Channel 4’s Drugs Live programme, broadcast last night, promised to examine what cannabis does to the brain. Many of us had already seen the clips of Jon Snow struggling after a massive dose of high strength marijuana (the equivalent of forcing a teetotaller to down a bottle of vodka and then asking him how he feels).

But beyond the effects of cannabis on the brain, isn’t it time for a wider discussion on the potential effects of safe, regulated cannabis consumption on society?

How much is cannabis worth these days? According to the Institute for Economic and Research, up to £900m could be raised annually through taxation of regulated cannabis market.

WASHINGTON -- Twelve sheriffs from three states said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that Colorado's law legalizing marijuana for recreational use creates a "crisis of conscience" by forcing them to uphold state law when their oath of office also includes a promise to uphold the federal Constitution.

Leslie Bosckor, co-founder of Nevada Cannabis Industry Association, is creating a similar association in New York.

Sealed bags of marijuana dangle behind a counter, curved glass pipes glimmer on shelves, and a steady trickle of middle-aged customers gleefully buys cannabis strains nicknamed Charlie Sheen and Godzilla.

"The Gallery" is similar to more than 100 other lawful state-licensed marijuana retail shops and hundreds of medical dispensaries in Washington state, with one exception: It is operating in defiance of local law.

Its opening on Sunday set up a potential showdown with authorities in Pierce County, about an hour outside Seattle, which has effectively banned recreational pot shops in unincorporated areas so long as the drug remains illegal under federal law, even as medical pot businesses flourish virtually unregulated.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state Senate has passed a bill to forbid selling marijuana through a drive-through window or in a vending machine.

In a 47-0 vote Monday, Senators voted to add the new restriction to the state’s legalized trade in recreational marijuana, which is restricted to sales in state-licensed stores. Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, said the bill would keep marijuana-laced edible products from being supplied in parks, football games and in coffee shop drive-through windows.

Senators also voted 45-3 to create a marijuana research license so the drug’s effects can be legally studied by researchers working with the University of Washington and Washington State University.

Both bills will next move to the state House for consideration.

JUNEAU, Alaska - Lawmakers discussed Wednesday who would sit on a new marijuana board and what it might cost the state, during a first hearing on a bill that would create a new regulatory body.

Gov. Bill Walker introduced companion bills in the House and Senate to create a five-member marijuana board that would share staff and resources with the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. It was discussed Wednesday in the House Labor and Commerce Committee.

The board would include a member each from the public safety and health sectors; one from a rural area; one or two from the marijuana industry; and one or two from the general public.

Oregon's new marijuana legalization law is on shaky legal ground when it tries to limit the ability of local governments to tax and regulate retail sales of the drug, lawyers for cities and counties argued Wednesday.

The warning of potential legal action came as the counties and cities continued to press the Oregon Legislature to rewrite the marijuana measure approved by voters last November.

The local governments want the ability to levy their own taxes on retail marijuana sales, and they want more latitude to prohibit local sales altogether.

"Frankly, I would prefer to work with you than go to court," Rob Bovett, legal counsel for the Association of Oregon Counties, told legislators studying the implementation of Measure 91.

DENVER (AP) – Former Broncos tight end Nate Jackson says he believes the NFL will have no choice but to remove marijuana from its lists of banned substances in the near future.

Speaking at a marijuana business conference, Jackson called on the league to allow medical marijuana as a means to help players deal with the physical and psychological pain and head injuries inherent to their profession.

Jackson said he avoided opiate painkillers as much as he could during his six-year career from 2003-08. Instead, he self-medicated with marijuana so that he wouldn’t retire addicted to prescription drugs like so many of his contemporaries, he said.

Recent comments from the founders of the ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's about legalized marijuana are sparking discussion in Vermont, a state where lawmakers in both chambers of the state legislature have introduced recreational marijuana legalization bills.

In a video interview with the Huffington Post, after a viewer suggested a flavor containing marijuana for states where it is legal, Ben & Jerry's co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield signaled support for the idea.

"If it were my decision, I'd be doing it," Cohen said in the Huffington Post conversation, referring to manufacturing ice cream for the edible marijuana market.

A lawmaker on the country's largest American Indian reservation has introduced a bill to reaffirm the tribe's stance against legalizing marijuana.

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Edmund Yazzie says legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational use contradicts Navajo values and tradition.

His bill introduced this week comes in response to an announcement last year by the U.S. Department of Justice to allow American Indian tribes to grow and sell marijuana within certain guidelines.

Navajo lawmakers can take action on Yazzie's bill after a public comment period.

Yazzie has said legalizing marijuana would drive up crime rates and drug addiction on the vast reservation that extends into New Mexico, Utah and Arizona.