There’s a movement underway in America. It involves changing the way Americans view a federally designated controlled substance it classifies as a Schedule I narcotic. Over the last few years, twenty-nine U.S. states have now acted against the federal government’s ban on marijuana, and have voted to legalize cannabis for either medicinal or recreational purposes.

Marijuana continues to expand out of the basement and into the mainstream with its recent legalization in California, Massachusetts and Nevada. Now entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike are beginning to invest in what Business Insider calls "the future of marijuana" — microdosing. 

Philippine Death Squads Have Killed Thousands of People Suspected of Using or Selling Drugs Since June.

On Saturday, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump held a telephone call with the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. According to Duterte, Trump praised Duterte’s deadly war on drugs and invited him to visit the White House. Upon assuming the presidency in June, Duterte made a public call for police and citizens alike to execute people who use or sell drugs, which has resulted in the murder of over 5,000 people suspected of being involved with drugs.

Especially if you use it every day.

If you thought weed was helping you chill out, you might want to listen up. New research suggests it might actually have the opposite effect on your sleep. 

A new study found that people who reported being regular marijuana users were nearly twice as likely to report having sleep problems as people who only occasionally light up or don’t smoke at all.

Steve Kerr has a bad back. The condition caused him so much physical pain that Kerr, the current head coach of the Golden State Warriors and a member of five NBA championship teams during his playing career, underwent surgery to resolve it. Complications and recovery from the procedure led to him missing the first half of the 2015-2016 regular season. He was in enough pain that he took marijuana to relieve the pain. And that has him a bit crosswise with some people in the NBA, which frowns on any use of marijuana.

Every driver knows that alcohol-impaired, or "drunk", driving is dangerous and has steep consequences. Drunk driving killed 1,155 people on California roadways in 2014 alone. What individuals may not know, is that they can get a DUI, with all the same consequences, for driving under the influence of drugs, also known as a DUI-D. A new educational campaign from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), "DUI Doesn't Just Mean Booze," is aiming to bring greater awareness of this growing problem.

The recount began yesterday morning, which will probably take months and cost taxpayers a half million dollars.

On Election Day in Maine, voters were heavily divided on Question 1, a ballot initiative that would legalize recreational cannabis. Voters passed the initiative, but with a very narrow margin, according to a WGME article.

A brand of medical cannabis products recently launched by television personality Montel Williams will be produced through a new partnership with BAS Research Center, a Berkeley, California-based medical cannabis manufacturing and research group.

“Montel had been looking for a licensed producer to manufacture and help formulate a number of his products,” BAS Research chief operating officer Doug Chloupek told Civilized. 

“After many meetings with Montel and [his] realizing what our abilities are in terms of the formulation and science and research component of BAS Research, he made the decision to utilize our services to manufacture his entire line of products.”

'We are facing a never before seen cohort of older adults who use recreational drugs' say researchers.

An unprecedented number of older people are using illegal recreational drugs in the US, according to a study which has revealed a 70 per cent spike in cannabis use among Baby Boomers in the past decade. 

“For years we’ve been worried about the potential effects of marijuana on the developing brains of teens, but now we may need a bit more focus on their grandparents, who are increasingly more likely to be current users,” said Dr Joseph J. Palamar of New York University, one of the lead authors of the study. 

Peter Barsoom made his way up and down Wall Street over the last 19 years in his job overseeing consumer banking. His résumé includes turns at Merrill Lynch, American Express, and Morgan Stanley.

More recently, Barsoom added cannabis connoisseur to the list.

In 2014, the former financier saw a business opportunity in the Denver area, where marijuana-infused foods were increasing in popularity — in spite of usability issues. His startup, 1906, brings together scientists, chocolatiers, and cannabis experts to create a premium line of low-dose chocolate edibles.