WeedLife News Network

DENVER — Marijuana is rapidly becoming a big, semi-legal business across the country, with $5.7 billion in sales last year and tens of thousands of people working and paying taxes as they cultivate, package and sell cannabis.

Kentucky is accelerating hemp production in the third year of testing its potential as a cash crop.

Vireo Health of New York is battling Google because it blocked their digital advertising for marijuana-based drugs.

Up to a dozen states could be voting on marijuana initiatives come November, but these three states are by far the most important for the industry.

The growing acceptance and legalization of marijuana is helping the U.S. cannabis industry expand well beyond niche status. It's forecast to pump from $24 billion to $44 billion annually into the country's economy by 2020, according to an industry publication.

As the rest of the world watches President Barack Obama and Congress play tug-of-war with a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, the marijuana industry is paying close attention to the man at the center.

HARRISBURG — The House on Wednesday approved allowing the medical use of marijuana in Pennsylvania, sending the legislation to the Senate, which has approved medical cannabis bills in the past.

Supporters of the new push to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio have added several new medical conditions to a proposed constitutional amendment, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

Liberal-leaning Vermont could become the first U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana use through legislation, rather than by voter initiative, in a move that advocates for the drug say could speed its acceptance across the nation.

The weed industry is becoming a legitimate economic engine. Sales of legal marijuana in the US are estimated to more than double by 2020, as is the broader economic impact of the industry, a new report predicts.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is scheduled to take up a bill to legalize medical marijuana. The bill has been stalled in the House since it overwhelmingly passed the Senate last May.

An experimental drug derived from marijuana has succeeded in reducing epileptic seizures in its first major clinical trial, the product’s developer announced Monday, a finding that could lend credence to the medical marijuana movement.

Medical marijuana supporters are pushing back on new restrictions to the program at a time when providers are closing down.

As the candidates for president tour the country seeking their respective party's nomination, they continue to face questions about marijuana legalization.

BOSTON - A measure on track for the November statewide ballot would open the doors of the Massachusetts marketplace to legal use of recreational marijuana. But a small section in the proposed ballot measure promoted by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol would also regulate the cultivation, process, distribution and sale of hemp.

EMPIRE, Colo. – Colorado’s $1 billion marijuana industry is helping some small towns stay afloat. A prime example is the town of Empire, in Clear Creek County.

PORTLAND, Maine — Supporters of an effort to legalize and regulate marijuana like alcohol in Maine say they plan to sue Maine's secretary of state.

There are increasing signs that 2016 might just be the year the largest state in the nation legalizes recreational marijuana.