Colorado schools will begin compiling data on students who get busted for using or distributing marijuana, an effort aimed at gauging the effects of the drug's legalization in the state.

The new requirement is an addition to a 2012 law directing law enforcement and district attorneys to collect information on how students are punished and whether they're being arrested or ticketed when they should be disciplined by educators for minor offenses.

Schools have been tracking all drug offenses involving students, but marijuana has not been separated on its own. Anecdotally, some schools say they've noticed an increase in marijuana use while others have not, according to Jane Urschel, deputy executive director of the Colorado Association of School Boards.

City Hall was standing room only on Wednesday night (June 10) as medical marijuana supporters and opponents crammed into council chambers for a public hearing to regulate the pot business in Vancouver.

The city is considering regulations to licence marijuana dispensaries, which would require them to be 300 metres from any community centres or schools, as well as that same distance apart from each other.

The public hearing began with a presentation from city manager Dr. Penny Ballem, who said the Vancouver has seen a sharp increase in dispensaries this year, up from 60 in January to 94 in June.

A proposal to legalize marijuana that is likely headed toward Ohio’s fall ballot would create nearly 35,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state and generate an annual economic output of $7 billion, says a new report today coordinated by Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters.

“Legalization is coming to Ohio. We need to accept the reality is going to happen,” Deters said at a press conference at the Ohio State University Moritz School of Law where the report, “Marijuana & Ohio, Past Present and Potential” was unveiled.

“Why in the world, knowing this is coming, would we let the bad guys make all the money?” Deters asked.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a provision Thursday that would protect medical marijuana operations from federal crackdown in states where the substance is legal.

The committee passed the measure, by a vote of 22-8, as an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill for fiscal year 2016. The amendment blocks the Department of Justice, which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration, from using appropriated funds to interfere with medical marijuana programs in the states that have legalized the drug for medical purposes.

Rastafari: What comes to mind when you see the word? Jamaica? Dreadlocks? Bob Marley? Chances are one of the first things that comes to mind is marijuana. Culturally entrenched with the Rastafari movement since it began in the 1930s, marijuana – or ganja, as it’s more commonly called by Rastas – is considered sacred and is often referred to as the wisdom weed or holy herb.

The ‘Healing Herb’ of the Nations

The Durst family real-estate empire — which weeded out pot-loving killer Robert Durst from its ranks — is teaming up with a major hospital trade association in a bid to legally grow and dispense medical marijuana.

Durst, 72, has been locked in a New Orleans jail since his March 14 arrest, when FBI agents found a revolver and marijuana in his hotel room, his latest in a string of pot-fueled follies.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted today to rein in the DEA.

Just last week, in a series of successful amendments to the Justice Department appropriations bill, the House sent a clear message to the DEA and DOJ to stop interfering in medical marijuana states. Today, a similar message came from the Senate.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted two-to-one today in favor of an amendment from Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) that prohibits the Justice Department, including the DEA, from using federal funds to interfere in the implementation of state medical marijuana laws.

Kinex Pharmaceuticals LLC is hoping to add medical marijuana to its product mix.

Company officials have confirmed its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kinex Supportive Pharmaceuticals LLC, is among 43 companies applying for a medical marijuana license as part of New York’s new medical marijuana program under the Compassionate Care Act signed last summer.

That makes Kinex among at least half a dozen Western New York-based companies competing with more than three dozen firms vying for the five licenses set to be awarded by the State Department of Health this summer.

Bake it, brew it, flake it, eat it – but you don’t have to smoke it.

Canada’s highest court today (June 11/15) released its long awaited Smith decision, finding that restricting the consumption of medical marijuana to dried marijuana only violated Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and as a result, the governing legislation was struck down. Possessing non-dried forms of cannabis, such as oils and edibles, is no longer a criminal act.

Let’s be clear: this ruling does not legalize the possession or consumption of marijuana for the general public. This ruling does not create any new rights. What it does do is allow medical patients with proper medical authorization to consume the doctor prescribed marijuana in a format other than smoking.

Sipp Industries, Inc. has announced the formation of a new business unit dedicated to serving the growing hemp industry. The new Sipp Industries Hemp unit will have large-volume hemp ingredients available, including toasted hemp seeds, hulled hemp seeds, hemp protein powder, cold-pressed hemp oil, and purely refined hemp oil. Each ingredient will be available in both organic and natural forms. These hemp ingredients can be used in various applications from packaged hemp products, nutritional bars, smoothies, salad dressings, body creams and moisturizers.