In the final days of the 2015 legislative session, Gov. John Hickenlooper's office asked for a $300,000 earmark to fund a crackdown on toxic pesticides being used in legal marijuana grows in Colorado.

It was a last-minute scramble in response to a very real health and safety issue associated with the state's burgeoning recreational pot industry. And it typifies the frenetic frenzy with which lawmakers have attempted to get a handle on pot since voters opened the door to recreational marijuana stores in 2012.

"It's been pretty vexing. We've made headway more rapidly than we thought," Hickenlooper said. "It's hard to take something that's never been done before from scratch and create a regulatory framework."

Potlines is an app that will send users an alert as to differing state marijuana laws.

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2015 – Marijuana is already legal for medical and recreational use in the District of Columbia. Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Colorado also allow recreational use and possession of cannabis.

Twenty-three states from Maine to California allow medical marijuana use. But if you are taking a road trip from the NorthEastern shore to Southern California, there are a lot of states in between where marijuana is still illegal.

The laws are constantly changing and  the laws for use and possession in those states is not uniform.

And ignorance of the law is not a legal defense.

Colorado is the first state to legalize recreational use of marijuana. CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker reports from the Mile High City that pot is now a part of the everyday culture. He was invited to a marijuana food and wine party in downtown Denver. Whitaker, a middle-aged African American man leaning against a banister with his arms folded in front of him, stood out at the event. He said the event catered to young professionals.

De Beque is little more than an outpost nestled along I-70 as it winds its way through the rugged hills of western Colorado. Clearly visible from the highway is the quirky façade of Kush Gardens, the first recreational pot shop to be approved in Mesa County.

DENVER -

CBSNEWS - Colorado is one of 23 states where medical marijuana is legal. Some human patients swear by it, but is pot OK for your ailing pets?

CBS Denver station KCNC reports there are some cannabis-containing products now on the market specially designed for cats and dogs.

With the increase of medical marijuana legalization around the country, traditional media has begun playing a more critical role in sharing the success stories of patients across the country. Since Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s first special covering cannabis almost two years ago, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of coverage from major networks including reality shows from National Geographic and a look into the “green rush” from CNBC.

Colorado will repeal sales taxes on marijuana Sept. 16, thanks to a quirk in the state's constitution.

The one-time-only holiday from the 10 percent state sales tax on recreational pot is likely to generate buzz in the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana.

The little-noticed provision is part of a larger bill that Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law Thursday that includes a ballot initiative in November and a permanent tax cut on recreational pot sales in 2017.

"This fiscal glitch that we have with the constitution ... that's part of the magic of living in Colorado," the Democratic governor said.

Denver’s housing market is on fire. Home prices have shot up by double-digits, inventory has fallen dramatically and multiple offers with bidding wars have become common.

One factor driving the demand: pot. The budding industry has impacted home prices since the state legalized marijuana in 2012.

“There has been a huge bump in real estate prices due to the legalization of marijuana,” according to James Paine, managing partner at West Realty Advisors. “It’s massively pushed up raw land and industry prices.”

In March, Denver experienced the second-largest jump in annual home prices at 10%, just behind San Francisco, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

A radio format geared to pot enthusiasts bowed Monday in Denver as Smokin’ 94.1 FM. Picking up the format from Bubba the Love Sponge out of Tampa, Fla., the station is also on 1550 AM. The details:

Bubba the Love Sponge “loves weed, fast cars, hot girls and rock music” — and that’s why Colorado station owner Mark Paskin of Marco Broadcasting adds Tampa-based Bubba for mornings, starting today. Bubba is equally enthusiastic (and quotable) — “Rock music and smoking pot (as you can do legally in Colorado) have historically gone together like peanut butter and jelly.”

Benjamin Rasmussen didn’t set out to become “the pot photographer.” It just sort of happened.

Rasmussen became something of a visual authority on the burgeoning marijuana industry after shooting a story for The New York Times in 2010. His direct, almost clinical photographs depicted legalized marijuana with candor and respect. The images were not what you’d expect when thinking about marijuana, and attracted the attention of one media outlet after another. In the years since, he has documented everything from medical dispensaries to manufacturing facilities.