November 2014 medical marijuana was on the ballot in Florida for the first time – many families and individuals were hopeful that this would finally mean they would get access to some much needed relief. After months of petition gathering, struggles with Supreme Court approval, and a campaign that seemed to be attacked and nitpicked at every turn – the initiative lost by only 2%.

The chance at legal access to medicine that could change the quality of life for thousands of citizens was so close – I remember refreshing the statistics until the vote was over, watching the number go from 64% to 63% and eventually drop under 60%. With less than half an hour left I knew we had lost – and by the time the polls closed, we had just over 58% of the vote.

February 3, 2016 - How has new legislation affected marijuana use in the United States? The best available data suggest that marijuana use is increasing in adults but not teens, with a decrease in marijuana-related arrests but an increase in treatment admissions, according to an update in the January/February Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

New HortiLED Line by Partner PL Light Systems launching in the United States

Giadha DeCarcer, a former investment banker, is founder and CEO of New Frontier, a data analysis provider for the cannabis industry.

The cannabis industry is quickly becoming a magnet for female entrepreneurs.

Medical or recreational marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. As legalization has increased, so have sales. In 2013, the industry was at $1.8 billion. 

In 2015, it was estimated at $5.4 billion (accounting for evolving business models), according to the ArcView Group, a cannabis-focused investment and research firm. 

Ohioans to End Prohibition, the political action committee behind the Legalize Ohio 2016 campaign, has less than $300 in the bank, according to its latest campaign finance report. The group's proposed Cannabis Control Amendment would legalize recreational and medical marijuana use as well as allow cultivation of industrial hemp.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A pro-marijuana group that campaigned against Issue 3 last year and promised voters a better alternative this year is close to broke. But leaders said the mostly-volunteer group will move forward with its recreational marijuana amendment.

Medical marijuana is shown inside a greenhouse in Mendocino County. Costa Mesa-based CalConn Holdings wants to build a similar facility in Desert Hot Springs.

Out in Coachella Valley, in the small city of Desert Hot Springs, there’s plenty of land and sunshine. What’s missing is industry, along with the jobs and tax revenue those businesses bring.

So city officials welcomed the announcement Jan. 26 that CalCann Holdings planned to set up shop and build a greenhouse to grow some 6,000 pounds of organic medical cannabis each year.

The pot will go to the Costa Mesa company’s own Santa Ana dispensaries and others under a new state licensing system.

Colorado legalized recreational marijuana back in 2012, making it one of a handful of U.S. states in where adults who are of age can legally purchase marijuana in many forms, along with its accessories, without any special paperwork beyond a valid ID. 

The release comes despite Gov. John Hickenlooper's executive order mandating all contaminated cannabis be destroyed

The city of Denver has released more than 28,000 packages of marijuana-infused edibles back into the market after recalling the products late last year when they tested positive for pesticides that are banned for use on cannabis.

CHEYENNE – The group trying to get voters to decide whether to legalize medical marijuana in Wyoming will fall short of the state’s requirements to get the question on the 2016 ballot.

A spokeswoman with Wyoming chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws confirmed Monday that the group will not collect the necessary number of signatures by next week’s deadline.

Volunteers were only able to collect about 7,120 signatures, according to unofficial county-by-county tally provided by NORML.

That amount is just over one-quarter of the nearly 25,600 signatures of registered voters that the state requires for a citizen-led initiative to make the ballot.

But supporters are hoping they will be able to get the question on the 2018 ballot.

Missourians supporting medical marijuana are hoping 2016 is their year. Will lawsuits crush that hope?

Pot activists are confident that 2016 is the year that Missouri will finally legalize medical marijuana — with a slew of big donations aimed at placing a measure on the ballot this fall. 

But Show-Me Cannabis, the group that's helping to spearhead the effort via the campaign committee "New Approach Missouri," will have to do it without one of the group's founders. Leah Maurer, a prominent pro-marijuana activist, resigned from Show-Me Cannabis' board on Friday.