A report released Thursday by the federal government challenges the assertion that loosening state marijuana laws will lead to more teens getting high.
In its latest biennial survey of high school students, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that teen use of marijuana remained flat between 2011 and 2013. During those years, several states either decriminalized small amounts of the plant or launched medical marijuana programs.

Minnesota is indeed home to one major party that supports the legalization of pot, but it isn’t the Republicans or Democrats.
It’s the Independence Party, which is one of just three parties in Minnesota with “major” status, attained when at least one of a party’s candidates for statewide office wins five percent of the vote for four consecutive elections. That means Independence candidates like John Denney, the party’s Sixth District candidate for U.S. Congress, will have the opportunity to share their unique political views during debates with candidates like Republican Tom Emmer and Democrat Joe Perske.

Need more proof that spending dump trucks full of cash can win elections in America? Take a look at Florida’s percolating governor’s race, where Rick Scott — yes, the same guy who has had trouble cracking 30 percent approval ratings for the past four years — has suddenly pulled even with likely challenger Charlie Crist in several new polls.
What’s changed? Has Scott suddenly started embracing issues important to voters like medical marijuana reform and green energy? Nah, he’s just spending crazy amounts of money — more than $13 million on TV ads just since November. And it’s working like a charm.

Denver is the Hollywood of cannabis, according to KC Stark. As for Colorado Springs, he sees it as Silicon Valley — which is why he decided it was the perfect place to serve as a base for his latest venture, MMJ Business Academy. The academy’s mission, Stark explains, is to break down and explain the new and complicated laws and licensing procedures for people looking to get into the pot industry.
“We saw the need for comprehensive understanding of that marijuana monopoly game. It’s three-dimensional; it moves and changes. It’s brutal,” Stark says.