GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - Applications for permits to open new medical pot dispensaries are increasing as the state prepares to allow the businesses to sell retail marijuana to anyone over 21.

Figures obtained by The Associated Press from the Oregon Public Health Division show that since Measure 91 passed last November, there have been 411 new applications to open medical marijuana dispensaries and 51 since the start of July, when the Legislature voted to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to start selling recreational pot on Oct. 1. There were 203 in the six months before the election.

Donald Morse, a dispensary owner and director of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, says the market is saturated, with three dispensaries recently going out of business.

Applications for permits to open new medical pot dispensaries are increasing as the state prepares to allow the businesses to sell retail marijuana to anyone over 21.

Figures obtained by The Associated Press from the Oregon Public Health Division show that since Measure 91 passed last November, there have been 411 new applications to open medical marijuana dispensaries and 51 since the start of July, when the Legislature voted to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to start selling recreational pot on Oct. 1. There were 203 in the six months before the election.

Donald Morse, a dispensary owner and director of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, says the market is saturated, with three dispensaries recently going out of business.

The Colorado Department of Revenue collects millions of dollars in taxes each month from marijuana businesses around the state. The state collected $9.6 million from sales of retail and medical marijuana in April, bringing the current year through May 1 total to $78 million.

Many of these millions are stuffed into duffel bags and driven to the Department of Revenue to be paid in cash.

“It can be really scary,” said Mike Elliott, the executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group.

After 18 months of full-scale legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado, the federal government and state governments here and elsewhere have not found a solution to providing access to banking to the marijuana 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?

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But manufacturing process, potency have caused concerns

Bend resident Tamara Brost became an Oregon Medical Marijuana Program patient after being diagnosed with cancer in 2011 . The marijuana mitigated some of her symptoms, but smoking aggravated her asthma, and edibles, which can take an hour or more to kick in, didn’t provide immediate pain relief.

Travelers who are 21 years old or older can care up to one ounce of marijuana - the amount that is legal to carry across the state - when boarding flights that take off and land within the state's borders. 

Airport officials said that if a TSA agent finds pot on a person, he or she will notify Port Police, who will then check to see if the passenger is carrying the legal limit, if the person is of age and confirm that the passenger is not traveling outside Oregon. 

The security area of Portland International Airport includes a notice featuring a crossed out marijuana plant and reads, 'Please be advised recreational marijuana is not permitted on flights traveling outside of Oregon'. Travelers are, however, allowed to carry the drug on in-state flights

The friendly skies over Oregon just got a bit friendlier to residents who don’t want to leave their weed at home: Airport officials at Portland International Airport said travelers can now legally board planes with up to an ounce of marijuana — for in-state flights only, of course.

Officials point out that Transportation Security Administration is not focused on finding marijuana, but instead would rather expend energy keeping up with security and safety issues, reports UPI.

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Oregon kicking off on July 1, 2015, there is still one major issue for residents looking to purchase the substance—the fact that they have to wait 15 months until recreational stores are licensed and open for business. This might not be the case anymore, as a bill was passed on July 2 that would allow retail sales as early as October.

An unlikely pair of lawmakers is seeking to promote government research of marijuana.

Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) — who stand on opposite sides of the legalization debate — are co-sponsoring an amendment that would help scientists study medical marijuana.

“Our amendment shows members of Congress with widely varying views on marijuana policy are united in support of building a robust body of scientific information on medical marijuana," said Blumenauer, whose state recently legalized recreational use of the drug.