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On a beautiful spring day in Washington, DC, while the grass on Capitol Hill was just filling in after winter’s doldrums, lawmakers in the House of Representatives passed legislation that would legalize marijuana nationwide. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (H.R. 3617) eliminates criminal penalties for anyone who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.

THC-infused brownies for sale in Colorado in 2018.THC Photos / Flickr. (Across Colorado) The mix of cannabis product sales is changing as overall sales in Colorado’s legal marijuana industry slow, and prices for marijuana products decline.

Cannabis plants at a legal marijuana grow in Colorado.Brett Levin / Flickr. (Saguache County, Colo.) A state investigation found potentially unsafe levels of yeast and mold on pre-rolled marijuana products produced by Dune Valley Farms, a south-central Colorado cultivator of high-grade cannabis, the Marijuana Enforcement Division said Thursday.

A major cannabis distributor in Michigan recently closed multiple store locations with little notice to their employees or customers. It's always sad to see a local business close its doors. We've seen so many companies struggle to stay afloat in recent months, and it's heartbreaking to see yet another one succumb to the challenges of the market.

A popular cannabis dispensary chain is opening a new location in Missouri this week. Cookies, the most globally recognized cannabis company, announced today a new partnership with 3Fifteen Primo to open its first Cookies Dispensary in Missouri.

The recreational marijuana industry in New York is actually starting to sprout, with farms all throughout the state producing thin-leafed plants that reach for the light. NY made a remarkable decision by giving 203 hemp producers the first opportunity to cultivate marijuana intended for legal sales, which may begin by the end of the year. Later, major indoor growers are anticipated to join.

(ARVADA, Colo.) A Colorado pioneer in the cannabis banking industry says specialty lenders serving marijuana businesses will still have a role to play even if federal legislation opens the playing field to a wider number of financial institutions.

Desert Cannabis Farm, Post Hammerstrike RaidLaura Hauther. Illegal cultivation of marijuana became the focus of law enforcement over the past few years as farms mushroomed throughout the state, often creating massive environmental damage through their use of fertilizers and pesticides and the illegal diversion of water.

A new wave of weed.(anankkml/iStock) As if the realm of psychedelics wasn't trippy enough, a new method of achieving insanity is peeking through the portal: meet THC-O. “THC-O is artificially synthesized from the precursor to traditional THC, called tetrahydrocannabinol acid, or THCA. The process used to create THC-O preserves the basic structure of the THCA but adds an acetate group.

The state might be following in the footsteps of several California counties by instituting bigger fines and penalties to push out illegal cannabis cultivation. San Bernardino is sponsoring California Assemblyman Thurston Smith’s bill, hoping to get measures similar to the county ordinances the Board of Supervisors passed last December to apply statewide.

"One Toke Over the Line" by folk rock duo Brewer & Shipley was released in 1970 in an atmosphere of anti-war demonstrations and crackdowns on drug users. The song would become Michael Brewer and Tom Shipley’s biggest hit; so big that it caught the attention of Vice President Spiro Agnew, who termed the song – along with the Byrds’ "Eight Miles High" and Jefferson Airplane’s "White Rabbit" — “blatant drug-culture propaganda” that “threatens to sap our national strength." Despite its marijuana references, the song somehow was performed on that bastion of wholesome American music, The Lawrence Welk Show.

Hemp plants.Stephen Ward, Oregon State University / Flickr. (Broomfield, Colo.) After a battle between the hemp and marijuana industries, state authorities are convening a group to study intoxicating hemp products, the Broomfield-based Department of Agriculture said Thursday.

Earlier this week, Rhode Island lawmakers voted to legalize marijuana sales for recreational use. If the governor signs the bill into law, Rhode Island will become the 19th state in the US to decriminalize the sale and adult use of marijuana.

Recreational Marijuana users in New Jersey will be able to make their purchases at six new establishments across the state in the coming weeks. The initial stores that opened in the state last month are owned by seven different medical dispensaries. These facilities are labeled alternative treatment centers and include Verano (which uses the Zen Leaf banner), Curaleaf, GTI (which uses the RISE banner), Ascend, Columbia Care, TerrAscend, and Acreage. The initial dozen stores now in operation can be found in Bellmawr, Bloomfield, Paterson, Phillipsburg, Maplewood, Rochelle Park, Elizabeth, Lawrence, Williamstown, Egg Harbor, Vineland, and Deptford. Within these 12 stores, there have been over 212,000 transactions. These establishments have generated over 24 million in sales that have been reported within this short period of time.

You have several upcoming opportunities to get acquainted with the four candidates who are running for Klamath County Commissioner Position #1! The candidates are Todd Gessele, Allan Headley, Brandon Fowler, and Dave Henslee.

This story is sponsored by the Legal Marijuana NOW Party of Nebraska. The Big Question for farmers wanting to grow hemp: How much can be made? (Source: CBD Seeds) Nebraska passed the Hemp Farming Act on May 30, 2019. Hemp is now legal to farm and manufacture into products in Nebraska.

This week saw the passing of 4/20, the unofficial day of celebration for marijuana smokers around the world. Florida's leading Democrat candidate for the forthcoming gubernatorial election used the occasion to make one of her priorities clear to Floridians.

Though the cannabis plant has been used as a curative for centuries, controversy over its recreational use often overshadows its touted benefits. But are those benefits as promised in medical marijuana centers and mass market products real, or akin to a placebo?

An anti-buzzed driving ad in Toronto, Canada.Cory Doctorow/Flickr. (Denver, Colo.) With the Mile High 420 festival underway in Denver, the Colorado Department of Transportation and AAA Colorado want to remind people that driving high is dangerous.