Oregon and Washington state lawmakers are making another try at introducing a new crop to the Northwest: Industrial hemp, the non-drug cousin of marijuana.

For the fourth year in a row, the Washington Legislature is considering whether to legalize hemp farming. The initial, lopsided votes in favor suggest this might be the session it happens.

Hemp produces oil seed and fiber that processors turn into a wide range of goods from clothing and food to body care products and biofuels. Several hemp advocates testified Tuesday in separate public hearings in Salem and Olympia that the plant can even be used in building construction.

On their 42-acre farm, Jacques and his team are strain-testing and formulating customizable cannabis oils for individual patients.

Walking into one of the grow rooms on Adam Jacques’ farm outside of Eugene, Oregon, you will find dozens of cannabis plants and a whiteboard on the wall with the note “Do it for Frank” across the top. This is a reminder of why Jacques and his team are growing medical marijuana: To help people.

Bills to eliminate residency requirements for pot business ownership, give lenders legal protections and combine medical and recreational cannabis retail outlets all moved forward easily in the Oregon Legislature last week, though none have yet become law.

While all relate to cannabis, the three bills seek to achieve a variety of outcomes for the young industry.

Whether your favorite Girl Scout cookie is a Samoa, Tagalong, or Thin Mint, everyone knows their sugary goodness is the perfect cure for the munchies.

That’s what led one enterprising Girl Scout to sell her cookies outside a Portland pot shop this weekend in the hopes of raising enough money for a summer trip to horse camp.

Along with her aunt, the Girl Scout set up her cookie stand outside Foster Buds Marijuana Dispensary in Portland and quickly sold more than 35 boxes. According to KATU 2 News, customers started lining up almost immediately.

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.

One year ago, I was 30 years old, leading a $100-million-plus business as head of an Asia-Pacific-wide sales team for Google, and making more money than I ever imagined. I had lived in New York, San Francisco, Bangkok and Singapore, and travelled to over 50 countries. All this because six years before, I landed my dream job at Google in corporate strategy.

I found myself on a secondment in Ghana developing national Internet infrastructure. On my way to a voodoo ceremony with a Ghanian tour guide, I reflected on my career path, admitting to him that I’d lost focus and felt unfulfilled. What he told me changed the course of my life: “You either work on something you love, or work because it supports the people you love.”

That’s when I quit Google.

Nearly a fourth of Oregon's medical marijuana dispensaries selling the drug recreationally are not registered to pay taxes on those sales.

The Register-Guard reports dispensaries have until Feb. 29 to pay a 25 percent sales tax on January recreational marijuana sales.

As of Thursday, 245 out of 320 dispensaries selling recreational pot had set up accounts with the state Department of Revenue.

Oregon Department of Revenue spokeswoman Joy Krawczyk says the department expects an upswing in registrations as the deadline nears.

Many medical marijuana dispensaries are temporarily selling the drug for recreational use. Licenses for those looking to sell recreational marijuana alone will not be issued until the fall.

As the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs seek to become the first in the state to sell reservation-grown marijuana, they have looked out of state for help with growing and selling their new cash crop.

That’s where Sentinel-Strainwise comes in. Just created in May, the joint venture between Florida-based investment group Sentinel Capital Partners and Strainwise Inc., a corporation that provides consultation, services and support to marijuana cultivators and dispensaries in Colorado and elsewhere, was sought out by the tribes last year.

The Oregon Department of Revenue says nearly a quarter of the recreational marijuana dispensaries haven't registered to pay the first installment tax on pot sales.

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon U.S. Attorney's Office says an Ashland man was sentenced to two years in prison for laundering the money he made from selling marijuana.       

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken sentenced 35-year-old Jonathan Robert Quaccia last week. She also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release once he's out.       

Prosecutors say between 2012 and 2014, Quaccia shipped marijuana from California to New York and Georgia for sale. Money from those sales was deposited in bank accounts held by Oregon residents.       

Those residents were recruited by Quaccia and co-defendant Matthew Correa. They would withdraw the funds and give the money to Correa who would pass it on to Quaccia.