According to the Pacific Crest Trail Association, 4,879 people in total have completed the mammoth 2,600-mile hike across the West Coast. Finishing the PCT is usually a feat that stays firmly unchecked on many people’s bucket lists, and for good reason. There are some sections that take months to surmount, and each and every day brings its own pains and obstacles. So while the PCT isn’t necessarily a pipe dream, it is quite a challenge.

There are very few industries that offer the growth potential of legal marijuana, which is probably why investors have flocked to marijuana stocks over the past year. Many with a market cap of $200 million or more have doubled or tripled in value.

At the heart of investors' excitement is a surge in legal sales and a change in the public's opinion toward weed.

Ohio's capital city is opening its arms to medical marijuana growers.

Columbus is changing zoning laws to accommodate cannabis cultivators and has already signed off on six businesses seeking approval from Ohio to obtain one of the state's 24 medical marijuana grow licenses.

A city zoning officials says Columbus plans to allow indoor grow facilities in manufacturing districts. The city also will consider where dispensaries can sell cannabis products in the zoning changes.

Columbus officials have been supportive of Ohio's new medical marijuana law that allows doctors to recommend cannabis to patients with at least one of 21 qualifying medical conditions. Medical marijuana is supposed to become available by September 2018.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster made the final decision of bringing hemp to the state as an agricultural crop by signing House Bill 3559 on May 11, 2017. After being passed unanimously by House members on May 4th, it was obvious that the industrial hemp program could only benefit the state. Like neighboring North Carolina, the terms require that this agricultural commodity be based on research or as a pilot program through a university.

Gov. Phil Scott signed into law a bill that expands Vermont’s medical marijuana system.

The legislation, S.16, expands the list of conditions that qualify for the medical marijuana registry to include Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder, as of July 1.

Under the new law, PTSD patients will also need to receive regular psychiatric or therapeutic care in order to qualify.

The new law also will allow more medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in Vermont.

With the moratorium on the sale of medical marijuana coming to an end in August, the Panama City Commission plans to discuss regulations at their meeting on Tuesday.

A proposed ordinance would require medical cannabis dispensaries to be located at least 500 feet away from any church, school, public park or other cannabis dispensary. In addition, the dispensary would not be allowed to have a drive-through, sell alcohol or allow patients to consume medical cannabis on site.

It might seem like a bit of deja vu for the three companies vying to set up a medical marijuana facility in Methuen.

In the coming days, representatives from Alternative Therapies Group Inc., BeWell Organic Medicine Inc., and Natural Remedies Inc., will come before a selection committee to present proposals for their dispensaries.

It's a process they've been through before, including when they went before the mayor and City Council for letters of non-opposition late last year. Letters of non-opposition, or support, are required by the state Department of Public Health as one of several steps in the application process to operate a registered marijuana dispensary. They indicate that a municipality will not stand in the way of a proposed facility.

Marijuana industry insiders say they have met with the operators of Canada's largest stock exchange to devise a policy on investing in the U.S., where growing and selling cannabis violates federal laws.

Lawyers who work with publicly traded Canadian marijuana producers say there is an unwritten rule that companies traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange or the TSX Venture Exchange are not permitted to have investments in the U.S. cannabis sector.

TMX Group — the company that operates both the TSX and Venture Exchange — is now looking to codify that policy, particularly given the uncertainty since stemming from the change in administration in the U.S., according to industry observers.

Driven by concerns over marijuana marketing to teens, state lawmakers are weighing strict rules for recreational pot advertising but entrepreneurs seeking to take advantage of legal weed say that would block them from selling their products.

A voter-approved law allows adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public and up to 10 ounces at home, and to grow up to a dozen plants on their property. Retail pot shops are expected to open sometime next year.

On Beacon Hill, legislative leaders are working on a raft of regulations for pot sales and use, which they say are aimed at keeping the drug out of the hands of underage users.

With little more than a week left in the legislative session, some state lawmakers and community advocates are renewing the push for legalized recreational marijuana in New York State.

Buffalo Assemblymember Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Manhattan State Senator Liz Krueger are joining with advocates organized by the Drug Policy Alliance Monday afternoon to announce reintroduction of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act.

Past efforts have stalled in legislative committees. The bill would establish a legal market for marijuana in New York and tax and regulate it like alcohol.