As the opioid epidemic continues to plague the Ohio Valley with addiction and death, the search for safer methods of pain management has become increasingly urgent.

Advocates for medical marijuana have recently made inroads in the area with growing scientific evidence that the substance currently considered of no medical value by the federal government might be a tool to wean those suffering from chronic pain off of more dangerous drugs.

By the end of this year, several more states in the U.S. could be among those who have legalized cannabis for medical and recreational purposes. Of course, their success is up to the activists and voters in each state. If you’re in one of these states, here is what you need to know.

States where recreational legalization is on the ballot: Nevada

States where medical legalization is on the ballot: Florida

States where activists are going through the legislature or attempting to make the ballot for recreational or medical legalization: California, Vermont, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Rhode Island, Maine, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Utah, Arkansas

Long Shots

Kentucky is one of several states that have legalized the farming and research of industrial hemp, but it is the only state in the South to do so. Other states that have legalized such cultivation and research include Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.

Federal law still sees hemp as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, which has sparked debate in Kentucky about the plant. 

Here are four quotes about issues surrounding then industrial hemp farming issue in Kentucky.

John Roulac, founder and CEO of hemp superfoods brand Nutiva, plans to announce that he will buy all the organic hemp Kentucky can produce, according to a news release from the Kentucky Hemp Research Foundation and Atalo Holdings.

Roulac plans to make the announcement at GoOrganic!, a seminar on organic agronomics Feb. 29 at the Hemp Research Campus in Winchester.

“Demand for certified organic foods is growing. We look forward to sourcing organic hemp from Kentucky farmers,” Roulac said.

The transition to organic farming methods can take 2 to 5 years, and Roulac is encouraging farmers to prepare now, although the USDA has instructed its National Organic Program’s accredited certifying agents to not certify organically grown hemp.

Legalizing medical marijuana could save the lives of veterans in Kentucky, an Alexandria resident writes.(Photo: AP)

A worrisome component of veteran post-traumatic stress disorder with chronic pain is the constant, ever-hovering specter of addiction and suicide among the veteran population. The suicide rate is reported to be as much as 22 a day. That may seem too high an estimate, but a suicide a day is 30 a month, and one a day too much.

It's not a new topic, but it's getting a new push.

Two bills are expected to be introduced this legislative session -- one that would legalize medical marijuana and another legalizing recreational use of the drug.

"I would love to get a vote on the floor this year either in the senate or the house," explained former US Congressman Mike Ward.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- If one state lawmaker has his way, marijuana stores in Kentucky could become a reality. There's a new attempt to legalize "grass" in the Bluegrass state.

Sen. Perry Clark of Louisville has been trying for years -- unsuccessfully -- to legalize medical marijuana. Now, he's going a step further, with a bill that would allow Kentuckians to light up recreationally.

"It's time for us to leap boldly into the future," Clark told WDRB News.

Sen. Clark's bill would decriminalize and regulate the possession, cultivation and sale of marijuana.

"It is not a hard drug. It is senseless that you have cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug with heroin and LSD," he said.

Democrat Sen. Perry Clark of Louisville has advocated for the legalization of medical marijuana since the last legislative session to this summer at Mensa’s Annual Gathering where he cleared the smoke and myths surrounding marijuana. Friday he filed a bill rolling medical and recreational use in one big hit. 

Clark filed the “Cannabis Freedom Act” which would regulate the use of cannabis just as the state regulates alcohol. 

Touting the benefit of pot over pills and curbing opioid addiction for patients who use marijuana to overcome pain and problems from illness like multiple sclerosis, Clark has talked extensively in the Senate and legislative committees about the benefits and regulation of marijuana. 

Will Kentucky become the next Colorado or Washington and gather millions of dollars in sales for legalizing marijuana? Colorado and Washington have found success with legalizing marijuana for recreational use, and now it appears that Kentucky is following their lead.

WHAS 11 was one of the first to report the breaking news story on December 11, and they state that “Kentucky Senator Perry B. Clark (D-Louisville) pre-filed an act that would legalize and regulate cannabis in a similar way the Bluegrass State handles alcohol.”

A new joint-study between the University of Colorado and the University of Louisville has been making waves in the medical cannabis community. That study boldly titled, “Daily Marijuana Use Is Not Associated with Brain Morphometric Measures in Adolescents or Adults”, makes a compelling case based on three different physical analyses of the brain in daily cannabis users vs. non-users. Taken alone, there’s nothing particularly advanced about the study from a technological standpoint; the real significance of the study is that it flies in the face of a larger body of evidence that seems to indicate that cannabis *can* cause structural changes. …So who’s right? Does cannabis cause structural damage or not?