COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The St. Louis area's first medical marijuana dispensary is slated to open in the city's Illinois suburbs.

HCI Alternatives in Collinsville plans a grand opening at noon Monday at a retail location adjacent to the Illinois State Police's regional headquarters.

A second St. Louis-area dispensary in the village of Sauget near East St. Louis is also expected to open soon.

The state issued 23 dispensary licenses through mid-January but has set a cap of 60 locations statewide in the four-year pilot project. Legal marijuana sales began in Illinois in early November.

A bill proposed in the Colorado state legislature would mandate the creation of a label informing consumers whether or not cannabis products they purchase have been grown using pesticides.

HB16-1079, proposed by Reps. Jonathan Singer (D-Longmont) and KC Becker (D-Boulder), would require the Colorado Department of Agriculture to design a system for companies to have their pesticide-free cannabis products certified as such under a state-sanctioned label.

DENVER, CO / January 21, 2015 / Canna Security America (CSA) (OTC: CSAX), the leading comprehensive security solutions provider catering to businesses in the licensed cannabis industry, is pleased to announce that it has hired Mr. Tom Siciliano as its chief operating officer.

PLAIN, Wash. -- Concerns about a proposed marijuana operation in the small community of Plain in Chelan County are bringing residents together for a meeting on Friday night.

"It's a wonderful community. It's a very generous community and we're all concerned," said Plain resident Jerry Jennings who's been doing extensive research about marijuana laws and zoning issues.

Jennings, who is not opposed to marijuana and voted in favor of Initiative-502, is against the location of the proposed site. It's located on two acres at 18800 Beaver Valley Road-- near homes and businesses.

In the aftermath of last month’s federal court setback for Colorado’s Fourth Corner Credit Union, banking officials and cannabis business owners in other states are searching for creative ways to open legal bank accounts. Leafly recently highlighted the success that small Washington state banks and credit unions have experienced by working within Justice Department, FDIC and NCUA policies.

The state's pot dispensaries took in $23.6 million as the social stigma faded and more patients seeking relief from chronic pain tried the drug.

Mainers spent $23.6 million on medical marijuana from dispensaries last year, a 46 percent increase driven by multiple factors, including patients seeking alternatives to prescription painkillers and more doctors certifying people to use the drug, according to dispensary operators.

Operators say the increase in sales illustrates the growing willingness of patients and doctors to consider alternatives to traditional medicine, and a reduction in the social stigma surrounding the use of medical marijuana.

The biggest growers of medical marijuana in Canada want to be first in line when the market for recreational pot opens up, arguing that only they can guarantee a high-quality product that is securely distributed by mail.

The operators of the Canopy Growth Corp. and Tweed Marijuana Inc. want the federal government to shut down the pot dispensaries that are popping up around the country. Instead, they argue, the strictly regulated and licensed firms in the medical field should be the first ones allowed to provide marijuana to recreational users.

An investment plan hatched among a group of high-achieving Madison high school and college friends has begun to pay new dividends: federal prison sentences.

That’s because the plan, administered by UW-Madison business students or graduates, involved driving to California at least 19 times with bundles of cash to buy hundreds of pounds of marijuana for sale to customers and “investors” in Madison, according to federal prosecutors.

Seven men were charged in U.S. District Court last spring with conspiring to buy, transport and deliver marijuana in loads varying from 5 to 50 pounds, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Anderson. All pleaded guilty.

“Most of them were business students, smart kids who saw a business they wanted to profit from,” he said.

One of the hardest things to do is change a stereotype – no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary. Everyone still knows one infamous character from a TV show, a movie, or something of the like that fits the bill for the stereotype, and it tends to stick. 

In the world of marijuana, that stereotype would be the classic lazy stoner. The guy with the bloodshot eyes, long scraggly hair, and a vacant stare sitting in the back of the classroom; or the hippy with the guitar singing about flower power or whatever. 

The point is – marijuana has been given a bad rep. While we can’t do anything to change the propaganda of the past, we can at least show that that is not a “standard” for what it means to be a stoner. 

TOKYO — If you’ve got such a powerful sweet tooth that you worship chocolate, these might be just the treats for you.

Being located in Kyoto, Japan’s center of traditional culture, you might imagine chocolate specialist Cacao Magic’s offerings to have an elegant air to them. You’d be right, too, as the confectioner’s sweets are designed to be a treat for the eyes as well as the palate.

You may also expect Cacao Magic to produce some uniquely Japanese chocolates, and again you’d be right. While most of its candies take the orthodox forms of hearts, squares, and discs, you’ll also find something called the “amasumi butsuda” in the product lineup. “Butsuda” means “head of the Buddha,” and that’s exactly what they look like, as you can see in the photo above.