Panaxia has devised a method of extracting precise dosages of medical cannabis.

Israel generic drugs and medical devices company Panaxia has signed an agreement with Ultra Health, the leading medical cannabis distribution company in New Mexico, to build a cannabis processing plant. The plant will be built on one of Ultra Health's farms in New Mexico, and its products will be marketed in the US by Ultra Health.

Panaxia said that the six-month pilot project would include a commitment to buying merchandise for $250,000. Ultra Health operates in five US states besides New Mexico, providing potential growth for Panaxia's business. At the same time, Panaxia is also negotiating similar agreements with other US growers.

Former New Mexico Gov. and 2016 Libertarian White House hopeful Gary Johnson says he thinks President Obama is going to remove marijuana from the government’s “Schedule I” list of narcotics considered particularly harmful and addictive on his way out of office.

“It’s going to be just like alcohol,” Mr. Johnson told The Washington Times Tuesday. “I’m going to predict that Obama, when he leaves office, is going to deschedule marijuana as a Class I narcotic. I wish he would have done that to this point, but I think he’s going to do that going out the door. That’s a positive.”

Does your state make the list?

Which are the marijuana-friendliest states in the nation? Where would a pot person want to buy a home and settle down?

The online national real estate search site Estately has taken a crack at answering those burning questions. The site's blog's Ultimate Lists cranks out all sorts of creative comparative data—cities with the most romantic homes for sale, states with the most pizza—and now it's done the same with weed. 

Ever wonder how your state stands up to the others in terms of marijuana tolerance? We don't mean how much your state can smoke, but how tolerant the locals are toward cannabis. The real-estate website Estately has the answer. 

Using specialized metrics, they put together rankings for all 50 states in their "Marijuana Enthusiasm Index." The criteria are: the percentage of monthly marijuana users, the average price of cannabis, the average number of marijuana-related Google searches, the legal status of marijuana and expressions of public interest (based on Facebook user data). 

Here are five interesting findings.

While it's still controversial, medical marijuana is edging toward normality. Forty states (and the District of Columbia) now have some form of law on the books that allow the drug to be used for a variety of ailments, and sales are soaring— reaching $5.4 billion in 2015.

That doesn't mean it's widely available in all of those states, of course. Some, like Alabama and South Carolina, have extremely strict circumstances under which cannabidiol products can be prescribed, and still forbid the production and distribution of the drug. And even in states where it's easier to come by, there are differences in how it's handled.

Voters in 20 U.S. states could potentially legalize some form of cannabis use in the November 2016 election — part of a historic backlash to the century-old war on marijuana.

According to Ballotpedia, the encyclopedia of American politics, activists have submitted ballot measures for public vote in: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

New Mexico won't follow the lead of Colorado and other Western states that have legalized marijuana as a recreational drug, at least not this year.

State senators on Sunday night voted 24-17 against a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed people 25 and older to buy and smoke marijuana. The measure also would have legalized industrial hemp, a cousin of the marijuana plant, that has myriad commercial uses.

All 18 Republicans and six Democrats voted against the proposal to legalize marijuana and hemp after a debate lasting about 40 minutes. Both advocates and opponents of the marijuana measure used crime as their leading argument.

In an unprecedented move doctors in Colorado are treating a 2-month old baby with cannabis oil at Children's Hospital Colorado.

The Nunez family of Albuquerque, New Mexico travelled to Denver seeking treatment for their daughter, Amylea who was born in December and started suffering from seizures immediately after birth. She was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy.

Eric Howard takes great pride in his “ladies,” each of which can yield up to 16 ounces of medical cannabis in a 16-week life cycle.

“They get so heavy, they fall over right at the end,” said Howard, master grower at an 11-acre growing facility in Bernalillo owned by Ultra Health LLC. A trellis system is needed to support the heavy flowering branches of the mature plants.

Howard urges a visitor to feel one of the dense flowers, which leaves a sticky resin on the fingers.

A proposal to legalize marijuana advanced from the Senate Rules Committee Wednesday morning, in a fashion that even a key supporter found surprising.

Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, presenting marijuana legalization to the Senate Rules Committee.

The Senate Rules Committee initially voted against a do-pass motion, which would send the proposed constitutional amendment to the Senate Judiciary Committee with a recommendation to pass. The vote was on party lines with Democrats in favor and Republicans against; there were an equal number of each in the committee Wednesday.

Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, then asked for a do-pass with no recommendation. Sen. Ted Barela, R-Estancia, joined all Democrats present and voted for the legislation.