SEATTLE (AP) — Washington launched its second-in-the-nation legal marijuana market with just a handful of stores selling high-priced pot to long lines of customers. A year later, the state has about 160 shops open, tax revenues have soared past expectations and sales top $1.4 million per day.

And who knows — the industry might even start making some money.

Washington pot farmers, processors and retailers have complained all year that heavy state and federal tax burdens, along with competition from an unregulated medical marijuana market, have made it difficult for them to do business.

A big bush of cannabis greeted visitors near the door, where 1,400 people stood in a long, snaking line, waiting hours to get their hands on one thing: seven grams of free marijuana.

This was Weed the People, and organizers looked to make good on their promise to celebrate Oregon's newfound freedom to obtain and consume recreational marijuana.

As of July 1, every Oregonian can legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana in public (that goes up to eight ounces at home). Since no recreational market is set up, people can't legally purchase the drug, but they are allowed to obtain it from licensed growers for free.

WITH the announcement — and then postponement — of the Ewarton Rastafarian Community/St Catherine Ganja Growers & Producers Association Ganja/Herbal Festival, I can't help but think about the future of the proposed ganja industry in Jamaica.

The Ewarton Rastafarian community and the ordinary ganja growers alike have decided to celebrate the new "freedom" granted to a group that has, for years, been persecuted for using a plant that they hold dearly in their religious practices. The ganja plant has also been very much celebrated among the ordinary "bald head" youth in Jamaica and it is no wonder they too are delighted at the recent changes in the laws treating with possession of the herb.

A new law aimed at banning 'legal highs' could criminalise buying herbal remedies online, like those favoured by Prince Charles, being criminalised

Medical marijuana sales channels are struggling in the United States. Still illegal at the federal level, this market segment is dependent on sales channels that developed out of the need to have some level of state government substance control. Physicians who prescribe cannabis for patients act as de facto gatekeepers, controlling distribution by giving it to those who “need” to treat a condition or alleviate side effects versus those who “want” the product for recreational use. This line of distinction, however, is beginning to blur.

A new law approves use of recreational marijuana in the state of Oregon, but only in roughly 47 percent of it, as the other 53 percent is governed by entities that still consider it as illegal as ecstasy, LSD or heroin.

So if you plan on smoking, carrying or cultivating cannabis in Oregon, you must beware: the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service are still in authority of punishing you if you do it in the wrong side of the state.

The amount of weed smoking in Ted 2 could give Pineapple Express a run for its money.

So it’s no surprise to hear that it’s stars are big supporters of the legalisation of marijuana.

Ted 2 creator Seth MacFarlane and his stars Mark Wahlberg and Amanda Seyfried all shared their views on the green stuff with Metro.co.uk, and all struggled to understand why the U.S. hadn’t made it legal across the country already.

Though Amanda doesn’t smoke it herself she has a lot of friends who do and seemed pretty flabbergasted as to why the government were dragging their feet on the issue.

Check out the full interview above!

Ted 2 is out in cinemas on Wednesday July 8th

On June 12, crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Vigilant offloaded 3,100 pounds of marijuana seized from a go-fast boat intercepted in the Caribbean Sea.

The story on how Coast Guard personnel seized the marijuana in late May in waters between Panama and the Colombian island of San Andrés emerged last week in Miami federal court records.

According to a criminal complaint filed by a special agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the action unfolded May 27 when a go-fast vessel was spotted traveling in international waters about 100 miles south of San Andrés Island, a Colombian possession east of Nicaragua and north of Panama.

Use of Marijuana has been legalized for recreational purposes in Oregon from 1st July. On 3rd July, Friday, people of Portland and all over from Oregon, took part in the rally “Weed the People”, which was a celebration for the legalization of marijuana in Oregon.

Thousands of people took part in the rally including weed enthusiasts, weed dealers and weed growers. Medically licensed marijuana growers gave away free samples to interested people for further business. There were also business card exchanges between weed entrepreneurs and pot lovers.

“Cannabis is a great opportunity for us,” said D.J. King, a labor organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers “There is a lot of money being made, and we want to be sure to spread it out,” she added.