BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Colombia just discarded a cornerstone of the American-backed fight against drugs, blocking the aerial spraying of coca, the plant used to make cocaine. Bolivia kicked out the United States Drug Enforcement Administration years ago and allows farmers to grow small amounts of the crop.

Deep within a cedar forest in British Columbia, Dan Sutton is building what he hopes will be the most energy-efficient, high-technology greenhouse for growing cannabis. Spurred by the booming market for medical marijuana, he and a group of biologists and engineers have experimented for almost three years with digital sensors, lighting arrays, software programs and ventilators to design a greenhouse system with the lowest energy costs and highest crop yields.

“We said, ‘Let’s assume everything that’s ever been done in cannabis cultivation is wrong, and we have to build from the ground up,’” said Sutton, the 28-year-old managing director of Tantalus Labs in Vancouver.  “We have this broad realm of science that no one has been able to previously explore.”

Health officials in Massachusetts on Friday overhauled the process of granting licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries.

Regulators from the administration of Governor Charlie Baker revamped licensing strikes away the subjectivity and secrecy that had ruined the system under former governor Deval Patrick’s tenure.

It has been found that the controversy surrounding the previous system sparked more than two dozen lawsuits, and left patients without any dispensaries 2½ years after voters approved marijuana for medical use.

For police, pot edibles are the latest frontier when it comes to confiscating marijuana. From brownies and cookies to lollipops and gummy bears, police are increasingly dealing with sweets made with marijuana, not just buds from the plant itself, the New York Times reported Saturday.

The state expects to register the companies selected to grow, distribute medical marijuana by July.

ALBANY – The state Department of Health has pushed back a deadline to apply for a license to grow and distribute medical marijuana.

The new deadline for businesses seeking one of five licenses statewide is now June 5, according to a notice posted Friday to the health department's website. It had previously been May 29.

The state said the delay is the result of a high number of questions about the application process and is pushing back the deadline to provide answers.

Customer Paxton Berlanga, of Indiana, right, smells a strain of marijuana, while being helped by employee Billy Archilla, inside the retail marijuana shop at 3D Cannabis Center, in Denver, Friday Feb. 14, 2014. The marijuana industry breathed a sigh of relief Friday after federal banking regulators issued long-awaited permission for them to access basic banking services. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

NEW YORK — The U.S. government has opened a new line of business for America’s biggest banks, and for once they don’t want it. Little wonder: it’s cash from legalized marijuana.

Why are we, two cops-turned-legislators, trying to legalize pot? Because it’s going to happen, and we want to make sure the approach Maine takes is safe, successful, regulated and taxed. The time to legalize is now so our representatives don’t fall behind the voters. We must be proactive, not reactive.

Nationally, momentum is building in favor of a better approach to marijuana than our current, outdated laws allow. Locally, a recent poll found that 65 percent of Maine voters agree; they believe adult-use marijuana should be legal if it is strictly controlled and regulated in a manner similar to alcohol.

In this 2014 file photo, master grower Evan Schick steps lightly as he waters the 750 marijuana plants jammed into his facility, which supplies Walking Raven dispensary. (John Leyba, Denver Post file)

Job growth and pot growth are fueling record high lease rates and low vacancies in Denver's industrial real estate market.

"Competition for industrial space in the Denver market is very aggressive," said Dawn McCombs, senior vice president and industrial specialist at the Denver office of brokerage Avison Young. "The lack of quality options for tenants is driving rental rates higher than I have ever seen."

BANGOR, Maine — A health care company that operates walk-in clinics in five states that specialize in qualifying people to use medical marijuana recently expanded into Maine, with locations in Bangor, Augusta, Biddeford, and a fourth planned for Auburn.

PHOENIX — Saying he has concerns about abuse, Attorney General Mark Brnovich withdrew his formal legal opinion that public officials can use their offices and resources to “educate” voters on an upcoming ballot measure.

In a prepared statement, press aide Kristen Keogh said there were “allegations” that his opinion, issued less than two weeks ago, “may have provided an opportunity for potential government abuse.” And she said he takes that issue “very seriously.”

Communications chief Ryan Anderson said the next step is to review the issue and issue a revision that is not only “more clear,” but also ensures the opinion, which can be cited in court cases, is not used in a way that does not protect taxpayer dollars.