The amount of money spent on medical marijuana in the next four years will nearly double according to a new study — assuming the Trump administration doesn’t step in.

Projections by New Frontier Data and ArcView Market Research peg retail sales this year at $367 million. But by 2020 the report figures it should reach the $681 million range.

What makes that spending increase even more remarkable is that the report’s authors say the price of medical marijuana is likely to drop sharply during the next few years. Put another way, each dollar spent will buy more pot.

“Operators interviewed stated they have seen wholesale prices fall from over $3,500 per pound to less than $1,800 in some cases, with continued declines expected,’’ the report states.

Maryland moved another step closer to making medical marijuana available to patients with the announcement Friday of preliminary licenses for 102 dispensaries across the state.

The companies picked to run the dispensaries now must undergo additional review by the state and pass inspections before opening. They'll also have to wait for Maryland's growers and processors to produce medical cannabis products, a process that has been complicated by litigation and political wrangling.

Maryland's medical marijuana program — already off to a slow start — might still be a year or more away.

"Patients probably won't be served until late 2017 or early 2018," said Darrell Carrington, executive director of the Maryland Cannabis Industry Association. "That's the reality."

Though the US Drug Enforcement Agency hasn’t reclassified marijuana, easier availability of the drug for study has the potential to unearth new medical uses.

As voters legalize weed across the country, doctors groups still voice serious doubts about its medical value.

Voters in three states approved new medical marijuana initiatives on election day, and the majority of Americans now live in states where pot has been legalized in some form. But despite the growing public acceptance of medical marijuana laws, one group remains notably skeptical: doctors.

Why are so many military veterans reeling with "a sense of anger, hurt, frustration and betrayal?"

And why is a group of them marching on Parliament Hill? 

Shockingly, it's because ex-servicemen with PTSD aren't getting our government's respect and full support. 

Consequently, the suicide rate among ex-servicemen is at an all-time high. (I'll explain in a moment.) 

This is why a group of wounded warriors have set out on a 1,000-kilometre trek to protest veterans' access to medical marijuana being severely curtailed.

This disregard is going to accelerate an already alarming body count of ex-servicemen driven to suicide.

Patients in Israel smoke, swallow and inhale legal cannabis products.

Like newborns in an incubator, the 200-plus unique strains of plants in these computer-controlled, camera-patrolled, password-secured greenhouses are monitored around the clock. Their water, fertilizer and light are adjusted as needed, until the flowers are in full bloom. They’re only harvested from their planters after a week of testing finds they are ready to leave this facility in rural northern Israel.

As Canada prepares for full-scale legalization next year, more and more Canadians sign up for medical marijuana.

What Do Fitness Experts Say? What Does the Science Say?

Two years ago, I left Seattle on a bicycle and rode 1,400 miles down the Pacific Coast. It was an amazing, life-changing experience that was also frequently boring. As the scenery changed from state to state, my process remained utterly the same—push the pedal down, push the other pedal down, repeat. I quickly realized that weed was a wonderful medicine when you're working out for more than 10 hours a day, every single day. Luckily I had stocked up on cannabis from a medical dispensary.

People have probably realized the benefits of using cannabis while being active for thousands of years. But legalization has allowed certain athletes and trainers to publicly support the combination.

They don’t call the Emerald Cup “the Oscars of weed” for nothing. This one-of-a-kind cannabis competition is a magnet for strain celebrities, attracting all star entries from the upper echelon of cultivation. Cannabis Now Staff Writer, Jimi Devine, goes behind the scenes of this stoney, star-studded celebration for a green carpet roundup of the big names from this year’s cup. 

Some of the newest stars in cannabis are shining a little brighter after this year’s Emerald Cup, and the old dogs once again proved they don’t need any new tricks. 

The Mexican Senate has proposed an amendment and is likely to vote on it on December 12.

The Mexican Senate put forth an amendment last week that will give access to those in need of medical marijuana. 

The reform is expected to commence after it is officially executed next week on December 12. Several members of the Mexican government have been calling for access to medical cannabis.

The bipartisan agreement happened between Mexico's three major political parties – the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

This week, the Senate also heard the expert testimony of Jose Narro Robles as he underlined the importance of Mexico adopting the new legislation.