By Aaron C. Davis,

Medical marijuana is now sold in nearly half of all states, and even one red state has legalized it for recreational use. Veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are clamoring for access to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Loosening pot laws polls better in three swing states than any 2016 presidential candidate.

The friendly skies over Oregon just got a bit friendlier to residents who don’t want to leave their weed at home: Airport officials at Portland International Airport said travelers can now legally board planes with up to an ounce of marijuana — for in-state flights only, of course.

Officials point out that Transportation Security Administration is not focused on finding marijuana, but instead would rather expend energy keeping up with security and safety issues, reports UPI.

JUNEAU -- A trade association has been created to promote the nascent legal marijuana business in Alaska.

Four of the five board members of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association held a news conference Thursday in Anchorage to discuss the group's formation; the event was teleconferenced. State records show the group received status as a nonprofit corporation in late April. The goal was to announce shortly after that, but those involved have been busy working at the local level to help set up the industry, board member and vice president Brandon Emmett said in explaining the timing of Thursday's announcement.

Five lawmakers from three states lit up the U.S. Senate in Washington by introducing the first-ever marijuana banking bill.

The bipartisan bill would give state-compliant cannabis businesses access to the banking system by protecting financial institutions against prosecution or asset forfeiture for providing services to those businesses.

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) – A Boulder marijuana company says it has a new breakthrough for medical marijuana patients — a marijuana capsule that looks and acts more like traditional pharmaceuticals.

Wana Brands says it now has an alternative to smoking or edible marijuana called Wana Caps.

“We feel like we are making an important step in giving patients another alternative in consuming cannabis,” said Wana Brands owner John Whiteman.

The marijuana maker worked with Cannabics, a pharmaceutical company based in Israel, to develop the first extended release formula to make marijuana last up to 12 hours. The capsules are filled twice — first with a dose that kicks in almost immediately, and then with a dose that starts to work after about four hours.

Twenty-four Florida commercial plant nurseries have applied for state licenses to grow non-euphoric marijuana and process and sell a medicinal oil that can be used to treat epilepsy and several other medical conditions in Florida.

The applicants are spread across five regions and their proposals will be competing to win a single license that the state Department of Health will award each region. There are eight applicants who applied for the license for Central Florida. All five regions drew at least four applicants.

About 20% of marijuana business owners in the U.S. are women

Suburban moms selling marijuana is no longer just the plotline of the Showtime series “Weeds”. It’s a growing reality.

Women are increasingly entering the marijuana market as business owners and customers, as the legal obstacles are gradually cleared and retail spaces grow in number.

Women Grow, a Denver-based industry network for women in the cannabis market, estimates that about 20% of marijuana business owners in the U.S. are female. (Women-owned companies comprise about 30% of all U.S. businesses, but as the majority are nonprofit, they account for just 4% of overall business revenue, according to a 2014 report by the National Association of Women Business Owners.)

Alcohol seems to act as a substitute for marijuana when people hit the minimum legal drinking age, a recent study found.

The study, published in the Journal of Health Economics, found — perhaps not surprisingly — that alcohol consumption spikes among people just over the age of 21. But it also found that marijuana use experienced a substantial drop at the same age.

The finding is important to the debate about public policy to regulate the substances. As economic substitutes, how strictly marijuana laws are enforced would affect alcohol use — and vice versa — because people will tend to use whichever substance is cheapest or more available.

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Little Sadie Higuera is a model for what it means to fight for one’s life. She’s a testament for what hope and bravery can accomplish in a moment of utmost desperation and she’s living proof of the efficacy of a little green plant we know as cannabis. She’s a gorgeous child with a beautiful heart and we’d like to share her story with you.