In Montana, a man was arrested for possessing about as much marijuana as it would take to roll a joint. Montana is a fairly conservative state, so it's not a surprise. But what was surprising is when it came time to fill the jury slots, the judge could not find one single person willing to convict a man over a small amount of marijuana. And it continues to show the ridiculousness of marijuana laws throughout the U.S.:

In next year’s election, Montana voters could be deciding whether to legalize marijuana, ban marijuana completely or allow concealed handguns at schools.

Those are just a few of the many proposals for voter initiatives that are in the works for the 2016 election.

County election officials began accepting signed petitions for constitutional and statutory ballot measures Oct. 19. Signatures can be submitted until June 17 to make the ballot.

Measures that qualify will receive appointed committees in July to draft pro and con statements. The arguments, and the rebuttals, will be published in the official voter information pamphlet in October.

Legalize recreational marijuana

Unless state lawmakers get ahead of their constituents on legalization, they face a potential regulatory nightmare.

KALISPELL, Montana — In a retrofitted garage in his suburban backyard, Mike Eacker tends to his marijuana plants while he waits to see whether his crop will continue to turn a profit.

For Eacker and other growers here in Montana, there is uncertainty as they anticipate the outcome of a state Supreme Court case that could effectively end commercial sales of medical marijuana and render their businesses unprofitable.

Alaska

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Alaska include:

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Nausea
• Muscle spasms
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain
• Seizures

For a complete list of qualifying conditions and guidelines, please refer to Alaska’s application for medical marijuana registry

Arizona

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Arizona include:

Alaska cannabis businesses can sell you a hoodie, so long as the transaction is being recorded in high-definition.

The Alaska Marijuana Control Board covered allowable advertising strategies or retail dispensaries, as well as security protocol last week, on the second day of an extra meeting to consider draft regulations.

Board Director Cynthia Franklin argued Montana's greatest mistake was allowing too much advertising for medical marijuana. Montana legalized medicinal marijuana in 2004 only to have a ballot initiative introduced in 2014 to recriminalize it. This followed a ballooning industry that roused the ire of the state legislators and a 36 percent minority of the population who hadn't supported legal medicinal marijuana in the first place.

Each year some 300 people in Montana die from prescription drug overdose. Hundreds more become addicted to the strongest opiates developed to date.

To their credit, Attorney General Tim Fox and many health officials are spearheading a drive to reduce those numbers. They have developed a program costing $1.5 million to that end. We do, in fact, have an epidemic on our hands.

However, at the same time, Fox is spending taxpayer dollars to fight to abolish a program that could help stem the tide of prescription painkiller deaths. Namely our once functioning medical marijuana program approved by voter initiative by a margin of 60 percent in 2004.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Gone are the flashing green neon lights on street corners advertising $200 ounces of marijuana in Billings and Butte and beyond. Gone are the traveling cannabis caravans of doctors infamous for signing up hundreds of medical marijuana hopefuls in a single day.

The vast majority of the nearly 30,000 patients and 4,900 providers that once flooded this state of just more than 1 million people have been driven out of Montana’s medical marijuana program, which was first legalized in 2004.

WHITEFISH, MT / ACCESSWIRE / July 16, 2015 / There are many different ways to profit from the burgeoning cannabis industry, ranging from GrowBLOX Sciences Inc.'s (OTCQB: GBLX) growing solutions to Medbox Inc.'s (OTCQB: MDBX) dispensing technologies to Cannabis Science Inc.'s (OTCQB: CBIS) focus on the medicinal properties of the plant, but cannabis testing could be the most compelling.

Cannabis testing is expected to generate close to a billion dollars in revenue by 2020, according to a new report by GreenWave Advisors, a comprehensive independent research firm focused on the emerging legal cannabis industry.

Many states are facing numerous deadlines for legislation, but the marijuana movement keeps progressing through it all. A major cannabis banking bill is making waves, Alaska’s recreational lawmakers just released regulations, and Chile is on the verge of decriminalization. To top it off, Crimean authorities just discovered an island covered for miles with cannabis, as far as the eye can see. We’ve got the latest in cannabis legalization updates – are you in the know?

U.S. Cannabis Updates

NATIONAL

HELENA (AP) — A Glendive man is proposing a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana for adults over 21.

Anthony Varriano submitted proposed language this week that would amend the state constitution to regulate pot and tax it as an industry as well as allow the purchase and possession of limited amounts. It would also require that the first $40 million in revenue raised annually by taxes go toward public schools.

He says the measure is based on Colorado's recreational marijuana law passed by voters in 2012.