GRAND RAPIDS, MI - As the tide seems to be turning toward the legalization of marijuana, a 26-year-old Grand Rapids man has written an award-winning treatise on what we should have learned from the dismantling of alcohol prohibition 80 years ago.

Timothy Cuffman, an accountability analyst for National Heritage Academies and graduate of NorthPointe Christian High School, was the winner of the annual essay contest sponsored by the Center for Alcohol Policy, an advocacy group based outside of Washington D.C.

BLOOMFIELD, N.M. — Charles C. Lynch seemed to be doing everything right when he opened a medical marijuana dispensary in the tidy coastal town of Morro Bay, Calif.

The mayor, the city attorney and leaders of the local Chamber of Commerce all came for the ribbon-cutting in 2006. The conditions for his business license, including a ban on customers younger than 18 and compliance with California’s medical marijuana laws, were posted on the wall.

Around 120 Kentucky farmers will grow hemp this year as the state enters its second of five years of hemp research and testing as allowed under the Farm Bill.

Adam Watson is the industrial hemp program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. He says though growing hemp commercially isn’t legal yet, there’s growing interest in the crop.

“We’re still at the beginning stages of research,” he said. “Today we can’t sit and tell you this is the most economical way to produce it or this is the best crop to be growing it for like seed versus fiber but what we have learned is there is a wide interest from industry.”

llowing an exciting two days of panels, exhibitions, and community events, the 3rd annual Indoor Agriculture Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada showcased a number of gaps and opportunities related to investor relations between AgTech startups and VCs. A whitepaper released during the conference, the first of its kind, offered a comprehensive view to the future and potential $9 billion growth of indoor farming.

Marijuana topicals are having their day, particularly in Colorado where cannabis-themed spas are offering therapeutic massage and alternative treatments that use salves, balms and oils infused with cannabis. Generally, these topicals begin with a carrier oil like coconut oil or olive oil that is cooked down similar to butter when baking edibles.

In some cases the cannabis infusion is the main therapeutic ingredient. Most of the time, however, the topicals are blended with other essential oils that also have anti-inflammatory properties like lavender, frankincense or lemon grass.

WATERTOWN — Some veterans and advocates say New York’s newly approved medical marijuana rules have left a gap by not allowing medical professionals to provide treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The newly finalized state regulations allow medical marijuana in non-smokable forms to treat “debilitating or life-threatening conditions” such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and Parkinson’s disease, but not PTSD, experienced by many in the military.

Robert P. Loughhead, veterans outreach coordinator at the Vets Peer to Peer Outreach Center on State Street, said he’s heard more feedback from north country veterans in favor of opening access.

“They don’t like the other medications they get from the VA,” he said. “People don’t want to lose all of their emotions.”

PHOENIX — The right of patients to smoke marijuana recommended by a doctor for medical conditions cannot be taken away by a judge, even if the person has been convicted of a crime, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

In a pair of unanimous decisions, the justices rejected arguments by prosecutors in two separate cases that denying someone the ability to use medical marijuana is a legitimate condition for probation. Justice Ann Scott Timmer, writing one of the rulings, said that ignores the wishes of voters when they approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in 2010.

Justice Rebecca Berch, writing the other, not only reached the same conclusion but rejected arguments by Cochise County prosecutors that federal marijuana laws preempt what voters enacted.

The public has kept a watchful eye on the marijuana crime bill circulating in Alaska’s Legislature, but regulators and industry supporters say another piece of legislation in the works is far more important to the creation of a regulated marijuana industry.

Currently in the House Judiciary Committee, House Bill 123 would create a Marijuana Control Board tasked with crafting regulations and ensuring that marijuana businesses work within those laws.

The bill also contains an essential aspect of regulating the burgeoning industry: money.

As the Senate takes up the latest attempt to decriminalize marijuana in New Hampshire, proponents brought in a new ally to lend a voice to their cause: the head of a national coalition of law enforcement officials advocating for drug policy reform.

A controversial new documentary is set to have its World Premiere in Dunedin next week.

'Druglawed' is an explosive documentary exposing how New Zealand has been co-opted by the US into fighting the failed War On Drugs.

Filmed in six countries over six years, this is the first feature length documentary examining the effects of international cannabis prohibition on New Zealand society.

Over the last 100 years the US government has forced its drug control policies on almost every country on earth. Over 40 years since Richard Nixon declared the War On Drugs in 1972, 22 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana. Only one country in the world has higher arrest and conviction rates, New Zealand.