HARRISBURG - Overdoses from synthetic marijuana continued to plague Harrisburg last weekend, police said.

Police Sgt. Gabriel Olivera said he didn't have the exact number of victims who overdosed but noted that detectives had a long list of victims Monday with whom they needed to follow up after weekend hospital visits.

Once victims are released from the hospital, he said, investigators try to interview them to determine exactly what they bought and where.

"We're still doing an investigation to see where it's going to lead us," Olivera said. "We're still doing follow-ups from people in the hospital."

Legalized marijuana sales are booming in the U.S., with the industry growing by a whopping 74% last year. Even so, total sales came in less than $3 billion in 2014, according to a report from the ArcView Group, showing that the drug remains in its infancy in terms of its economic potential. 

Source: Wikimedia.

The interesting part from an investing viewpoint, though, is that although the medical marijuana market is expected to grow to over $10 billion by 2018, that figure still pales in comparison to other rapidly growing healthcare segments, such as treatments for severe pain.

Source: Wikimedia.

HARRISBURG (CBS) — Medical marijuana legislation is advancing through the Pennsylvania legislature and the profile of the man leading the charge is not what most people would expect.

State Senator Mike Folmer, a Lebanon County Republican, is not just the sponsor of legislation to legalize medical marijuana, he is passionate about it. That passion, he says, comes from what he has learned about it.

Pennsylvania's medical marijuana proposal underwent some changes before a state Senate panel voted this week to support the measure.

The Senate State Government Committee on Tuesday voted 10-0, with one member not voting, in support of Senate Bill 3.

The measure now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee for review before a vote by the full Senate. Senators last year approved a medical marijuana bill, but the 2013-14 session expired before a House vote.

The Global Marijuana March (GMM) is kicking off at different locations across the world taking place this year on Saturday May 2, 2015 and include marches, meetings, rallies, concerts, festivals and other relevant information and events relating to cannabis.

The Global Marijuana March began in 1999 which have had hundreds of thousands of people participated in over 829 different cities in 72 countries worldwide since its inception.

The Global Marijuana March is a celebration embracing cannabis culture as a personal lifestyle choice. Participants unite to discuss, promote, entertain and educate both consumers and non-consumers alike.

The Medical Cannabis Act is on the State Government Committee's April 21 calendar

State Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, shakes hands with marijuana activists on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg during a September 2014 medical marijuana rally. Folmer's Medical Cannabis Act, or Senate Bill 3, was introduced in the Senate in January. (Mark Walters - York Daily Record/Sunday News)

A bill that would legalize some form of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania will be considered by the Senate State Government Committee on Tuesday, according to the committee's calendar.

Marijuana legalization may not be a top priority of Congress or President Obama, but the American public is certainly doing its best to make it apparent that marijuana is an important issue.

We've seen a complete transformation of the American public's opinion of marijuana and even individual state law over the past two decades. What once was an illegal substance in all 50 states is now legal from the aspect of medical purposes in 23 states, and legal from a recreational, adult-use standpoint in four states.

TRENTON — The co-founder of the medical marijuana dispensary in Egg Harbor Township will appear in court Wednesday to dispute claims he blocked his employees' attempts to join a union in a case that is being watched across the nation.

And this isn't even David Knowlton's biggest problem.

Many marijuana advocates are saying 2016 will be the year for marijuana legalization, thanks in part to a new poll which finds that a majority of voters in several swing stats support legalizing marijuana.

According to the Quinnipiac survey,  55 percent of voters in Florida, 52 percent in Ohio, and 51 percent in Pennsylvania, are in favor of allowing adults “to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use.”

As for Medical Marijuana the numbers are even more staggering, with 84 percent of the voters in Florida and Ohio and 88 percent in Pennsylvania stating that they believe medical marijuana should be legal.

CINCINNATI -- A majority of Ohioans favor making it legal for adults to possess a small amount of marijuana for recreational use, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University .

The poll surveyed voters in three swing states -- Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio -- and found support for legalization of the drug for both medical and recreational use.

Support for medical marijuana in Ohio is overwhelming, according to the poll, at 84-15 percent in favor, while support for allowing adults "to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use" is 52-44 percent.