Three years ago, the first of three marijuana amnesty boxes was installed at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport. The idea behind the boxes was to give fliers a way to dispose of legal cannabis before they boarded a plane bound for a destination where the substance might be against the law, and Pitkin County Undersheriff Ron Ryan considers the containers to be a success, even though weed isn't the only aromatic thing sometimes left in them.

Other examples? "Dirty diapers," Ryan says. "Garbage. And left-over Starbucks. That's one of the worst, because a lot of the drinks from there are milk-based. If they're left inside for a week, the smell becomes pretty horrendous."

Anecdotally, medical marijuana has been extremely successful for managing symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Researchers now want to find out why.

For the more than 400,000 Americans suffering from multiple sclerosis ― an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord ― the currently available treatments often fall woefully short. 

Cannabis coaching is as much a gig about growing as it is about people – and Natalie Carver wouldn’t have it any other way.

For the last year, the long-time organic vegetable farmer has been helping Washington D.C. residents grow their own cannabis at home. As the founder and head coach of Buds Organic – whose mandate is to provide custom gardening installation, maintenance and coaching services to would-be home-growers in D.C. – she visits roughly 12 homes a month (and counting).

“It’s a personal relationship as well as a business relationship,” Carver told Civilized.

Take a closer look at the County Board of Supervisors vote to decide the fate of almost 1,000 registered grows.

The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors will meet on Tuesday to decide the fate of commercial and personal cannabis cultivation in the county. Specifically, it will decide to either immediately adopt a ban measure which recently gained enough support for a vote, or it will choose to let the ban go to a special election in the spring.

The Illinois treasurer has sent President Donald Trump a letter urging him to give clear guidance to the banking industry about medical marijuana.

State Treasurer Michael Frerichs issued a news release Monday saying Trump’s approach will be crucial to the continuing availability of medical marijuana in Illinois.

Federal law prohibits banks from processing money used in the legal marijuana industry. Frerichs says this makes it difficult for businesses to get loans and restricts customers to cash-only transactions.

Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department stated it would not make enforcement a priority, knowing that many states had legalized some marijuana use.

 There's been a sudden flurry of legislation in Indiana to reform the state's marijuana laws. State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, has introduced a marijuana bill for the seventh straight year. 

Senate Bill 255 would create an an agency to work out details for allowing the use of medicinal marijuana. It would allow patients with a variety of health conditions, including migraines and post-traumatic stress disorder, to use cannabis with the go-ahead from their doctor. It would also give access to patients suffering from "any persistent or chronic illness or condition." 

Tallian said it's one of several proposals to tweak the state laws.

Marijuana stocks have been on a tear recently.

Shares of Cannabis Science have soared more than 870% since the start of October. Meanwhile, Canopy Growth's increased more than 300% during the same period, transforming the company into a more than $900 million enterprise.

However, there have also been some disappointments. Arena Pharmaceutical's share price is down more than 25% since October began.

With the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, the United States got a new president. And with that new president comes a long list of new appointees across various federal agencies and departments. While President Trump's cabinet selection process has played out publicly, a variety of folks from former president Barack Obama's administration have quietly stayed on.

One of the most prominent people that's staying on is the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Chuck Rosenberg, who was appointed by former attorney general Loretta Lynch in May 2015.

Recreational marijuana sales in Oregon produced $60.2 million in state tax ­revenue in 2016, the first year of state-taxed pot sales.

For much of the year, ­marijuana sellers collected a 25 percent sales tax. 

To produce the $60.2 million in tax revenue reported by the state Department of Revenue on Friday, total retail sales of marijuana and ­pot-laced products last year would have had to equal about $241 million. 

Marijuana tax revenues ­exceeded projections, said Mazen ­Malik, senior economist for the Oregon Legislative Revenue Office. He had estimated ­marijuana sales would ­produce $44 million during the year, $16 million less than what came in.

At a school career day event recently, a few students approached San Joaquin Delta College horticulture instructor Michael Toscano and asked him, in so many words: "Can you teach me how to grow marijuana?"

They were serious, he said. With the passage of Proposition 64 last November legalizing recreational marijuana use, a brand-new industry will emerge in the years to come with legitimate jobs for those willing to learn.

Which is why Toscano is now unofficially marketing some of the classes he teaches at Delta as learning opportunities for those who want a future in the pot business.