Observers point out that new state rules proposed for medical marijuana sales would govern just about every aspect of retailing, including possibly tracking weed patients' purchases.

The rules would require that "patient identification numbers" be entered into a state "track and trace" database and state that: "Upon request from the bureau, a licensed dispensary shall provide the name of the medical cannabis patient associated with the patient identification number listed on the delivery request receipt."

Most business owners in the cannabis industry are missing out on a huge opportunity to scale growth, decrease advertising costs, and reach more customers. What’s that opportunity, you ask? Social media.

It’s time that we get real, many cannabis dispensaries are failing in their social media endeavors. But the good news is — you don’t have to.

Some have dubbed it the modern-day gold rush while skeptics warn of the hostile attitude of the current administration in Washington D.C. Whatever the view there is no denying that the marijuana legalization landscape is contentious and demands attention, including from trademark attorneys who will increasingly see their clients interested in cannabis related business activities, and consequently in obtaining cannabis trademarks.

North Carolinians overwhelmingly want to see medical marijuana legalized, according to a new Elon University poll. 

Twenty-nine states have signed off on the medical use of marijuana, and a majority of North Carolina voters polled say they want their state to become the 30th – 80 percent say they approve of legalizing it. Seventeen percent of those polled opposed legalization.

Democrats and independent voters were the most likely to support medical marijuana legalization, with 83 percent approval. Republicans weren’t that far behind, with 73 percent approval.

New products address everything from skin hydration to wrinkle defense, pain elimination to muscle relaxation.

Cannabis beauty. It's the next frontier in the increasingly chic world of weed, with new products addressing everything from skin hydration to wrinkle defense, pain elimination to muscle relaxation.

The magic ingredients being sourced from cannabis plants and used in beauty products include hemp seed oil (said to have up to 80 percent essential fatty acids, one of the highest percentages of any plant oil in the world), plus terpenes, sterols and vitamin E, which can help keep skin moisturized and balanced.

A tray of tempting pastel-coloured candies sits on a countertop inside AmeriCanna's production facility. Although shaped like pot leaves and stamped with Colorado's universal symbol for the mind-altering ingredient in cannabis – a diamond containing the letters "THC" – the gummies would only provide a sugar high at this point.

Working with precision and speed, the kitchen supervisor uses a device to soak each candy with marijuana extract, so each piece contains exactly 10 milligrams of THC, a single dose under the state's regulations.

The entire process takes seconds, but it represents the culmination of a long regulatory journey for Colorado's edible marijuana industry – one that AmeriCanna owner Dan Anglin is urging Canada to learn from.

Congress extended protections to 44 states that have legalized medical marijuana in its proposed $1 trillion spending bill that funds the government through September.

The language prevents the Justice Department from using any of its funding to “prevent” those states from “implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”

This amendment, championed by former Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., Sam Farr, D-Calif., and current Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., more than 10 years ago, finally became law in 2014 as part of the omnibus bill that funded fiscal year 2015.

The Republican governor told a forum on substance abuse that it's "not time for us to be cool and say, 'Pot's OK.'"

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie didn't hold back against lawmakers in his state that want to legalize marijuana Monday.

The Republican governor told a forum on substance abuse hosted by the New Jersey Hospital Association it's "not time for us to be cool and say, 'Pot's OK.'"

Democrats in New Jersey's state Senate are expected to unveil a proposal that would make it the twelfth state to legalize, tax, and regulate recreational marijuana use – a move Christie says is "beyond stupidity."

Here are five myths about marijuana legalization that Colorado officials and businesses say have been debunked in the state, where recreational pot was first legalized in 2012:

1. It's a tax windfall.

Marijuana sales surpassed US$1.3 billion in Colorado in 2016, but that's only a fraction of the state's $333 billion GDP, said Ashley Kilroy, Denver's executive director of excise and licences, which oversees marijuana policy.

In 2016, the state collected $199 million in tax and fee revenue, of which $40 million was earmarked for school construction projects and $5.7 million was designated generally for public schools. Colorado's overall budget is $26.8 billion this year.

Former TV personality Montel Williams has used cannabis nearly every day for 17 years. But he hasn't smoked it in over a decade.

"I have dexterity problems. I can't roll a joint to save my life," Williams told Business Insider. He prefers vaporizing more concentrated forms of the drug.

Williams, who is also a retired Navy officer, has multiple sclerosis, a disease that causes his immune system to attack the insulation around his nerves. It produces intense, burning sensations from his head to his toes.