Medicinal cannabis may become more readily available in New Zealand.

That comes as a ONE News/Colmar Brunton poll shows more Kiwis are open to the idea of greater use of medicinal marijuana for health purposes.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne is undertaking a review of the national drug policy and drug laws and says while there's been no relaxation of laws on recreational drug use, he's open to more medicinal products being available if they undergo a comprehensive testing regime.

The poll shows 47% of people think marijuana should be legal for medical cases, with nearly a quarter saying it should remain illegal.

A new study published by Assabah on Wednesday reveals the popularity of drugs in schools and educational institutions, showing that about 50 percent of students smoke marijuana and drink alcohol. Since the revolution, drug addiction rates in Tunisia have reportedly increased by 70 percent.

Surveys concluded that marijuana is the most used drug in Tunisia, followed by cocaine, and heroin. Subutex, originally a medication for the treatment of addiction to heroin and other drugs, has particularly gained popularity since being essentially introduced, illegally, to the Tunisian market after the revolution.

Big hair. Big barbecue. Big sky. Big guns. As the saying goes, everything’s bigger in Texas—but the state hardly has an outsize reputation for progressive marijuana reform.

If this legislative session is any indication, that could be changing. While previous sessions have seen one or two marijuana-related bills introduced, 11 bills taking on various facets of marijuana prohibition were introduced this session—including an effort to decriminalize—and on Wednesday the most comprehensive among them survived the Texas House of Representatives Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.

If Nevada votes to legalize recreational marijuana in 2016 — which many on both sides of the legalization fence think is an inevitability — some industry experts foresee a legal cannabis economy that will feature 420-friendly poker rooms and on-strip hotel weed delivery services.

With Las Vegas leading the state’s pot tourism thrust — the city sees more than 40 million visitors annually — some in the cannabis industry wonder if Nevada will steal all of the marijuana tourist-oriented momentum from Colorado, Washington and other states.

As legal marijuana gains favor across the country, how do we make sure kids don't get their hands on it?

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health suggest looking at the alcohol and tobacco industries as guideposts.

When the RCMP searched a Charlottetown home last month they found a drug that’s new to P.E.I. It’s called budder and is a concentrated form of cannabis resin.

RCMP Const. Scott Mintie said it’s something the police are starting to hear about in P.E.I.

“It’s a concern, just because of the potency of it,” he said.

Budder is produced by grinding marijuana and extracting tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) from it using a solvent. The finished product is a brown paste.

The RCMP estimate the street value of dry marijuana at around $10-$15 for one gram while budder would sell for about $80-$100 per gram.

Mintie said there are also safety concerns about the use of solvents to make budder.

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.

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."

Marijuana and alcohol are often pitted up against each other in an effort to determine which one is the healthier vice. Marijuana smokers are usually quick to cite smokers incur fewer deaths than drinkers, which is to say there are currently no reported deaths from simply smoking weed. The Huffington Post cited “a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a joint in order to be at risk of dying.”