The issue gets people talking. But no matter which side of the medical marijuana debate you fall on, its acceptance is growing.

"Twenty three states have medical marijuana legalized right now," said Isaac Caviness with Green the Vote Oklahoma.

Caviness would like to make Oklahoma number 24.

"There's real proof out there that it's curing cancer," said Caviness. "It's controlling epilepsy and seizures. It's helping with Parkinson's."

Caviness and his group submitted a petition request Friday at the state capitol. A petition to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. If approved, they'll have 90 days to collect 124,000 signatures.

"Across the state, we have several hundred volunteers," said Caviness.

HOUSTON — Voters in Houston will join those in Palmer to decide whether or not marijuana will be commercially available in local stores this fall.

Voters in both communities voted to approve statewide Ballot Measure Two, which legalized the drug in 2014. Houston was the community that voted to approve marijuana by the widest margin of local municipalities: 14 percent. In Palmer, voters gave less full-throated support, approving legalization by a four-percent margin.

The Oregon Court of Appeals last week threw out second-degree criminal mischief charges against a Philomath man following a ruling that the smell of marijuana smoke can’t be considered “physically offensive.”

Philomath police obtained a search warrant in the November 2012 case based on complaints of the odor drifting into a neighbor’s apartment. While searching Jared William Lang’s residence, police discovered cans of spray paint and stencils and that had allegedly been used to create graffiti on street signs, walls, fences and other places around town.

The ruling is seen as one with statewide impact, especially following the legalization of recreational marijuana on July 1. The smell has become more widespread, primarily to those who live near pot smokers.

The issue: Careful consideration has to go into the types of physical ailment that qualify state residents to participate in Connecticut’s relatively new medical marijuana program.

As it stands now, 11 conditions are approved by statute for patients to get prescribed doses of the drug to ease symptoms.

There is a growing trend in Florida. Local governments are voting to decriminalize marijuana. Florida lawmakers may not be willing to step up and decriminalize marijuana, but that hasn’t stopped local governments in Southeastern Florida from taking matters into their own hands. Key West, Florida is the latest local government to decriminalize marijuana. Per The Joint Blog:

One tonne of marijuana worth up to $17 million has been seized by police this year but it is unlikely to bring any comfort to those with chronic pain or a terminal illness.

ACT Policing has raided numerous grow houses across the territory as part of a crackdown dubbed Operation Armscote, including its biggest haul in July of 900 plants worth an estimated $6 million.

The raids have filled police coffers with close to 1100 kilograms of cannabis but the drugs are destined to remain in storage for testing or as evidence before being destroyed.

A grow house discovered by ACT Policing during 2014-15. 

The moves in Santiago highlight a growing movement toward acceptance of pot in Latin America.

Working at a decidedly un-slackerly pace, employees are racing to get ready for the opening of the latest marijuana boutique to sprout up in pot-friendly Uruguay.

About 20 such stores have opened for business in Montevideo, the capital, in the past year and a half, since Uruguay became the first country in the world to not only legalize marijuana but create a regulated market for it.

"This is just the beginning. The market is wide open to everyone," said 34-year-old Marcelo Cabrera, one of the business partners behind the latest grow shop, Tu Jardin (Your Garden).

Congratulations to Oday Aboushi on his one-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substances of abuse policy. Police arrested the Jets offensive lineman in January and charged him with driving while suspended, careless driving, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance after they found “a small amount” of weed in his car. This would usually be a good opportunity to rag on the Jets, but this punishment seems like bullshit.

AN "UNLUCKY" man who had to call the fire brigade after setting fire to his carpet ended up in court after they also discovered he was growing cannabis at his Kidderminster home.

But Simeon O'Mealy was not growing the class B drug for smoking or selling - he blends the leaves into a juice for drinking.

Mark Soper, prosecuting, said: "He's a bit of an unlucky man really. He set fire to the carpet in his bathroom by a disregarded cigarette end and called the fire brigade. They came and extinguished the fire and noticed a tent which contained the plants."

In mitigation, John Rogers although the 55-year-old had been caught doing something that was illegal in this country, in his home region, the Caribbean, growing cannabis to make juices was a common practice.