Whether cannabis in a given jurisdiction is fully legal, strictly prohibited, or anything in between, cannabis supporters and opponents are unanimous on one thing: Herbs don’t belong in the hands of children. For medical cannabis patients in Germany who are parents, that means an obligation to store medicine in place that kids can’t get to it. Under the country’s narcotics security rules, patients with a medical card must keep the cannabis they buy at the pharmacy in a mini-safe at home.

For a few years now Americans’ have disputed on the legalization of cannabis, also known as marijuana. Recreational cannabis is legal in four states: Oregon, Colorado, Alaska, and Washington state. This November, five states will vote to legalize recreational cannabis: California, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, and Nevada. We’ve heard all the research and the majority of adults will admit to having tried cannabis at least once in their life. In a world where substances like alcohol and tobacco remain legal, it’s just illogical that cannabis stays illegal. Both the Republican and Democrat parties have recognized the value of cannabis, at least medically, however there is bigger picture.

Changes are coming to Oregon's recreational cannabis industry on October 1.

Starting next month, all recreational cannabis must be tested by a lab that is accredited with Oregon Environmental Lab Accreditation Program (ORELAP) and licensed by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC).

Right now, there are only two such labs.

Green Leaf Lab was one of the first licensed labs in the state. Their entire business is cannabis testing.

“When we started, nobody in Oregon really knew what cannabis testing was,” said Rowshan Reordan, owner of Green Leaf Lab.

Reordan took KATU through her laboratory with chemist Emily Weatherford to show how they test.

In a blip in time, marijuana’s image has been rebranded from sketchy to consumer-friendly, largely thanks to female executives disassociating the plant’s positive attributes from its historically bad rap. Women dominate from a consumer standpoint, too—from Apothecanna’s ganja-infused moisturizers to Whoopi & Maya’s THC-laced bath soaks, it seems there are no lucrative opportunities left unturned. In the midst of this canna-commodity boom, one company is gaining an edge by taking marijuana a little farther south than it’s used to. 

Smoking just one cannabis cigarette makes people less willing to work for money while under the influence of the drug, according to a study published in the journal Psychopharmacology. The study found that long-term users experience no loss of motivation.

The researchers, from University College London, say this is the first study to reliably demonstrate the short-term effects of cannabis on motivation. However, the paper has been criticised (see our expert analysis below).

Long-term cannabis addicts (who were not high at the time) were also tested, and it was found that their motivation levels were no different to volunteers in the control group.

Medical marijuana is a myth. Or so say the Feds. Recently the Federal Government upheld the notion that medical marijuana delivers no medicinal value keeping it a schedule one drug in line with heroin and other lethal drugs. What’s funny is that while the feds claim that medical marijuana is a myth they have patterned marijuana as medicine. That’s why you’ve seen #6630507 scribbled on the hands of stoners all over the interwebs. Did you also know that under the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program the US Government mails several people medical marijuana every month?

Roberto Pickering’s story is all too familiar.

The infantry Marine says he fought during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, lost some “good buddies” and returned to civilian life a “basket case” from battling a new enemy: post-traumatic stress disorder.

Pickering says he was pumped full of medications — from Valium to Zoloft, OxyContin, Seroquel, Lithium, Ambien and more — by Department of Veterans Affairs doctors. He tried to go back to school but had trouble adjusting.

He recoiled further after one friend took his own life and another died of a heroin overdose after becoming dependent on opioids through his medical care. Pickering moved into his parents’ California basement and found solace in the bottle while his life spiraled out of control.

The central, obvious debate over marijuana policy that Massachusetts voters will decide in November is whether or not to legalize and allow companies to sell it. The factions on either side — Yes on 4, the pro-legalization campaign, and the opposition Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts, which is backed by some of the state’s highest-profile politicians — have begun to present more nuanced arguments. But at its heart, the conflict boils down to the legality of toking up and the sale and taxation of pot.

Marijuana advocates petitioning Gov. Chris Christie to sign a bill that would add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of illnesses that would qualify a person for the state's medical marijuana program have enlisted the help of nearly 18,000 people.

The Joint Blog, which bills itself as a "cannabis news and information website," created an online petition last month to push Christie to sign the legislation advocates say will help New Jersey's veterans.

When he opened a medical marijuana shop in Kingston earlier this year, Trevor Hands had little idea who his customers would be, how much they would buy or how his business would grow simply through word of mouth.

He does now.

Business is booming for Hands, thanks in large part to an influx of business from a single demographic: former Canadian Forces soldiers.