MCALLEN, Texas – A previously deported illegal alien from Mexico who had been convicted in the U.S. in connection with a large marijuana plantation is back in the U.S. and in handcuffs.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 42-year-old Victorino Betancourt Meraz earlier this week in the border city of Encino, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed.

During questioning, Betancourt Meraz told agents that he had illegally crossed into the U.S over the weekend. Authorities did a records check on the illegal alien and discovered that he had been deported on May 7 through El Paso, Texas.

Nothing is more suspect than a man in a suit talking about drugs. Unless he's your attorney, he's inevitably police. And even if he's not literal law enforcement, he'd flip in an instant if you got caught with a brick of cocaine, weed, or insider information about Sour Diesel futures.

Pope Francis criticized the global War on Drugs in his address to the United Nations on Friday. While the Catholic Church’s Vicar of Christ did not prescribe specific solutions, he spoke plainly the shortcomings of efforts to combat drug trafficking and the effects on everyday citizens.

Cannabis is a plant that can be used in a wide range of settings such as medical purposes, a source of fiber and oils, or as a recreational drug. Growing evidence has been reported on the clinical benefits of medical marijuana (herbal form) for treating chronic pain. Currently, several countries in the world and almost half of all U.S. states authorize the use of medicinal marijuana.

The biggest winner to emerge from the 2015 TechCrunch Disrupt SF battlefield is pot.

Two companies working closely with the legal marijuana industry took the event’s Disrupt Cup as well as Runner-Up awards on Wednesday,the Upstart Business Journalreports.

Brooklyn-based company Agrilystwon the Disrupt Cup in the end for a service that helps greenhouse operators grow more efficiently through precise data gathered from sensors set up throughout the indoor grow area itself.

e cannabis industry is the latest trend that Silicon Valley companies are investing in, and for good reason.

Venture capitalists, or private investors who provide venture capital to promising business ventures, are really starting to see the green that this industry is creating. With four states utilizing the recreational use of marijuana, there is certainly profit to be made.

Venture capitalists are looking for any kind of tech company to make it easier to acquire or grow the product, and maybe even lead the tech-marijuana industry. Some of the cannabis-focused technology includes mobile apps, search engines, and on-demand services.

Meadow and Eaze are medical marijuana delivery services, intending on becoming the Uber of cannabis.

The 2016 Election is not that far away, especially for campaigns. Signature deadlines vary across the country, but they will be up sooner than later. Campaigns are working very hard to get marijuana legalization on the ballot in many states, some having better chances than others of making it on the ballot. I was hopeful that over a dozen states would make the ballot in 2016, and maybe there will be some significant changes that help some states catch up. But for now, below are the states that I feel will make the ballot, and in the case of Nevada, already have made the ballot:

California

Mary Jane Rathbun was beloved among patients with AIDS at San Francisco General Hospital in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As a volunteer, she took them for X-rays, filed their prescriptions — and supplied them with marijuana-laced brownies to alleviate their debilitating pain and wasting symptoms.

Proponents' claims about the medical benefits of marijuana are outpacing the evidence.

How cannabis spread around the world 

There can be little doubt that, today, cannabis is a major talking point throughout many societies around the world, and legal or not, it is used by individuals in the majority of countries across the globe.

The medical and recreational use of marijuana is nothing new – its history goes back tens of thousands of years. But how did cannabis go from standard plant to a much-used recreational drug? How did it spread around the world and establish itself as the controversial substance it is today? And when did it become banned in much of the world?

An Indian tribe’s plans to harvest and distribute medical marijuana in Ukiah was nipped in the bud this week when Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies seized hundreds of plants at two properties, officials said Wednesday.

Days after deputies investigating an activated burglar alarm found a group of people loading marijuana from the Pinoleville Pomo Nation tribal lands into a building about a mile away, investigators executed two search warrants and seized hundreds of plants.