An Arizona marijuana legalization drive reached a major milestone in their signature gathering campaign this week. Arizona’s Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project has collected 50,000 signatures in just 10 weeks.

Arizona Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol Political Director Carlos Alfaro said, “A meeting of the activists, communities, dispensaries and industry community, and Marijuana Policy Project coming together talking about alternatives.”

They are backed by the Marijuana Policy Project, which has passed legislation across the country for 20 years.
Alfaro said, “They have been changing laws regarding marijuana all across the country.”

DENVER, CO (KDVR/CNN) - Grow4Vets has been handing out cannabis to military veterans for a year in Colorado.

But the state's medical board has just ruled not to recognize marijuana as a treatment for PTSD.

High There! a cannabis-sharing social network teamed up with Grow4Vets to host an impromptu rally on their Save a Million Vets Tour.

“Now we've created a tour around the country called the Save a Million Vets Tour," Co-founder and CEO of High There! Todd Mitchem said.

Veterans lined up early in Rino's Taxi district, most wearing their colors, letting folks know where they served.

Mitchem came up with the first social sharing network for cannabis users. Now he is partnering with Grow4Vets, helping vets get medication.

Jodi Lenz prepares medical marijuana for packaging at Mohave Green medical marijuana dispensary in Arizona.

More residents on Thursday expressed disapproval over proposed costs of license fees associated with Guam’s new medical marijuana program.

The public hearing at the Guam Legislature was the second in a three-day series of hearings concerning proposed regulations for the program. Island voters approved the use of medical marijuana in last year’s General Election.

“I can’t charge $1,000 for a red velvet cookie! That’s just unacceptable,” said Andrea Pellacani, spokeswoman for Grassroots Guam. “At these rates, how many patients would even sign up for the program?”

Cannabis is going global fast – Italy’s Parliament just voted for a legalized, regulated cannabis market, Denmark’s youth is consuming cannabis in droves but it’s no gateway, and the United Kingdom just reached a record high number of supporters for legalization in the isles. On this side of the pond, United States lawmakers are thinking ahead and making plans that could change the game completely. We’ve got the latest in cannabis legalization efforts:

U.S. Cannabis Updates

NATIONWIDE

Arizona courts appear at odds over the possible impact of legalized medical marijuana on the ability of police to conduct searches prompted solely by officers smelling the drug.

In one case, a three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that a police search of a man's car during a traffic stop was permissible because an officer smelled burnt marijuana.

The panel rejected a defense argument that legalized medical marijuana means police must assume that any marijuana they smell or see is lawful until shown otherwise.

However, a different panel of the same court ruled Monday in a different case that legalization of medical marijuana means circumstances other than mere possession now determine whether there's a legal basis for a search.

PHOENIX -- Just days after three judges one division of the Court of Appeals said the smell of marijuana is not enough for a search, a second panel in another division have reached a contrary conclusion.

The judges on Thursday upheld the actions by police officers who searched a vehicle they had stopped after detecting the smell of burnt marijuana. That search yielded what police said was a "marble size'' quantity of the unburnt drug.

An attorney for Ian H. Cheatham argued that once voters approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, the smell of burnt marijuana, absent more, is no longer evidence that a crime is being committed. And that, he argued, made the search illegal.

PHOENIX — The smell of marijuana is no longer enough in Arizona for police to get a warrant and come busting down the door, the state Court of Appeals has ruled.

In a split decision, the judges acknowledged that the odor of the plant, whether fresh or freshly smoked, was enough to provide police with probable cause that a crime was taking place. And that provided the basis to go to a judge to seek permission to enter where the smell was coming from.

But Judge Peter Eckerstrom, writing for the majority, said that changed in 2010 when voters approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.

At the Cannabis Club Collective in Tacoma, Wash., Brian Caldwell has installed a top-of-the-line alarm system, motion sensors and a safe, hoping to protect the cash he collects from the 200-plus customers who buy marijuana at his store on an average day.

“We pretty much had to make a bank within our walls,” he said.

And at Auntie Dolores, a marijuana edibles shop in Oakland, Calif., Julianna Carella uses pouches to bag up her cash at the end of the day, then sticks it in her trunk, feeling nervous as she drives away.

“It’s actually a huge headache to have to deal with all that cash. . . . It’s horrible,” she said.

Andrew Collins no longer has a cocktail of 17 prescriptions coursing through his body.

The Army combat veteran stared death in the face while serving two tours of Iraq in the 2000s. He now battles post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his wartime experiences.

The Olympia veteran has tried medications, meditation and hypnosis while adapting to the stresses of life in the civilian world. But more than any other treatment, Collins says marijuana has helped him cope with the psychological trauma he carries around — trauma that at times has filled his head with aggression and suicidal thoughts.

“I smoke a joint and the thoughts are gone,” said Collins, 30.

Early research suggests that CBD, a substance naturally found in marijuana, is an effective treatment for minimizing the inflammation experienced by asthma sufferers.

The research study found that the studied rats treated with CBD experienced a reduction in two types of cytokines, known as Tp and Th2. In addition to showing that CBD treatment was effective in reducing cytokine levels, the study also suggests that CBD may influence a reduction in the major stimuli of mucus hyper-secretion, another prominent symptom experienced by those with asthma.