‘There’s no doubt that the lady stoner is having a cultural moment. Rihanna’s stoner selfies are proud and unashamed. Several TV shows have nuanced female characters who also enjoy lighting it up.’

2016 is shaping up to be a big year for marijuana, but just how big has marijuana become in the world? 

23: The number of states that have legalized medicinal or recreational marijuana

49%: The amount of Americans who have tried marijuana before

84%: The percentage of Americans that now support medical marijuana

$996 million: The amount of revenue recreational marijuana bought in to Colorado in 2015

$135 million: The amount of tax colorado collected from marijuana sales in 2015

Marijuana use and possession is legal by adults in Colorado so it’s only right to rename the Stadium from Sports Authority Field at Mile High to something marijuana related.

via CBS 4 Denver:

“The recent bankruptcy filing by Sports Authority has raised questions about possibly renaming the stadium the Broncos play in, and a marijuana company is one such interested buyer.

On the first day the state of Colorado allowed the sale of recreational marijuana, Chris Elkins waited two hours in the freezing cold to buy weed.

“The line was down the stairwells, down the sidewalks, around the buildings, down the street,” Elkins, who had traveled to Colorado from Arkansas for a long-planned ski trip, recalled about that New Year’s Day in 2014.

New Frontier, the cannabis Big Data and analytics authority, in partnership with ArcView Market Research, the leading publisher of cannabis market projections and information, has released the 4th edition of the State of Legal Marijuana Markets, which shows that the legal cannabis industry is one of the fastest growing industries in America with a compound annual growth rate of 31%. The official 2015 ArcView market estimate is $5.7 billion, up from $4.6 billion in 2014.

Colorado has witnessed tremendous growth with a 93% increase in sales between 2014 and 2015. By the end of 2016, the market is expected to grow another $500 million to over $1.5 billion.

The marijuana decriminalization movement appears to be set up for one doozy of an election season.

Once a taboo topic that politicians would avoid at all costs, marijuana legalization has become a closely followed national issue -- and for good reason. Pretty much all polls have shown that a majority of the American public is now in favor of legalizing marijuana. Surveys from Pew Research Center and General Social Survey showed a modest majority holding that view, whereas the latest polls from Gallup and AP-NORC resulted in 58% and 61% of respondents in favor, respectively.

Why the push to legalize is so powerful
The core constituencies for this support can be divided into three groups.

A new survey from the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) found that 62% of businesses in the state oppose legalizing cannabis. Massachusetts's voters will decide on whether to legalize personal cannabis consumption in November through a ballot initiative.

Heightened competition in the market for legal recreational weed is pushing prices down and firing up border wars across state lines. Competition is so steep in Washington state that cannabis revenue growth has slowed as Oregon ramps up its adult pot sales.

What's more, in Colorado and Oregon there's more interest from out-of-state investors entering the recreational pot business.

Then there's California, where voters will decide later this year whether to legalize recreational pot.

Yet for all the interest, the marijuana business remains fraught with risks and capital challenges.

Cannabis Sativa, a cannabis products company listed in the US and Stuttgart, has recruited a former US senator who once pitched for the Democrat ticket at the presidential election as its new chief executive.

The company, which produces a range of cannabis products from healing balms to edible medicines, has appointed Mike Gravel as its new boss. The former Alaska senator attempted to run for the White House in 2008, writes Joel Lewin.

Oregon public health officials are moving ahead with rules that would cap THC in marijuana edibles at half of Washington and Colorado limits, saying such a restriction is key to protecting novice consumers and children.

A rules advisory committee of the Oregon Health Authority met for the last time Thursday to discuss the proposed rules, which call for limits of 5 milligrams of THC in a single serving of an edible, such as a cookie or chocolate. A package of marijuana-infused edibles may contain no more than 50 milligrams.

For edibles sold on the medical marijuana market, the state has proposed higher limits -- 100 milligrams of THC -- a cap many advocates and patients say is too conservative for experienced and regular cannabis consumers.