ENGLEWOOD — The Englewood City Council on Monday night stamped final approval on a measure that caps the number of marijuana businesses in the city at those already licensed to operate there.

Englewood is home to three medical marijuana dispensaries, with a fourth that has received city licensing approval but has not yet opened, according to city officials.

SEATTLE, Washington — For the past 10 months, three marijuana markets have been operating simultaneously in Washington state: the street market, the medical market and the recreational market.

In the future, however, there will only be two. And contrary to some people’s expectations about legal recreational pot making drug dealers obsolete, it’s the medical dispensaries that will disappear first.

Legal repercussions from operating a Washington state facility unclear

Experts are uncertain whether it’s legal for Vancouver-based medical marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis to build a facility in Washington state that will cultivate recreational pot | Photo: Shutterstock

Nowadays, a checklist for travellers heading south through the Peace Arch border crossing might include deals on eggs, shoes and – while they can’t admit it to U.S. federal border guards – recreational marijuana.

And with a U.S. market that dwarfs that of his native Canada, Terry Booth doesn’t see why companies north of the border can’t capitalize on the legal weed available to consumers in states like Alaska, Washington and Colorado.

Vancouver city council is debating how to best control the over-the-counter sale of medicinal marijuana. A proposed regulatory framework will eventually bring dozens of illegal businesses out of the shadows.

Exactly how many dispensaries exist and where they are located has been something of a mystery.

Manitoba firm says plant a vital part of 'right-fat' diet

It was 20 years ago when Mike Fata's desire to find a healthier lifestyle planted the seed that led him to co-found what has become the world's largest hemp food manufacturer.

"I was uneducated about health, fell prey to the fast food movement, and found myself weighing 300 pounds when I was 18," Fata recalled Wednesday.

Fata's brother helped him lose weight by getting him into a gym, but his diet still needed work.

"I learned the hard way about fatty acids," said Fata, who tried to cut fats from his diet. "I lost weight, but my health really turned negative from cutting key nutrients out of my diet."

Then Fata discovered the benefits of hemp foods.

A bill signed into law Monday creates a Marijuana Control Board that will take the lead in crafting Alaska's marijuana laws. 

Now signed by Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, House Bill 123 creates a five-member volunteer board that will craft Alaska’s marijuana regulations. It will address a wide array of issues, from the amount of THC allowed per edible product to business license types to security and safety requirements. 

Walker’s signing of the bill is no surprise, as he had said he supported the version that lawmakers passed.

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When times are tough for the resources industry, companies often turn to and invest in biotechnology.

But for West Australian gold explorer International Goldfields Limited, the decision to buy into a company that develops mass market, non-synthetic cannabis products, is a little more unusual.

Director, David Tasker, said the heavy national regulation of growing marijuana in Uruguay, where their investment; Winter Garden is based, makes it a perfect agribusiness diversification.

"As you can tell from the empties, we've had a few people over this weekend," says 57-year-old Jonathan Falkus as we stumble past his overflowing recycling bins, crammed to the gills with bottles, and into the front room of his flat.

Located in the middle of a Guildford housing estate, Jonathan refers to his flat as a "Cannabis Café and Hotel." But, inside, it looks less like a fledgling business initiative intent on getting UK cannabis laws changed—or a hotel of any description—and more the home of a man who very much enjoys smoking weed.

One characteristic we don’t often associate with astrophysicists and cosmologists is a deep and very sincere appreciation for a variety of artistic mediums.  Carl Sagan, however, wasn’t your ordinary sky-gazer. He was on the forefront of the medical marijuana movement and hosted the PBS series Cosmos, which went on to gain world-wide notoriety and is still popular to this day. In his 1969 essay written under the pseudonym of “Mr X”, Sagan went on to explain how marijuana helped to enhance his sensory experiences, allowing him to experience a profound new appreciation for a number of different artistic mediums.

The following is an excerpt taken from the essay which can be seen in full here:

Now 82, Willie Nelson looks back at his life from a hardscrabble childhood in tiny Abbott, Texas, during the Great Depression to his triumphs as one of country music's original crossover successes

New York (AFP) - Days after a brief jail stint in the Bahamas for marijuana possession, Willie Nelson was invited to the White House by Jimmy Carter who thanked the country superstar for his campaign support.

Following a dinner in which the president spoke of his days as a peanut farmer and the singer talked of raising pigs, Nelson says that a "White House insider" invited him to the roof to look at Washington at night -- and brought out a joint.