A North Carolina jury took less than an hour on Thursday to find a man who openly ran a medical marijuana operation guilty of drug trafficking.

The jury of six men and six women found Todd Stimson, 44, guilty of two counts of marijuana trafficking in an emotional conclusion to the trial in Henderson County Superior Court, reports Sabian Warren at the Citizen-Times.

Judge Mark Powell sentenced a visibly shaken Stimson to a minimum of 25 months in federal prison, and a maximum of 39 months. Stimson was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

Just about every day for more than 30 years, Jesse Teplicki consumed marijuana in one form or another to ease the relentless symptoms of chronic anorexia nervosa. And for the last decade, he quietly grew and harvested his own supply, even processing the plants into pats of butter.

So by the time police officers, acting on an anonymous tip, came to his Hollywood home two years ago, Teplicki was ready — and open about his pot use. He allowed the two Broward County Sheriff’s deputies into his home, escorting them to the locked garage where he had 16 potted marijuana plants growing. Then he showed them the other 30 plants taking root in his backyard also for personal use.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida (PRWEB) March 30, 2015

Legal cannabis business owners and entrepreneurs constantly face uncertainties and critical situations due to the current nature of the emerging industry. Quite often, they need quick answers to legal, accounting, human resources, insurance, banking, compliance or other cannabis industry specific business questions. However, most business owners often hesitate to contact a lawyer or other business professional out of fear of the very expensive “Ticking Clock Syndrome", or simply because they don't have a trusted business advisor or reliable “go to source” readily available to them.

There has been one constant since the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down the prohibition against possession of marijuana for medical reasons in 2000: the subsequent rules imposed by the federal government have been subject to repeated court challenges. Litigation around medical marijuana has heated up ever since the government changed the rules aound who can produce and supply it. Photo: Gordon Swanson/Shutterstock The courts have found the regulations that govern medical marijuana to be invalid on more than one occasion and there are two current proceedings before the courts that could again require the federal government to go back to the drawing board.

The number of Canadians authorized to use medical marijuana has been skyrocketing. In 2002 – a year after the government first permitted access through Health Canada regulations – 500 patients had registered. Today, there are more than 50,000.

        This has happened despite the official position of the Canadian Medical Association that “there is insufficient scientific evidence available to support the use of marijuana for clinical purposes.” The CMA also believes we don’t know enough about its risks and benefits, about the interactions between marijuana and other medications or how to prescribe an appropriate dosage. It advises doctors they are not obligated to write cannabis prescriptions for patients.

California's current drought has been caused by the demand for water needed to cultivate cannabis, which, under state law, is illegal for recreational use. Streams are running dry, fish are dying, and it’s just the beginning, US scientists warn.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has recently published a study, the first of its kind, in the PLOS journal. The scientists, who studied the devastating environmental effects of marijuana cultivation in the region, concluded: “Due to climate change, water scarcity and habitat degradation in northern California is likely to worsen in the future.”

People ambled through the Oregon Hemp Convention on Friday, casually inspecting colorful glass bongs and trying samples of rice crispy treats and chocolates, chatting with vendors about growing marijuana plants at home and extracting cannabis oil safely.

Our more relaxed attitude toward marijuana is nothing new, but this was all still a bit surreal.

But as Oregon eases into recreational marijuana, bigger festivals and conventions like this weekend's event should become the norm, popping up throughout the year at venues in and around Portland.

Ontario-based RedeCan Pharm was announced as the newest, fully licensed to sell producer under the MMPR on March 25th. The family-run operation, located in the Niagara region, is approximately 15,000 square feet of “primarily hydroponic” greenhouse production space and has 30 years of agricultural experience.

RedeCan becomes the 17th Licensed Producer fully-authorized to sell medical marijuana in Canada under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulation after being approved to produce (grow) in June 2014.

A blue ribbon task force led by Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom — and including retired Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos — has been busy brainstorming on the prospect of statewide recreational marijuana legalization come 2016, and yesterday the group released a policy report [pdf here] identifying three key issues on the matter.

Walid Jumblatt’s call for the legalization of cannabis cultivation fits into a global trend, from the USA to Uruguay