Nine years ago, Alex Rogers, co-owner of Marijuana Politics, was released from a German prison, where he had finished serving a six-month sentence for cannabis related offenses. He was 35 years old and completely broke. He had been living in Europe for seven years and upon his release from prison, decided to move back to the United States, to, as he puts it, “get my shit together”. And, get his shit together he did. A year and a half after returning to the states, Rogers graduated magna cum laude in Political Science from Southern Oregon University.

Marijuana businesses remain against the law in Umatilla County.

The county board of commissioners voted 3-0 Wednesday in favor of continuing the moratorium on medicinal marijuana dispensaries and other pot-related businesses. The local law went into effect as soon as the board adopted it.

The vote came during a public hearing and supported the recommendation from the county’s marijuana study committee, which also wanted the county board to adopt new land use regulations. The board also plans to do that.

Commissioner and board chair George Murdock said no one spoke against the moratorium, which the board first implemented in April 2014. That shut down the two medicinal pot dispensaries that were operating in the county’s jurisdiction.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is warning marijuana growers to stop using illegal pesticides, while the state scrambles to put together a list of acceptable chemicals.

The federal government puts pesticides through tests that determine in what context a chemical may be used in agriculture and how much may be used. Those accepted uses are then listed on the label of the pesticide.

However, because cannabis is an illegal substance according to federal laws, there are no approved pesticides to use in marijuana cultivation. So, while many growers use pesticides, the application is technically against the law.

Are you a government official who yearns for the good old days of marijuana prohibition? Do you feel out of place in an era of voter-approved legalization, grow clubs, and pot shops? My, how the world has changed! But you can feed your nostalgia for busts and streetcorner deals even while "respecting" the public's desire to legalize the stuff. All you have to do is pile so many taxes and regulations on the now officially sanctioned product that it's still cheaper and easier for people to buy their dope on the black market. Everybody wins!

At the newly opened Capitol Hemp shop in Adams Morgan, $50 can buy a small pipe, a bag of hemp pretzels and some 24-karat-gold rolling paper. Or, you could blow the whole amount on a Bud Bug.

“This is by far the weirdest thing we sell at the store,” Capitol Hemp’s co-owner Adam Eidinger said as he pulled a box down from a shelf. Inside was a colorful, oversize mechanical insect that grinds clumps of marijuana as it scoots across the floor, leaving a trail of finely ground cannabis in its path.

“As I said, we sell hard-to-find pieces,” Eidinger quipped.

Monday marked the first day that Capitol Hemp was open for business in D.C.’s era of legalized marijuana. The official grand opening is Wednesday, featuring free hemp ice cream for customers.

SAN JOSE, Calif., -- As Green Technology Solutions, Inc. GTSO, +5.50% readies new products and services for entry into Oregon’s adult-use cannabis market, experts now say that the state’s cannabis industry could be worth nearly $500 million by 2020.

Oregon residents will be able to buy marijuana for recreational use starting in October, about a year earlier than originally expected, under a new law backers hope will help curb the black market, state officials said on Wednesday.

The law, signed Monday by Democratic Governor Kate Brown, will effectively let adults visit existing medical-use marijuana dispensaries in the state to buy certain strains just to get stoned.

Possessing and growing pot became legal in July after voter approval in a November referendum, and the state expects to start accepting applications in January for recreational pot retail stores likely to open by the fall.

For years, the World Famous Cannabis Café in Portland offered medical marijuana patients the chance to socialize and smoke.

Starting Friday, anyone 21 and older can walk into the club and light up.

The hitch: You'll have to bring your own pot. Patrons, who will pay $10 to get in, can share but not sell cannabis at the café, said owner Madeline Martinez.

Call it BYOB or BYOD, said Martinez, a longtime political activist and fixture of Oregon's marijuana community. "Bring your own bud and bring your own dabs," she said.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown speaks at the state capital building in Salem, Oregon, February 20, 2015. Reuters/Steve Dipaola

Oregon residents will be able to buy marijuana for recreational use starting in October, about a year earlier than originally expected, under a new law backers hope will help curb the black market, state officials said on Wednesday. 

The law, signed Monday by Democratic Governor Kate Brown, will effectively let adults visit existing medical-use marijuana dispensaries in the state to buy certain strains just to get stoned.

Possessing and growing pot became legal in July after voter approval in a November referendum, and the state expects to start accepting applications in January for recreational pot retail stores likely to open by the fall.

PORTLAND, Ore., July 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaya Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: KAYS) announced today that it has signed a lease on a 6,000 square foot facility in central Portland to serve as the Company's expanded Marijuana and Cannabis Manufacturing Complex and West Coast Operations Base.

The Company will consolidate Kaya Farms and the newly acquired assets of OC Harley Gardens, including equipment, plants and all related licenses into the new facility for a substantially expanded Grow with significantly increased volume capacities. The Grow will continue uninterrupted to produce high quality, connoisseur-grade marijuana, as the expansion occurs to prepare the Company for the October 1st commencement of recreational sales in Oregon.