A man who tried to sell a backpack of dirty socks as marijuana has been sentenced to at least one year in a Michigan prison.

Michael Suarez was sentenced Thursday for committing fraud through false pretenses. An unarmed robbery charge was dropped.

Police say Suarez was pursuing a marijuana deal in July when he showed up at a home in Lenawee County's Raisin Township. But instead of carrying pot, he had a backpack stuffed with dirty socks.

Police say a purse with $2,800 was stolen from the home. Suarez and others were stopped after speeding through a stop sign.

Defense attorney John Glaser says the "false pretenses" were the dirty socks. Suarez will be eligible for parole after a year in prison. His maximum sentence is 7 ½ years.

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. --

Marijuana plants as large as "Christmas trees" have been seized from a North Carolina man's garden.

WGHP reported that Kelly Gene Hines, 53, of Hickory, faces various charges in connection to the incident including trafficking and manufacturing marijuana.

Officers reportedly found the plants after checking out a tip about another house in the area. Officials said more than 20 marijuana plants were found growing near the home, including one that weighed 23 pounds.

East Belfast is home to the highest number of those discovered in the city in the past year

The number of cannabis farms found in Belfast is rising – with 50 discovered in the past year.

Police found 50 cannabis farms in 2014/15, up from 37, which was the highest number found in a year since 2011/12, when 24 were found, according to figures revealed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The number of cannabis farms found in East Belfast jumped from six in 2013/14 to 20 in 2014/15, the highest number found in any part of the city, while finds in North Belfast rose from 16 to 19.

The lowest number of cannabis farms found was in West Belfast, where there were five in 2013/14, down from seven the year before.

Pardon the horrible pun, but the marijuana industry is budding right before our eyes.

“Drugs have taught an entire generation of Americans the metric system,” humorist and political commentator P.J. O’Rourke once said.

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That rings pretty true. If you’re new to cannabis and you live in the United States, chances are you’re probably not familiar with the metric system — the measuring system used for marijuana (and most drugs).

Have no fear. Here’s a handy little explanation of common marijuana weights and measurements.

In a move only somewhat less in the spirit of rock-and-roll than the MTV Video Music Awards themselves, anti-smoking advocates the Reality Effort, the driving force behind those dangers-of-cigarette commercials developed to instill a sense of fear in viewers so strong that some might really count on cigarettes to get their nerves under control post-viewing, have criticized MTV and complained to MTV’s moms and dad company that the current Video Music Award broadcast glorified making use of marijuana.

I used to think that as time passed life would get simpler. Last year the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and People's National Party (PNP), in a rare show of conjugal bliss, agreed to decriminalise cannabis by the "Dangerous Drug Amendment Act 2015" (DDA). This Act will complicate our lives yet simplify the lives of criminals and the unproductive. For 53 years JLP and PNP did not agree on things progressive, yet made common cause in sanitising an illegal drug. Issues related to growth, development and prosperity, on which party unity is crucial, have no traction with them, so why do they unite on ganja?

Denver city officials didn’t exactly embrace Amendment 64 before voters statewide — and heavily in Denver — approved recreational marijuana legalization in 2012.

But Mayor Michael Hancock and his administration is taking a new opportunity to exhibit pride in the city’s regulation of the retail cannabis industry.

Ashley Kilroy, Denver’s marijuana policy director. (Handout photo)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -

An amendment legalizing medical marijuana in Florida fell just short in 2014 and supporters are making a push for 2016, but a new group is pushing a recreational marijuana amendment.

The future of marijuana in Florida is shaping up to be a burning question in 2016. A medical marijuana initiative barely failed just last year, and now a new group is pushing a ballot amendment that would further expand access.

Shannon Stallings is the legal adviser for pro-pot group Floridians for Freedom.

"Ours focuses on responsible adult use," Stallings said.

The group plans to start circulating petitions for an amendment that would legalize marijuana for recreational use for those 21 and older.