The Special Session of the General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 2016) will be convened from 19 – 21 April 2016 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The UNGASS will feature a general debate plenary and five interactive, multi-stakeholder round tables conducted in parallel with the plenary.

SEATTLE -- Banned pesticides recently found in legal marijuana are highlighting the need for better consumer protection for weed buyers.

State law doesn't require mandatory recalls when marijuana products could pose a health hazard, but some people now say recalls are needed.

The owner of Hashtag, a Seattle marijuana store, recently pulled products from his shelf that used a banned pesticide even though he didn't have to under state law.

"Even products that were fine but we couldn't trace the linage of the ingredients we pulled to be on the safe side," said owner Logan Bowers.

Unlike Colorado, Washington state law doesn't have a mandatory recall mechanism to pull bad weed products off the shelf.

Yes, a couple of exhibitors were selling pipes and bongs. And a few showgoers looked like they had dressed in the dark.

But they were a small minority at CannaCon on Thursday when the annual marijuana industry trade show opened its three-day run at Seattle’s Pier 91.

The rapidly growing and changing marijuana business is attracting big money.

Out with the stoners, in with the suits.

“Our industry is growing so amazingly fast it’s ridiculous,” said show founder Bob Smart. “When we did the first show there were three retail stores open. The second show last February there were 34. This year there’s 200.”

From full legalization to ramping up the War on Drugs, here's your cheat sheet on where the final eight presidential candidates stand on marijuana.

Dave Kallas spent over two decades busting drug dealers on the streets of Las Vegas.

On Saturday, he became a dealer himself — a legal one — when his medical marijuana dispensary The Apothecarium, 7885 W. Sahara Ave., officially opened for business.

Kallas, 60, and his business partner, Ryan Hudson — who runs/owns the original Apothecarium in San Francisco — both see the business as an opportunity to help people who might benefit from the medicinal benefits of marijuana by giving them a legal means of getting their hands on it.

Hudson called it a "harm reduction program," noting people won't have to head into a sketchy neighborhood to buy marijuana from a shady dealer.

"We have a lawful way for you to obtain the relief you're looking for," Kallas said.

As the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs seek to become the first in the state to sell reservation-grown marijuana, they have looked out of state for help with growing and selling their new cash crop.

That’s where Sentinel-Strainwise comes in. Just created in May, the joint venture between Florida-based investment group Sentinel Capital Partners and Strainwise Inc., a corporation that provides consultation, services and support to marijuana cultivators and dispensaries in Colorado and elsewhere, was sought out by the tribes last year.

Cannabis extraction is a complex process, and could be considered dangerous without proper preparation.

Considering the most important safety precautions for any extract production facility, we should first identify the most common risks of extraction. Only by recognizing these process risks can the right steps be followed to ensure the safety of both employees and products.

HANOVER - A prominent Morris County physical therapist and entrepreneur is banking his future on the growth of the medical-cannabis testing industry. But rest assured, David Cunic has not gone from fixing joints to smoking them for a living.

"Most people say 'Oh, if you need a tester, I'll test a joint for you,' " said Cunic, a native of Denville and graduate of the Delbarton School, where he played varsity basketball with future NBA star Troy Murphy. "And I say, 'No, it's not that type of testing.' "

Cunic and his publicly-traded corporation, Pazoo Inc., are instead taking a scientific approach to testing medical cannabis in laboratories for potentially harmful impurities before the product is sold at legal dispensaries in states where medical marijuana is approved.

Because of the government’s irrational commitment to pot prohibition, this combat vet could be forced to choose between death and exile.

Given that on an average day 22 American combat veterans commit suicide, it’s a species of miracle that Ivano Rodriguez is still alive. It may be an even greater miracle that Rodriguez, a resident of Washington State who has used marijuana to treat his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), hasn’t been exiled to Ecuador by a federal immigration judge.

Social media giants Facebook and Instagram have gone into overhaul by eliminating accounts that share information or products related to cannabis usage, The Guardian reports.

The business crackdown comes after retailers and marketing companies have existed on the sites for a number of years without breaking any laws. More than likely, the aggressive campaign is another method to eliminate the war on drugs. Suppliers are have been able to take a new route (social media) to sell and distribute drugs within the past five years, taking the industry to a new level.