The first state to legalize recreational marijuana use is on track to see total sales top $2 billion by 2020. Colorado’s medical marijuana sales for this year are projected at $438 million, and recreational sales are forecast to reach $739 million. By 2020, medical cannabis sales are forecast to reach $663 million and recreational sales are expected to hit $1.34 billion.

Massachusetts, where voters last month chose to add recreational sales to already legal medical sales, is forecast to post sales of $1.07 billion in 2020, up from just $52 million in estimated medical cannabis sales in 2016.

The data were reported Wednesday by New Frontier Data and Arcview Market Research in separate reports on the cannabis markets in Colorado and Massachusetts.

Many staff members at marijuana dispensaries have not had any formal training for their positions, according to a small new study.

Researchers found that 30 people of the 55 dispensary staff members surveyed in the study (55 percent) had received any sort of formal training for their current positions.

Even in Colorado, breeding hemp means grappling with all sorts of legal red tape. One plant biologist hopes to beat the odds.

Bear Reel cuts a tiny gure on the vast Colorado plains, but she lives up to her name in ferocity of spirit. She has to. The 34-year-old occupies a decidedly unorthodox niche: a 21st-century scientist breeding new varieties of an ancient plant that’s also a controlled substance.

Hound Labs and Cannabix Technologies really don't like each other -- and for good reason.

Citing Australia’s onerous security requirements for growing medical cannabis, prominent Australian industrial hemp grower Ecofibre announced it will move its medical cannabis capabilities from Australia to the United States.

Comedian Tommy Chong’s image grinned from a freeway billboard near Sacramento in recent months, promoting the counterculture icon’s brand of marijuana to passing motorists. 

But now a campaign has begun to outlaw such ads from all state highways, threatening to block entrepreneurs taking advantage of newly legalized pot in California from hawking their wares to a captive audience stuck in traffic.

Five state lawmakers have introduced a bill that would bar advertisements for marijuana products and services from all 265 state highways — 15,100 miles of roadway — in an effort to prevent the marketing of pot to minors in the state.

Is it possible that 2016 studies have concluded that weed kills brain cells? While over half of America’s states legalized marijuana for recreational or medical purposes leading up to the end of 2016, there is still concern by organizations like the DEA that not enough testing has been done to protect weed smokers.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, there were lots of new studies from 2015 that show marijuana, weed, or cannabis are promoting positive results with brain cells as well as at least one study that showed weed does kill brain cells.

Easing pain and improving quality of life for end of life patients — the focus of a groundbreaking medical marijuana study.

The first of its kind in New England.

The research will soon be underway at America’s first hospice, The Connecticut Hospice in Branford.

This is a federally approved medical marijuana study.

Governor Dannel Malloy and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, among those at a news conference, announcing the federally approved medical marijuana study.

The 66 hospice patients, who are yet to be enrolled, will help determine the benefits and safety of using medical marijuana for pain management.

Craft cannabis company Oregrown Industries has joined forces with US sustainable clothing manufacturer New Growth Clothing to develop a line of locally-manufactured, eco-conscious activewear and outdoor gear.

The collaboration will see the launch of knit beanies and performance hoodies for the autumn 2017 season, and is expected to grow to include backpacks and technical gear.

"New Growth is a natural partner for Oregrown as we continue to build out our lifestyle brand," says Oregrown co-founder Chrissy Hadar. "Both companies are committed to local sourcing, but more than that, to supporting community members, artists, athletes, and local businesses run by people who are passionate about what they do."

As legalization spreads, so do calls to ease sentences for those convicted of possessing pot.