first recreational pot transactions will be made is anyone’s guess. Many state officials want sales to begin July 1, the day the state’s new marijuana law officially goes into effect and possession of pot for non-medical purposes becomes legal. However, logistical snafus over who should be allowed to make the first sales could mean empty store shelves come July, Oregon liquor control officials said Wednesday.

The Oregon Senate delivered a powerful message in support of tightening regulation on medical marijuana Wednesday by voting 29-1 for a bill aimed at curbing diversions to the black market.

Although the measure has drawn intense opposition among many patients and growers, lawmakers said that the success of the state's new recreational pot market depends on getting a tighter handle on marijuana ostensibly grown for patients.

Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland and chair of a House-Senate committee on implementing the marijuana legalization initiative passed by voters in November, said the large amount of marijuana diverted to the black market makes it harder for legal sellers to compete and could even threaten federal action against the state.

California isn’t the only state where cannabis supporters are sabotaging one another’s legalization efforts.

Arizona now has two competing initiatives to legalize cannabis in 2016. The Washington DC-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is leading one effort while some newly minted medical cannabis dispensaries — which MPP helped legalize in 2010 — are running a competing initiative.

New bill proposes banning all psychoactive substances then expressly permitting use of government-approved drugs

A new blanket ban on legal highs is to be so widely drawn that its provisions could be used to outlaw alcohol, tobacco, coffee and many other widely-used items, ministers have acknowledged.

The Home Office said that one of the main elements of the psychoactive substances bill would be a ban on the trade in “any substance intended for human consumption that is capable of producing a psychoactive effect”, with a maximum seven-year prison sentence to back up the ban.

But it quickly added that “substances such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, food and medicinal products would be excluded from the scope of the offence”.

Two bills aimed at softening the state's penalties on marijuana that died last year have been resuscitated with the help of an unlikely partner: The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association.

As many lawmakers have found out over the years, it can be nearly impossible to convince other legislators to support bills that are opposed by Louisiana Sheriffs. The influential organization's members packed a committee hearing on a bill last year seeking to reduce the state's tough marijuana penalties, and the committee moved swiftly to kill it shortly after.

You have to love those random messages you receive from friends traveling abroad. A couple months ago my friend Judy wrote me from Mexican beach town Playa del Carmen with the news that $140 cannabis-adorned bongs were being sold inside the local Walmart down there. And this morning my friend Erin hit me up with a photo of something equally surprising out of Spain.

Erin has seen the future, friends. And it comes in the form of Cannabis Absinthe.

Sure enough, it’s all over the place in Europe. Distributor Antonio Nadal calls its Absenta Cannabis 80 “green absinthe with hints of wormwood and hops with a high alcohol content.”

Kazakhstan's government has launched an investigation after hundreds of marijuana plants were discovered growing in flowerbeds across the capital.

Images of planting beds in Astana City filled with the illegal herbs have been uploaded by Russian Facebook users, though everyone seems mystified as to where they have come from.

While some have suggested the cannabis was planted by local users keen to cash in on a free supply, others have suggest the government is trying to lure drug users in before arresting them. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, in April 2015, there have been more than 1500 reports of human exposure to synthetic marijuana across the United States. To compare, in April 2014, there were 250.

A Lexington ER Physician says Central Kentucky is also seeing that increase.

“In 2015 we’ve actually seen the numbers spike once again, a new formulation that has popped up again,” Lexington ER Doctor Ryan Stanton said.

“You can’t even compare it to marijuana. It’s totally different. Totally different,” a former synthetic marijuana user told WKYT Wednesday evening.

The second article in our series of religion and marijuana - Today we are looking at the relationship between Hinduism and marijuana usage. 

Hinduism is the religion of the majority of people in India and Nepal. It also exists among significant populations outside of the sub continent and has over 900 million adherents worldwide.

Unlike most other religions, Hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings.

Like other religions, Hindus generally disapprove of the non-medicinal drug use.

DENVER — In LoDo, the Nativ Hotel is set to open. Thursday through Saturday there will be a series of functions to welcome the boutique hotel that allows marijuana use.

“We have something for everyone here at Nativ,” said owner Mike Alexander. “We have door bells on rooms, living plant walls on our outdoor patios where guests can consume marijuana on their stays, the Stereo Lounge in the basement, and original art work throughout the hotel. We even have a coffee bar specializing in CBD infused lattes.”