More than 80 years ago, it became clear to even the most ardent supporters of Prohibition that their bold experiment wasn't working. The most practical among them recognized that the "public good" would be better served by legalizing and regulating alcohol than by an outright ban. After all, the ban had led to the rise of organized crime, deadly black market and bootleg product, and disrespect for the rule of law and for those charged with enforcement of the Volstead Act.

Eco-friendly Bits, the San Francisco TechCrunch Disrupt very first runner up, brings point-of-sale software services to the world of legal retail cannabis. According to Ben Curren, CEO of Environment-friendly Bits, “The most interesting thing is that [cannabis retail] shops can run like regular companies. It gets rid of all the headaches of compliance.”

The ballot initiative, which will be decided Nov. 3, would also permit Ohioans to grow small amounts of marijuana in their homes while commercial growing would be limited to 10 sites.

Ohio banks could fall foul of a host of federal laws if they served marijuana businesses including the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. Controlled Substances Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and the Patriot Act.

Uruguay has selected two companies backed by local and foreign investors to grow recreational pot for distribution in the South American country’s pharmacies.

Simbiosys SA and Iccorp were among a short list of 11 companies including Canadian medical marijuana producer Tilray that bid for licenses to grow as much as two tons of pot a year.

Simbiosys, whose investors are Uruguayans and Argentines, could invest as much as $2 million in its operations, Gaston Rodriguez, a company partner, said in a telephone interview Friday.

"It’s a historic change in a country that is very conservative in some aspects," said Rodriguez, a 43-year-old industrial design professor. "Uruguay has taken up the challenge of proposing a different way to fight drug trafficking."

For far too long, Ohio has trailed the nation instead of leading the way.

For far too long, Ohio has trailed the nation instead of leading the way. This November, Ohioans have the opportunity to make Ohio a leader again by passing Issue 3 and enacting a proposal that a majority of Ohioans agree on — the legalization of marijuana.

Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and the District of Columbia have voted to legalize marijuana, but the October. 1 start date means the state has become the third state where marijuana is offered for recreational sale.

At present, only “dispensaries”-outlets which had formerly been exclusively committed to distribution of marijuana for medical uses-are permitted to sell marijuana, pending the release of a system for regulating outlets exclusively devoted to distributing marijuana for purely recreational use”.

In Madras, all three dispensaries plan on selling recreational marijuana, but city law stipulates they open no earlier than 8 a.m. Prineville, where one dispensary is located, and La Pine, with two, does not allow recreational marijuana sales.

Plans for the world’s first cannabis theme park are underway as Native American tribes turn their attention away from casinos.

The Santee Sioux tribe of South Dakota, want to build its own farming venue complete with smoking room and nightclub.

Tribal President Anthony Reider said: ‘We want it to be an adult playground. There’s nowhere else in America that has something like this.’

The tribe said the project could generate up to $2m a month in profit, and work is already under way on the growing facility.

Members hope it will provide another revenue stream other than casinos.

ALBION, Ill. (AP) — A skunky aroma fills the room in which hundreds of lush marijuana plants grow, some nearly ready for harvest. Grower Ashley Thompson, a former high school agriculture teacher in this rural part of southeastern Illinois, takes the scent of weed home with her.

She doesn't mind. It's the fragrance of money and jobs.

"My family says I smell," said Thompson, who quit the classroom to work for Ataraxia, one of a handful of cultivation centers in Illinois, which is one of 23 states with medical marijuana. "I can't tell though."

The three young men climbing into the pickup truck close to the Oregon border cheerfully acknowledged they were about to break federal law. But they won’t be doing it for much longer.

Anthony, Daniel and Chris bustled out of a marijuana shop in Vancouver, Washington, clutching bags of weed as they headed home a short drive over the bridge to Portland, Oregon.

Crossing state lines with drugs is a federal offence but that has not discouraged the steady stream of customers from Portland taking advantage of Washington’s legalisation of recreational marijuana sales last year.

But starting on Thursday, Oregon joins Washington in permitting the sale of marijuana for recreational use to anyone over the age of 21.

Uruguayan authorities made a major announcement on October 1, laying out plans for the biggest step yet in the country’s efforts to regulate all levels of the cannabis market: cultivation for commercial sales. Officials revealed that two companies have been selected to grow cannabis for sale in pharmacies. The first commercial offerings will likely be available to registered consumers in about 8 months, or mid-year 2016.