AUSTIN, Texas - A proposal seeking full legalization of marijuana on religious grounds has cleared an unlikely legislative hurdle.

Republican state Rep. David Simpson of Longview argues marijuana comes from God and therefore shouldn't be banned by government.

The tea party stalwart has repeatedly championed what he calls the "Christian case" for legalization.

Simpson's bill (HB 2165) languished for weeks before the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.

Three committee Democrats and two Republicans surprisingly voted to support it Wednesday, though, and it passed 5-2.

That makes Simpson's bill eligible for consideration to reach the House floor before the legislative session ends June 1, although that's still highly unlikely.

Although shrouded in a little mist, Nimbin’s MardiGrass Parade on Sunday was held in perfect weather.  Thousands rolled into town for the annual Police Swab Fest and Mardi Grass.

The Ganja Faeries again stole the show and many hearts during the parade.​

Nimbin MardiGrass organisers have hailed this year’s event a success despite heavy policing on the roads in and out of the village.

As weary festival-goers prepare to leave this morning, police have once again set up drug-testing stations on the outskirts of the village.

A Santa Fe district court judge struck down a state rule that required medical patients to exhaust “standard treatments” before entering the Medical Cannabis Program.

The case that Judge David Thomson ruled on earlier this week involved the state Department of Health’s rejection of a post-traumatic stress disorder patient’s application to the Medical Cannabis Program based on the fact that the patient’s doctor, Carola Kieve, didn’t submit enough medical records with the application and didn’t exhaust other medical treatments first.

What Is Asthma ?

Illinois is continuing to approve patients to use medical marijuana, with about 300 more approval letters sent in April.

The Illinois Department of Public Health released the updated numbers Wednesday. The department has issued about 2,300 approval letters to qualifying marijuana patients since September.

The health department says about 20,800 people have logged onto the program's patient application website. Of those, about 3,000 have submitted an application.

The tally falls short of the number program officials hoped would enroll in the first year. In July, former program coordinator Bob Morgan said "thousands, hopefully tens of thousands" were expected to enroll.

The legalization of marijuana – no matter how sticky the parameters – will undoubtedly bring the people behind the scenes of a billion-dollar industry to the forefront. 

Women, in fact, comprise a large portion of growers, dispensary owners, and canna-business professionals. 

To help them emerge from the shadows and connect, Women Grow was established last year in Denver, Colorado. Since then, it’s provided a professional network for both established entrepreneurs and newbies of the cannabis industry.

With monthly events for women – and men – in 25 plus cities across the country, Women Grow is launching a Portland chapter this week with its first networking event on May 7th at McCormick Mansion.

OTSEGO, Minn. (WCCO) — On Tuesday, WCCO got an early look inside one of the places where cannabis plants are now legally grown in Minnesota.

Minnesota Medical Solutions in Otsego is one of two registered manufacturers responsible for growing, processing and distributing medical cannabis products in our state.

Beginning July 1, registered customers will be able to buy the marijuana in a few different forms: capsules, oils or liquids.

My kids are in elementary school -- a little young for the "weed talk" -- but I wonder whether the fact that recreational pot use is now legal in a handful of states will complicate things once we start having those conversations.

Sue Scheff, a parent advocate who works with children in at-risk communities, says she's heard from plenty of kids who say, "Well, it's legal so it must be OK."

"We already have the messaging problem," said Scheff, author of "Wit's End: Advice and Resources for Saving Your Out-of-Control Teen."

"So we need to come up with a new way to discuss it ... because the kids are tuning us out."

Whether you’re a proponent or opponent of medical cannabis, the therapeutic drug is slowly building momentum in the capital with more businesses dedicated to its use.

The latest arrival is Canadian Cannabis Clinics. It will be opening an Ottawa clinic at the end of May in a medical building on Montreal Road, the fourth Ontario location to open in a year.

The business operates like any other medical clinic where patients see a doctor and use their OHIP card as payment, but these doctors focus on assessing whether medical cannabis should be prescribed. The owners stress no cannabis will be on site.

How does the clinic operate?

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.