Arizona's more than 114,000 medical marijuana patients smoked, ate or otherwise consumed more than 29 tons of the drug last year.

That's more than half of a fully-loaded tractor trailer.

Or, looking at it another way, it's the equivalent of more than 58,600 16-ounce bags of Oreos.

That's a 52 percent increase in the amount of pot legally sold in 2015. And the 2015 numbers themselves were double the prior year.

What makes the 2016 figure even more amazing is that the number of medical marijuana users has increased in the past year by less than 35 percent.

Doing the math, that means the average medical marijuana user consumed just under eight ounces of the drug last year, though the odds are some smoked more and some smoked less.

Marijuana's official designation as a Schedule 1 drug — something with "no accepted medical use" — means it is pretty tough to study.

Yet both a growing body of research and numerous anecdotal reports link cannabis with several health benefits, ranging from pain relief to helping with certain forms of epilepsy. In addition, researchers say there are many other potential ways marijuana might affect health that they want to understand better.

In an era when marijuana is gaining legal status from coast to coast, giant joints and big bong rips are out. Microdosing is in.

Marijuana legalization supporters, and other civil rights advocates, have been understandably glued to the attorney general confirmation hearings for Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, but the upcoming nomination to head the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could soon take center stage.

The cannabis-friendly “vacation” of yesteryear was largely spent on the living room couch, far away from prying eyes and prosecution.  

With online services like Bud And Breakfast, which allow you to browse and book 420-friendly accommodations in an Airbnb-like format, today’s cannabis-friendly vacation can be spent in luxe locales across the U.S. and far beyond. And since the Nov. 8 presidential election, when the total number of states with recreational cannabis legislation leapt from four to eight, that scope has only continued to widen.

t's now legal to use marijuana, medically or recreationally, in 28 U.S. states. But many cannabis businesses still can't access the banking system — and that has repercussions far beyond where dispensaries store their cash.

Marijuana remains illegal to buy, sell or possess under federal law. And because most banks are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), they must comply with federal law. A 2014 regulation allowed banks to accept cannabis revenue, but the majority still refuse to do so — and if they learn that a client is depositing theserevenues in an existing account, they often close that account. Entrepreneurs seeking startup money need to turn to private backers.

The bill is designed to crackdown on marijuana sales on Craigslist and other websites.

The Colorado state Senate gave initial approval Monday to a measure designed to crack down on advertisements online for illicit marijuana sales.

The bill — Senate Bill 15 — would create a new criminal offense for a person to advertise the sale of marijuana without a retail license. As a level 2 drug misdemeanor, a person convicted would face up to one year in jail and a fine as high as $750.

Sen. Irene Aguilar, a Denver Democrat and the bill sponsor, told lawmakers that more than 690 ads for marijuana in Denver were found on Craigslist, a popular online classified advertising website.

The new Justice Department, under nominee Jeff Sessions, could easily nip the legal weed trend in the bud.

When used in the context of a protest or demonstration, signs serve many purposes. At the Women's March on Washington and its 600-plus sister marches across the world on Saturday, people are using signs to broadcast their reasons for marching, and their hopes and demands. Their signs are directed at their fellow marchers, the world bearing witness, and even to the new president himself. And from the look of it so far, some of the march's funniest signs are about Trump.

The sandwich baggie brimming with buds is gradually becoming a thing of the past in California. In its place, an era of name-brand marijuana is emerging.

Celebrities — including actress Whoopi Goldberg, rapper Snoop Dogg, rocker Melissa Etheridge and the family of reggae legend Bob Marley — are branding their own herb. Law firms have sprouted to help marijuana sellers brand their goods. Pretty packages of cannabis-infused products bear labels like “Highland Pantry” (almond butter), “Madame Munchie” (cookies) and “Sweet ReLeaf” (skin cream).