GRAND BLANC, MI – Bella Chinonis can't talk. She can't walk, chew or play like most children her age. The 6-year-old Grand Blanc girl couldn't even stand until a few months ago.

Her days have consisted of seizures lasting anywhere from 2 to 27 minutes and taking multiple prescription medications for problems she's been dealing with since she was born.

Her mother, Ida Chinonis, says it wasn't until Bella was introduced to cannabis oil that things started turning around for her little girl.

"She can stand now. She responds to voices and she loves the movie 'Frozen.' She didn't do that before and the only thing different we are doing is giving her medical marijuana."

Washington State, Washington, D.C. and Colorado have blazed the trail for ending prohibition.

Through legal means these areas have adopted the recreational use of marijuana, freed the market for patients, opened the flood gates for entrepreneurs, and tax revenue for the states and districts. Based on research we have complied a list of states that will be vying for ending prohibition and legalization. With an election coming in 2016 all of these states on the list are going to have a measure on the ballot regarding marijuana. These are exciting times, friends. If you live in one of these states, be on the look out in November 2016 to vote for the right thing for our country. Enjoy.

1. California

Two Michigan groups hoping to legalize marijuana in Michigan can begin collecting signatures to put the question on the 2016 ballot after a state elections board signed off on the groups' petition language.

Michigan Public Radio’s Lansing reporter Jake Neher tells us that while the groups both want to legalize the possession, use, production, and distribution of marijuana for individuals over the age of 21, they disagree on a lot of the details.

Neher says the main difference is how each group wants to approach regulation.

A history of cannabis use is inversely correlated with diabetes mellitus, according to an epidemiological review published online ahead of print in the journal Epidemiology.

Investigators at Michigan State University, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics performed a meta-analytic study assessing cannabis use and diabetes in the general population.

“Recently active cannabis smoking and diabetes mellitus are inversely associated,” they determined. Authors estimated that subjects with a history of cannabis use were about 30 percent less likely to have diabetes compared to non-using subjects.

By a margin of 20 percent, a majority of Michigan voters supports legalization of small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use, as two competing groups race to put the issue on the November 2016 ballot.

Support for legalization topped 56 percent in a statewide poll conducted June 9-11 by the Glengariff Group Inc. and released exclusively to The Detroit News and WDIV-TV.

Among 600 likely 2016 general election voters, opposition to ending Michigan's decades-old cannabis prohibition was just under 36 percent.

"The issue is in a position to win," said pollster Richard Czuba, president of the Chicago-based Glengariff Group. "This has a chance, but it's not an easy campaign."

LANSING, MI — Multiple groups seeking to legalize marijuana in Michigan are hoping to put ballot proposals before voters in 2016, which means residents could be asked to sign multiple petitions this summer.

Two groups have already won approval from the Board of State Canvassers to begin circulating petitions for initiated legislation as they each attempt to collect the required 252,523 signatures. A third group is considering a possible petition drive of its own.

Michigan would legalize the recreational use of marijuana under two proposed initiatives for which advocates will soon begin collecting voter signatures.

The Board of State Canvassers approved the legalization petition forms Thursday. The advocacy groups need about 253,000 valid signatures each to put the bills before the Republican-led Legislature.

The measures, which would allow the possession or use of marijuana by those 21 and older, would go to a statewide vote in November 2016 if lawmakers did not act.

The Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team prides itself on investigating cases that win many a conviction. A mere sticky note almost closed this case — until the Michigan Supreme Court saw it.

All that stood between a mother of two young children and a felony drug record after an Oakland County narcotics team raided their home was a sticky note.

More specifically — how would the courts view this Holly Village woman who'd jotted a few words and a date on a small adhesive-backed note? The words were to remind her husband of when it would be time to harvest the medical marijuana that he used for a health condition.

The Board of State Canvassers approved petition wording Thursday for two measures to legalize marijuana that could appear on the November 2016 state ballot.

LANSING – Two measures to legalize marijuana could appear on the November 2016 state ballot after the Board of State Canvassers approved petition wording Thursday.

At least one and possibly two more measures to legalize marijuana for recreational use could still be on their way to the ballot.