Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin wants to make his state the first to legalize marijuana through the legislature instead of a ballot initiative.

In his State of the State address on Thursday, the Democratic governor said that he wanted to “get marijuana legalization done right” by legislating a step-by-step process of legalization rather than taking the less-controlled route of a public referendum. “To do it right, we must do it deliberately, cautiously, step by step, and not all in one leap as we legislate the lessons learned from the states that went before us,” he said.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin said on Thursday he would seek to legalize marijuana through the legislative process, instead of through the ballot box, for the first time in the United States.

In his State of the State address, the Democratic governor said more than 80,000 Vermonters reported using marijuana last year, contributing to a black market. He said legislators needed to proceed step by step to regulate marijuana.

"That's why I will work with you to craft the right bill that thoughtfully and carefully eliminates the era of prohibition that is currently failing us so miserably," he said, according to a copy of the address on his website.

If someone told you that you could take a college course that maps out exactly how cannabis works, would you take that class?

I know I would.

The University of Vermont is going to be making that possibility a reality as they are the first to open a course dedicated to medical marijuana science. There are other universities that cover marijuana related topics – mostly law topics – but this will be the first class entirely dedicated to the science behind medical marijuana.

The class is intended to uncover the “secrets” of marijuana. With the plant being listed as one of the “most dangerous” drugs there is very little solid research around it. Ten – heck even five years ago, this class would not have been possible.

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli Jr., issued a statement Wednesday advising the Supreme Court not to hear a lawsuit Nebraska and Oklahoma filed against Colorado’s marijuana legalization law last December.

It’s a formidable challenge to develop a syllabus for a college-level pharmacology course focused entirely on a drug that’s illegal to possess, use and even research under federal law. That’s the task that Wolfgang Dostmann, PhD, and Karen Lounsbury, PhD, have undertaken as they plan the University of Vermont’s first medical cannabis course in the College of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology, scheduled for the spring 2016 semester. It’s possibly the first academic program of its kind nationwide, but clearly needed as acceptance of marijuana for medical and recreational use continues to gain legal backing in more states and physicians and scientists seek more information about how it acts in the body.

I attended college from the age of 24-28. I was a ‘non-traditional student’ as the faculty always reminded me, which always seemed like a passive aggressive form of age discrimination. It was bad enough that I couldn’t relate to most of my classmates because they had barely moved out of their parents house and didn’t have the life experience that I had accumulated up to that point. But college was still a very fun time.

As more states allow for the use of medical marijuana, the University of Vermont is offering a course in the science of the drug — and the professors say they are challenged by a lack of research on what has long been a taboo topic.

Other institutions have offered classes in marijuana law and policy, but the university's medical school is likely the country's first to offer a full course on medical cannabis, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Other medical schools have touched on the topic.

POULTNEY, Vt. -

Vermont's medical marijuana patients could soon have their medicine delivered right to their door.

Ruth Reich lives and works on a small horse farm in Poultney.

"It's a very physical job," she said. "I run this farm on my own."

That challenge is made more difficult by health problems; she's a cancer survivor and has spinal issues, leaving her living with a lot of pain. A couple of years ago she secured a medical marijuana card, finding her body better tolerated cannabis than powerful prescription drugs she says wreaked havoc on her body. But she has not stopped by the dispensary in two months, because unlike prescription painkillers insurance doesn't cover pot.

Vermont could make history next year by becoming the first state in the American northeast to legalize cannabis. Meet the local activists, politicians, businesspeople, patients and students who hope to see the Green Mountain State legalize recreational cannabis use. "I do see tides turning, even attitudes changing, but the law still exists, our prisons are still full," says one Montpelier resident in this engaging and entertaining video by Eva Soldberger.