The video for “Promises,” a 2015 song from Kid Ink and Fetty Wap, focuses on Kid Ink’s plans for a surprise wedding for his girlfriend. But about two-thirds through, the video grinds to a halt to show two boxes of Kandypens – a vaporizer mostly used to consume marijuana – sitting on a table, well-lit and arranged in a tableau so perfect that it could be at Macy’s (if the department store sold vapes). For the rest of the clip, almost everyone is using a Kandypen.

Legalizing medical marijuana everywhere in the U.S. could save a lot of taxpayer dollars.

A study released in mid-April found if every state had allowed medical marijuana in 2014, it would have saved Medicaid more than $1 billion on prescription drugs.

Researchers compared the prices of Medicaid prescription drug spending in states with medical marijuana and those without.

Specifically, they looked at drugs used to treat ailments that marijuana could potentially treat.

As California gears up for the implementation of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana use, state regulators are trying to figure out how the new industry will impact the energy supply.

In February, the California Public Utilities Commission held a workshop to assess the potential energy impacts of widespread legal pot growth.

Panelists consisting of utility representatives, cannabis growers and regulators mulled over ways to make cultivation more energy efficient, according to CPUC officials.

“The fast growth in the cannabis industry presents a challenge and an opportunity to ensure that the choices made by the cannabis industry reflect California’s climate goals,” said CPUC President Michael Picker.

A winery and another property owner in Yamhill County, Oregon, filed a lawsuit to prevent a neighbor from growing marijuana on their farmland. The suit seeks an injunction from a judge due to the odor that can associated with cannabis cultivation, and the susceptibility of the wine grapes to be possibly altered in some manner by those odoriferous emanations. The owners also asked the county to reverse their approval of a marijuana processing facility on the Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) zoned land.

In both West Virginia and Ohio, it’s official: Breaking the law is not against the law — at least when marijuana is involved.

Both states have legislation making use of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, legal for health care purposes. West Virginia’s measure was just signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice. Ohio’s has been in effect for some time, but state officials are still working out the details.

But possession of marijuana in any form is illegal under federal law. That puts our states, in concert with 26 others that have “legalized” medicinal marijuana, in the position of advocating behavior that is criminal by federal statute.

Early this morning, legislators announced an agreement to expand Iowa’s soon-to-expire law that merely decriminalized possession of cannabis oil for treatment of chronic epilepsy.

“There are sick Iowans out there who need relief,” Representative Jarad Klein, a Republican from Keota, told reporters during a news conference on the House floor at around 3 a.m.

Klein has been the point person in House negotiations on the bill.

“I ran the original bill on the floor that got this to the kids that have intractable epilepsy. I have a constituent that suffers from that and I’ve heard the positive results,” Klein said. “That just reassured me of taking the next step.”

The Trump administration recently warned about the potential for marijuana to lead to other drug use, but candidates for New Jersey governor are considering embracing efforts to authorize recreational use in the state.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly's recent comment that marijuana is a possibly dangerous gateway drug comes after Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he is "definitely not a fan'' of expanded use.

Nonetheless, New Jersey's Democratic-controlled Legislature plans to move forward with legislation and lawmakers hope Republican Gov. Chris Christie's successor will sign it.

Christie, who is term-limited, has opposed any expansion of marijuana legalization. His term ends in January.

Law firms throughout Chicago, from national firms to solo operations, are carving out cannabis practices as marijuana use gains acceptance.

The Chicago Tribune  reports that firms are increasingly offering to help companies navigate the highly regulated world of medical marijuana in Illinois and elsewhere.

The stigma surrounding the federally illegal drug has barred some firms from advertising their cannabis practices.

Dina Rollman and Bryna Dahlin formed a firm in January 2016 to focus on the cannabis industry. The firm counsels companies that grow and sell marijuana as well as businesses that intersect with the industry, from vaporizer manufacturers to advertising agencies.

Despite harsh words from members of the Trump administration, cannabis reform initiatives continue to pass across the United States reports Technical 420

After West Virginia became the 29th state to legalize medical cannabis and after Texas unanimous passing of industrial hemp bill, Vermont’s Senate voted to legalize cannabis.

The vote came after Democratic Senator Jeanette White submitted an amendment to a criminal justice bill. The amendment legalizes the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis and allows for home cultivation.