recreational marijuana

The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a landmark bill aimed at helping the fast-growing legal cannabis industry. Backers of fully legalizing marijuana said the 321-103 vote in favor of the so-called “SAFE Banking Act” is a key victory in their drive to bring the drug out of the legal shadows.

Federal legalization of hemp arrived in the U.S. late last year and expanded an industry already booming because of the skyrocketing popularity of CBDs, a compound in hemp that many see as a health aid. But now, just a few months after Congress placed the marijuana look-alike squarely in safe legal territory, the hemp industry has been unsettled by an unexpected development.

Tens of thousands of people who were previously found guilty of misdemeanor marijuana possession charges could see their convictions vacated under a measure passed Monday by the Washington Senate.

Governor Jay Inslee will pardon people under his new Marijuana Justice Initiative. People convicted of minor marijuana possession in Washington can now have their record cleared.

Marijuana dispensaries are reaching out to seniors seeking help with the aches and pains of aging. They're discovering an array of products and some interesting side effects.

The legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington state in 2012 resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people sentenced for marijuana-related felonies, according to an analysis conducted for public radio by the Washington State Caseload Forecast Council.

Age limits, government involvement, sales taxes -- with legalization nationwide rather than on a state-by-state (or, rather, province-by-province) basis, the Canadian cannabis industry is shaping up differently than the way it was established across the U.S.

In the Columbia Basin, communities are pushing back on recreational marijuana by leveraging county regulations – regulations like Benton County’s new “Sight and Smell Ordinance.”