Normally, when a company based in one state wants to sell products in another state, it starts calling truckers. For Strainz, a Las Vegas marijuana company, it was more complicated.

By early 2015, Strainz’s owners knew they wanted to expand to Colorado and Washington, the states with the most normalized marijuana markets. Despite state laws that allow the sale of marijuana, it remains a federal criminal offense to ship it across state lines. And as Nevada residents, the ­husband-and-wife co-founders weren’t eligible to apply for business licenses in either state.

I have no idea whether the clerical staff at the United Nations chose to schedule this year's General Assembly Special Session on Narcotic Drugs (UNGASS) during 420 week as some kind of wry commentary or winking joke, but the timing feels right; there's a certain harmony between a global holiday to celebrate cannabis civil disobedience and a reform agenda to de-escalate the global drug war. 

Yes, you read that right: after decades of impotent rhetoric describing a fictional "world without drugs," the United Nations is coming together, even as you read this, to work out a ceasefire on the War on Drugs.

With medical marijuana now legal in 23 states — and recreational weed legal in four — the conversation about pot will only continue to buzz. Soon, weed as research, as medicine, and as business may no longer be a taboo topic.

But what parts of the country talk the most about marijuana? Denver may be the first to come to mind, since it was the first to legalize recreational use, but a new report from Aizman Law Firm finds this isn’t always the case. The law firm decided to see what U.S. cities mentioned weed on social media the most, so it analyzed geotagged Instagram posts hashtagged with the phrases #weed, #maryjane, #marijuana, or #420.

Each medical marijuana company in New York is allowed to produce up to five different strains of the drug. The oils, tinctures and capsules are generally labeled by different colors or brand names, and, in some cases, both.

Vireo Health of New York, for instance, uses a red, yellow and green traffic-signal-like system for three of its strains. Below is some information about the broad spectrum of marijuana-based drugs based on that traffic signal system:

ALBANY - Citing flaws in the state's current rules, advocates for medical marijuana traveled to the state Capitol on Tuesday to push lawmakers to support loosening New York's restrictions.

The advocates joined with Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, to push for a series of changes to the state's program, including a bill that would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to recommend cannabis-based medications.

Some of New York’s top doctors spent countless hours last year examining Andrew Greenspan.

His constant pain and dangerously high fevers had them baffled. At one point, they quarantined him in fear of tropical diseases.

A team of neurologists finally cracked the medical mystery: Greenspan, then 23, had a rare mix of autism, spinal injuries and other illnesses with bleak treatment options.

When a risky spinal surgery failed last year, he launched an uncertain regimen of painkillers and other drugs, while dreading his next emergency room trip.

BOSTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has derided The Boston Globe as “stupid” and “worthless” in response to a satirical front page printed by the newspaper Sunday that lampoons a potential Trump presidency.

The fake front page is dated April 9, 2017, and its main story is about Trump calling for deportations. Another article mentions work being halted on a wall at the Mexico border. There’s also a short item about backlash Trump received after tweeting a photo of his new dog he named “Madame Peng,” after China’s first lady Peng Liyuan.

The Boston Globe's mock front page.

From Maine to Miami, supporters of the cannabis movement are going to pass a torch symbolically shaped as a joint to garner support and show a united front in the fight to legalize marijuana.

It’s organized by the East Coast Cannabis Coalition (ECCC) and the so-called Unity Cypher begins its journey in Portland, Maine on April 14th, making  stops in NH, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, ME, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, and FL. Along the way, organizers promise an appearance (and great photo op) at the United National General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in New York City on April 19 and the National Cannabis Festival in Washington D.C. on April 23.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and one of the most recognized speakers in drug-policy circles, doesn’t mince words when he gets up to talk at marijuana industry events. “Frankly,” he often says, “I am not interested in meeting most you.” The only people he wants to talk to, he tells his audiences, are those who are going to make a lot of money in the new marijuana industry in an ethical way and are interested in certain social issues that could make them ideal foot soldiers in the wider struggle against the global war on drugs.

In the six weeks since nine-year-old Haley Hilt began taking medical marijuana, her mother has already seen improvement.

Haley’s movements have become more purposeful. She’s more mobile. She’s trying to feed herself, and attempting to crawl. She’s able to stretch out her arm and give hugs and kisses, and she’s better at locating objects with the special computer she uses at school.

Most importantly, she’s having fewer seizures — between one and two per week, down from five to seven.

“It’s almost surreal,” Melissa Hilt told me, on a recent visit to their East Schodack home. “It’s like we’ve really gotten to know who she is during the past month. She’s blossomed.”