Society has become so reliant on some technology, such as cell phones, that very few people forget to take theirs with them when they leave the house. However, additional items – like a vaporizer, for instance – may not always be at the top of the “need to grab” priority list. These kind of common, daily annoyances and inconveniences inspire the birth of brilliant ideas – and in this case, that brilliant idea is a vaporizer that is built into a phone case and stays charged even while you’re out and about. Thus the creative minds behind this idea, Vaportronix, LLC, launch the first of its kind, iPhone case vaporizer called the VQ.

Beginning Oct. 1, all new medical and retail marijuana packaging must feature the new universal symbol on the front. 

Colorado marijuana products will soon have labels aimed to keep the drug out of the hands of children.

Starting Saturday, the weed products must feature a diamond-shaped symbol with this statement on the packaging: "Contains Marijuana. Keep out of the reach of children."

According to a news release Monday, the state's Department of Public Health and Environment and Department of Revenue's Marijuana Enforcement Division have teamed up "to educate Coloradans about the rules, designed to promote public health and safety, raise awareness and help people more accurately identify marijuana products."

Recent Google data proves that legalization measures have caused an uptick in public curiosity regarding marijuana.

According to Business Insider, Google searches for “cannabis” increased approximately 75% from 2004 to 2016.

Dozens of states legalized medical marijuana within that time frame, while four passed measures legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

The state with the highest amount of “cannabis” searches was Colorado, followed by Washington, Maine and Michigan.

In terms of metro areas, the most “cannabis” searches were entered in the coastal, Northern California city of Eureka.

Victoria city council has approved new regulations for medical cannabis businesses, but complying with the new bylaw won’t be cheap.

Starting immediately, a $5,000 business licence and $7,500 rezoning application are required for all shops where medicinal pot is sold.

The zoning restrictions prevent storefront cannabis retailers from being closer than 200 metres apart and also create an exclusion zone of the same distance around schools.

Pot shops opened since July 28 must immediately abide by the bylaw, meaning they can’t operate until all their paperwork is approved, but shops that were in business before then can stay open while their applications are processed.

Those of us involved in the marijuana legalization movement have long assumed that those companies that produce and sell competing products — especially alcohol and tobacco — were working behind the scenes to try to maintain marijuana prohibition and to protect their duopoly for legal recreational drugs. These industries have lobbyists who regularly work with state and federal elected officials to keep legal marijuana off the market.

For decades, small growers in Humboldt County have made a living cultivating and selling cannabis. But over the last 10 years or so, outsiders have been pouring in to the region trying to cash in on the “green rush” for commercial cannabis.

The medical marijuana industry has certainly sparked a cannabis boon, but if Californians vote for Proposition 64 and allow adults to smoke cannabis purely for recreation, it will be a game changer for the industry.

It’s not hard to find local farmers who worry that larger corporations will eventually squeeze out their smaller operations.

The battle over the Massachusetts ballot question that would legalize marijuana is attracting more than $100,000 from businesses that could stand to benefit from what could become a lucrative new market in the Bay State.

A vast majority of the more than $2.5 million in contributions to Yes on 4 has come from New Approach PAC, a nonprofit national political committee pushing for marijuana legalization nationwide — but at least $115,000 has been donated by existing businesses in the marijuana industry, according to a Herald review of campaign finance records.

4Front Ventures, a Boston-based consulting firm for dispensaries across the country, has donated $28,500 to Yes On 4 and its original committee, Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Massachusetts.

America has a problem.

Though prescription drugs are designed to help patients, one class of prescription drugs known as opioids, which are commonly prescribed to relieve severe or chronic pain, have been doing the opposite in certain instances. During periods of extended use, a person can become dependent on opioid medications, leading to a host of possible complications, including overdoses that can lead to death.

After two years of being able to walk into a store and buy weed, Coloradoans have become slightly jaded and a bit spoiled.

We rarely think twice about what we’re purchasing, because we usually know ahead of time what we’re looking for on that day’s shopping trip.

However, newcomers and visitors to the state may not have such a clear idea of what they’re looking for during their first trip to a dispensary.

They rely solely on the knowledge of their budtender and the fact that they want to get high.

Here are some questions to help guide first time buyers through their experience with legal weed.

Do you want to smoke or consume marijuana?/How do you want to get high?

Nevada joins California, Arizona, Massachusetts and Arizona as one of five states voting this November on whether to legalize recreational marijuana. Here are things to know about Question 2:

HOW DOES IT WORK?

If the measure passes the statewide ballot in November, it would allow adults to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana, or 1/8 ounce of concentrated marijuana, effective Jan. 1.

The measure directs the Nevada Department of Taxation to adopt regulations by the end of 2017 on details such as how to issue recreational marijuana business licenses, how to prevent the substance from getting to people under the age of 21 and how to test marijuana's potency.