It’s looking more and more likely that voters in a key battleground state will be voting on marijuana legalization in November, and recent polling suggests it could win. That’s this November, not November 2016.

The state is Ohio, where a controversial pot legalization initiative is already well on the way to qualifying for the ballot, and its backers—or should we say investors?–have the cash on hand to make sure it does.

There are pot legalization bills pending in any number of states, and early on, there were hopes this would be the year a state legislature would get around to legalizing it. New England states such as Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont looked like the best bets, but it now doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen.

Lower Mainland mayors are keeping a close eye on Vancouver’s plan to regulate the over-the-counter sale of medicinal marijuana.

Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan told the Straight that in his city, the RCMP has been quick to act against anybody who’s tried to open a storefront dispensary. He said councillors are monitoring the situation in Vancouver, noting that attitudes are changing.

“When Washington and Colorado legalized marijuana, I think the dam was broken,” he explained. “There no longer is respect for laws against marijuana. That means there has to be a form of regulation.”

Here in the United States, medical marijuana quickly went from something that was ridiculed to something that was accepted as having a potential basis in reality, and now, we have doctor after doctor coming out in favor of its widespread medical uses.

One of them is Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who you might’ve seen on CNN a few times and who recently started to endorse medical marijuana.

Dr. Gupta explained the journey to understand the plant’s medicinal properties in a 2014 article on CNN.com.

Police in Connecticut have arrested four people while investigating a batch of synthetic marijuana that sickened about a dozen people, including five who were hospitalized.

Willimantic police say they arrested a dealer of "K2" synthetic marijuana and three buyers Tuesday. Authorities wouldn't say whether the dealer suspect they arrested sold the drug to the people who got sick Monday.

All five of the people hospitalized have been discharged. Police believe they used synthetic marijuana laced with the hallucinogenic PCP.

FAIRBANKS — A “Get the Facts about Marijuana” Web page published by the state of Alaska attempts to address health and social issues following the legalization of marijuana. But offering relevant and helpful information has proved challenging in the midst of the burgeoning cannabis culture — particularly regarding driving under the influence. 

The website — published by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services — outlines health facts, tips for safe storage and talking with children, law basics and addiction resources regarding the active drug in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. 

Derek Belshaw 'looked nervous' as officers stopped him in a car packed with the class B drug

A prolific drug dealer who was caught with almost £1million of cannabis and heroin in his car boot while out on day release has been jailed for ten years.

Derek Belshaw was stopped by officers who found shopping bags packed with 100 kilos of the Class B drug and a rucksack containing around half a kilo of heroin in the vehicle.

The 51-year-old had only been two years into an eight-year sentence for dealing when he was allowed out of prison after claiming he had secured a job in Atherton, Greater Manchester.

Anti-Drugs Police (YKAN) has seized 36 cannabis plants from a 42-year-old man’s house in Nicosia.

The suspect was detained on Wednesday for the illegal possession of drugs. The plants ranged in height from 15-45cm.

The arrest comes after anti-drugs police seized over 1,600 cannabis plants in Avgorou, the largest cultivation ever found in Cyprus. Two men aged 32-years-old and 30-years-old were detained and remanded for eight-days.

Anti-Drugs Police (YKAN) are continuing to investigate the case.

I am a drug policy reform advocate.

Despite being a medical marijuana patient, despite founding and editing one of the first medical marijuana trade journals in the Midwest–the now defunct Midwest Cultivator– and despite the fact that cannabis has played a dramatic role in healing my PTSD, I am not a “cannabis” or “weed” activist.

Drug policy reformers work to reform our nation’s failed drug laws and protect families–all of them, especially the familieswith drug addicted loved ones.

We are so proud to announce that we were have been honored by the Drug Free America Foundation with its 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award for its efforts to combat the legalization of marijuana in Florida. 

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri of Pinellas County received the award on behalf of the sheriffs and thanked FSA Executive Director Steve Casey and Communication Coordinator Tanesha Williams and other coalition partners for their work on the campaign. 

The prestigious award, which is symbolic of an eternal flame, is given annually by the national organization to recognize the efforts of individuals and or organizations that are instrumental in combating illegal drug use.

David Mendoza with one of his children. (We promise we didn't go out of our way to choose the most saccharine, sympathetic photo—this was the only one Mendoza's people sent.) Courtesy of Laurie King

When we last checked in with pizzeria owner and former marijuana smuggler David Mendoza, he was stuck in prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey, trying to get transferred to a prison in Spain. That was in April of 2014, roughly five years after he'd been arrested in Guernica, extradited to the US, and sentenced in Seattle—and he wasn't having much luck.