Voters on Nov. 8 will decide ballot measures in nine states that would expand legal access to marijuana. Here's a rundown:

___

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

In five states, the ballot measures propose to legalize recreational marijuana use for anyone 21 and over.

___

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who recently gained national notoriety after a photo emerged of him sitting next to Willie Nelson and a jar of the singer’s own cannabis line “Willie’s Reserve,” says he would like to legalize a statewide medical marijuana program in 2017, but he doesn’t have a lot of confidence the state legislature is prepared to take the plunge.

Smoking marijuana may increase the risk of experiencing an episode of psychosis, or a break with reality, in people who have already had such an episode, according to a new study.

Since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in the Philippines he has been waging a bloody war on drugs that threatens to destabilise the country entirely, and has affected users of cannabis as well as “hard” drugs such as meth. We spoke to a prominent cannabis activist to learn more about the situation and the everyday risks for cannabis users.

On May 9th, 2016, the population of the Philippines elected a new president – Rodrigo Duterte, former mayor of the city of Davao. Duterte has been linked to the notorious Davao Death Squad, believed to be responsible for the deaths of over a thousand suspected drug dealers between 1998 and 2008.

The Liberal government says it plans to introduce legislation later this fall to regulate vaping.

Health Canada offered few other details Tuesday beyond saying it would both protect young people from nicotine and allow adult smokers to use vaping as a quit-smoking aid or as a potentially less harmful alternative to tobacco.

In a statement, the department said it is also renewing the federal tobacco control strategy for one year, giving the government time to develop a new long-term plan. The strategy was introduced in 2001 and last renewed four years ago.

Health Minister Jane Philpott will host a national forum early next year to discuss the future of tobacco control.

The first nationwide medical cannabis study designed to prove that marijuana is medicine, starts with 227,883 patients set to sign up to help change the federal scheduling of mmj.

The country’s first nationwide medical cannabis study designed to prove that marijuana is medicine, starts with 227,883 qualified medical marijuana patients set to sign up to help force the change of the federal scheduling of mmj, in the first-of-its-kind, crowd-sourced cannabis peer-review study.

Medical marijuana is about to become a part of the public health care system in the southern Argentinean province of Chubut – making it the first jurisdiction in South America to allow cannabis into the healthcare system.

A report from the Buenos Aires Herald indicates that Governor Mario Das Neves recently designed a piece of legislation that will allow a non-intoxicating strain of cannabis oil to be distributed in public hospitals for patients requiring treatment for epilepsy. The bill has already received approval from the legislature and has become law.

Cannabis concentrates aren’t going anywhere. This segment of the market – which includes waxes, shatters, hash oils, rosins, tinctures, and more – is expanding at lightning speed, and may give us the most compelling vision of the future of cannabis consumption. That said, there’s still a lot we don’t know about extracts.

Cheryl Shuman likes to make weed purées for dessert, topped off with Goldschlager Cinnamon Schnapps.

"Imagine a beautiful cannabis infused chocolate soufflé with a raspberry purée on top with the gold sparkles from the Schnapps,” she told me. “It's delicious and oh so glamorous.” 

This is Shuman’s world: glitz, glam, and ganj. As the director of the Beverly Hills Cannabis Club, a high-end purveyor of luxury weed and accessories, her love for cannabis overlaps with her activism which overlaps with her pot rebranding campaign. And while we might associate weed with Ziploc baggies and hazy basements, this is more about diamond studded vape pens and Hollywood soirées. 

The shop will convert its jazz room into a dispensary.

Amoeba Music has been granted the coveted license to sell medical marijuana at its flagship store in Berkeley, CA with hopes that it will help produce a boost in revenue.

The Bay Area store had previously attempted to earn the license in October 2015, but failed. At the time, Amoeba’s co-owner David Prinz said in an interview that legal marijuana could help save the company and the music business: "We need supplemental income. That's the real truth. This helps keep us open and enables us to do some amazing shit."