The Washington State Patrol has a warning for drivers: it’s now illegal to have an open container of marijuana in the passenger compartments of vehicles.

The new pot-in-cars law is modeled on Washington’s longstanding open container law for alcohol. Just like you can’t drive down the road with an open beer, no longer can you legally drive with an open container of marijuana or marijuana infused products.

Trooper Mark Hodgson said even a closed Ziploc bag is a violation.

“If you can open that bag and get into it and then reseal it, that’s not going to meet the requirement,” he said.

A new group at the University of Washington School of Law will spend the 2015-16 academic year studying existing and emerging markets for marijuana, to assist and inform the state as it prepares to blend current medical and recreational markets for cannabis.

It’s called the Cannabis Law and Policy Project, and is overseen by law professor Sean O’Connor and funded by an $185,000 grant through the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- A legal marijuana grow in a Washington backyard is causing a stink for a Vancouver woman.

"It comes in through our windows. It's so strong, like a thousand skunks, so strong we can't even go out on our own patios. We can't even use our own backyards," Sally Wray said, referring to her neighbor's backyard on NE 16th Street.

The neighbor, Derryl Boone, has a medical license to grow pot. Some of his 15 plants have grown nearly as tall as his home.

Wray and other neighbors have complained to police, city code enforcement officers, city council members and the SW Washington Clean Air Agency about the smell of Boone's plants.

For decades, buying pot off the street sometimes meant you had to take the seller’s word about the quality and origin of their product. But with some states legalizing retail marijuana sales in the U.S., there’s an opportunity for consumer safeguards and increased transparency for pot purchasers.

REARDAN, Wash. -

Steve Walser's life on the farm has changed dramatically over the past two years.

Walser has been a farmer in Washington for decades. He built Willow Wind Organic Farms in Reardan, Wash., to be a family business. They've grown several crops over the years, including potatoes and hay. Today their premiere food is blueberries.

But beside their berry crop sits a secure facility filled with their newest crop: Marijuana.

Recreational cannabis hit stores around Washington in 2014 after voters legalized its use.

Walser joined the pot industry in its infancy. He says his business partner brought knowledge of cannabis to the table, and Walser applied his farming skills.

Once upon a time there was a pretty girl and a funny boy who fell in love. Like every young couple, they dreamt about making a big wedding party to celebrate their union. Church, bride dress, cake, dance floor and everything else that they could ask for. But there was something a bit weird in their dream… Instead of a regular bar, they wish to have a cannabar to give their guests some fun.

And so their wish came true…

No, this is not a children’s story, but could easily be a modern fairytale.

Brides and grooms, even ones who say they don’t partake often but want to be hospitable, are giving guests choices that are much different than the standard merlot or chardonnay. Now, the choice could be Tangerine Haze or Grape Ape.

The Washington Department of Health just released emergency rules in preparation for the merging of medical marijuana into the state's existing recreational regulatory system.

It is legal to sell marijuana in Washington State but it's complicated in Pierce County.

"You have a legal business, but you're not allowed to legally operate. That's a very unusual circumstance," said Pierce County Councilman Derek Young.

In 2013 the county determined marijuana businesses couldn't get an operating permit until the federal government makes marijuana legal.

"So it's basically a ban," said Mike Henry co-owner of the Gallery, a marijuana retail store. Store owners like Henry have continued to operate. They hope the county will change the language in the ordinance allowing them to get a license without waiting on the federal government.

Alaska

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Alaska include:

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Nausea
• Muscle spasms
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain
• Seizures

For a complete list of qualifying conditions and guidelines, please refer to Alaska’s application for medical marijuana registry

Arizona

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Arizona include:

It is disheartening to hear that any nonviolent person goes to prison for marijuana. It is even more disturbing when those sentenced were cultivating for medical purposes in accordance with state law. Unfortunately, such a tragic sentence has been levied against three members of a group of Washington State cultivators, dubbed the Kettle Falls Five, recently in federal court. Reason’s Jacob Sullum reports: