Written by Jan Hoffman for The New York Times. To a child on the prowl for sweets, that brownie, cookie or bear-shaped candy left on the kitchen counter is just asking to be gobbled up. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, notably Colorado, that child may end up with more than a sugar high. A study published on ...

Written by Jafari Tishomingo for Counter current. John Orem, the Republican nominee for Berkeley County sheriff was charged with heroin possession after apparently overdosing twice in two days The former Martinsburg police officer was arraigned on one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance Tuesday morning and released on 5,000$ bail. John Orem was found unresponsive in his Inwood,W.Va home late Monday night. EMS Officials told West Virginia State Troopers that the ...

Written by Kristen Gwynne for VICE. As cannabis transitions from the black market to a legal industry, big shot marijuanainvestors with their eyes on the “green rush” want to make pot seem “mainstream” enough that white soccer moms will forget it was ever a crime. Their hope is that the industry will continue to expand as the stigma fades, and one ...

Written by Tess Barker for LA Weekly. The pool in the front yard of Dr. Francis D’Ambrosio’s Hollywood Hills house is shady and filled with inflatable loungers that drift in the breeze. An empty energy drink can and full tray of cigarette butts rest on the table near the entrance. Just inside, in a home office to the side of ...

Written by Michael Geslani for Merry Jane. After Ohio became the 26th state to legalize medical marijuana, plans to implement the new law have caused state officials to become concerned about the financial hurdles that lie ahead. State officials have proposed a “closed-loop” payment processing system that is similar to pre-paid debit or gift cards. The system would require that MMJ patients ...

Written by Ezra Kaplan for The New York Times. RIONEGRO, Colombia — Like many drug barons in Colombia, Federico Cock-Correa wants to sell his product globally. Just 15 miles outside Medellín, Mr. Cock-Correa is looking to replace vast acres of flowers with marijuana plants, with plans to export the harvest. But unlike the brutal heroin and cocaine trade that once flourished ...

Written by Jared Lindzon for Fast Company At first glance, MassRoots is just like any other technology company in America. The Denver-based social platform for marijuana enthusiasts boasts an open-concept, loft-style office filled with 33 talented programmers, developers, and sales staff. But beneath the surface there’s something unique about working at a pot startup, and it has little to do with the ...

Written by Christopher Ingraham for The Washington Post. An Oregon teenager is facing federal drug charges and up to a year in prison for possessing a gram of marijuana, according to his lawyer — the first marijuana possession case federal authorities have prosecuted  in the state since 2011. Devontre Thomas, 19, recently graduated from Chemawa Indian School in Salem and is heading to college ...

Written by Ricardo Baca for The Cannabist. Willie Nelson and his family and team are legally growing marijuana for the first time in the country singer and legalization activist’s lifetime. The owners of one of Denver’s oldest marijuana businesses have sold their pot cultivation and infused products licenses to a group representing the country music legend and his new cannabis ...

Written by James Nord & Regina Cano for Associate Press. Two consultants who worked with a Native American tribe on its plans to open the nation’s first marijuana resort have been charged with drug offences, South Dakota’s attorney general announced Wednesday. The charges come eight months after the Flandreau Santee Sioux destroyed their crop amid fears of a federal raid, abandoning an ...