Legalization activists received an early Christmas present last weekend: recreational marijuana legalization in the Pine Tree State is finally on track after a lengthy battle over election results. 

On Dec. 14 2016, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency made it clear that “any marijuana-based extract is considered a Schedule I drug under federal law, including CBD oils and other types of CBD-rich extracts.” Even though CBD shows much promise as a medicine, it remains illegal in many parts of the world. CBD is classified as a Schedule I drug in the United States and a Schedule II drug in Canada.

And Why They’re B.S.

Though one in eight U.S. adults say they smoke marijuana and the support for legal marijuana is up to 60 percent, there are still popular myths that paint marijuana as the big bad wolf. If you're one of the countless people who's managed to live a well-rounded, fulfilling life and still smoke weed, here are the four most common arguments against making your hobby legal, and why they're total BS:

The door to legalized marijuana in California cracked ajar in 1996, when voters approved the Compassionate Use Act, which allowed doctors to recommend cannabis to their patients.

In November, the door flew open as voters approved Proposition 64 by a wide margin, a measure that legalizes marijuana for adult recreational use and could herald the beginning of the end of the federal government’s misbegotten war on weed.

The Question 1 recount is over. And Wednesday, the Maine secretary of state certified the election results.

Question 1, which legalizes the possession, cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana, will soon become law.

Soon, but not yet.

Gov. Paul LePage will have 10 days to issue a proclamation after he receives the certified election results. The legislation becomes law 30 days after the governor signs the proclamation.

Seantrel Henderson isn’t your typical user. Marijuana serves as a pain reliever for the 24-year-old Buffalo Bills offensive lineman who was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease one year ago. Doctors told Henderson medical marijuana was the best medicine for his inflammatory bowel disease, which caused the 2014 seventh-round selection to have 80 centimeters of intestines removed during two different surgeries last year. Still, the NFL suspended Henderson 10 games in late November for violating the league’s substance abuse policy for the second time this season. 

With the state's pot industry poised to explode, Florida health officials have agreed to issue another medical marijuana license --the state's seventh-- to a Central Florida nursery that lost out to a competitor by a fraction of a percentage point last fall.

The Department of Health inked the agreement with McCrory's Sunny Hill Nursery last week--after nearly a year of protracted and expensive litigation over the license--before Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth McArthur could issue a ruling and as health officials tried to work out a deal over another license in a separate challenge.

States with medical-marijuana laws have fewer traffic fatalities than those without, especially among younger drivers, a new study has found.

You would think crash rates might be higher, supposing that more drivers are, too — especially around midnight, when a run to a 7-Eleven becomes necessary.

But, no. Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found an 11 percent reduction in traffic fatalities on average when examining places that have enacted medical-marijuana laws — 23 states and the District of Columbia. The presence of medical-marijuana dispensaries also correlated with fewer traffic fatalities, the study found.

Kentucky could become one of the next states to legalize the leaf for recreational purposes.

Democratic Senator Perry Clark recently showed up in Frankfort to pre-file a piece of legislation aimed at creating a taxed and regulated cannabis market throughout the Commonwealth.

The proposal, submitted under BR408, would create something similar to other recreational pot markets, pushing for adults 21 and over to have the freedom to carry up to one ounce of marijuana and cultivate up to five plants at home for personal use.

Market and analytics experts published a study predicting one industry to blaze by all others in the Bay State, growing beyond $1 billion annually by 2020:

Marijuana.

With retail sales of the substance beginning in 2018, the study painted a picture of a changing commonwealth -- a destination visit for "canna-tourists" by the thousand -- the marijuana hub of New England, if not "the world."

Marijuana data and investment firms ArcView Market Research and New Frontier published the study earlier in the year, before the Election Day legalization vote.

Troy Dayton, CEO of The Arcview Group, made a bold prediction in a statement on the study.