Keep an eye on the changing marijuana laws and the vast economic potential of the cannabis plant.

Cannabis is enjoying a major public-image improvement. After all, we've learned that the THC in marijuana has medicinal uses, while the plant fibers in hemp have countless uses in manufacturing. The legitimacy of marijuana is growing as states legalize it and corporations invest substantial resources in cannabinoid research and development.

No matter your stance on cannabis, you should get to know the world's most high-profile plant. So here are some facts and figures on marijuana that may surprise or impress you:

A chocolate wrapper is an instrument of seduction. Be it beautiful papers for artisanal chocolates or the familiar graphics of favorite drugstore candy, the package’s job is to tempt and trigger an impulse buy.

But for graphic designer Nathan Sharp, the assignment went beyond picking good paper, ribbons, and fonts. Tasked with designing the packaging for Kiva Confections, a line of cannabis-infused gourmet chocolates, the Texas-bred designer had to find a tasteful solution for displaying product information and medicinal warnings on the front of the candy bar.

As more states legalize marijuana for medical use, the cannabis customer base has reached an older demographic.

Nearly 85% of medical marijuana patients had some form of higher education — nearly 15% held a postgraduate degree — and about 45% of patients were parents, according to a survey of 1,400 patients ages 18 to 80 — one of the largest patient surveys to date — by HelloMD, a digital health care platform that provides doctor consultations via live video chats for cannabis patients. Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states, while cannabis for recreational use is legal in four states and the District of Columbia.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A push to legalize recreational marijuana in Rhode Island has won the support of a top lawmaker.

Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat, has signed on as co-sponsor of a bill to treat marijuana like alcohol by legalizing, regulating and taxing it.

“It is an important conversation to have,” Ruggerio said in a statement. “I have listened to the debate regarding legalization of marijuana over the years and watched the experience in states such as Colorado,” which legalized the commercial sale of the drug.

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A familiar issue is making its way back to the ballot: marijuana legalization.

A recent Public Policy Poll shows 3 in 4 Ohioans want to legalize medical marijuana.

The Quinnipiac University poll before the November 2014 election showed 90 percent of Ohioans wanted medical marijuana legalized.

Even after ResponsibleOhio’s Issue 3 to legalize and monopolize marijuana failed, the latest numbers show support for medical use of the drug is still strong.

A new advocate group for the drug says its stepping in to give Ohioans want they want.

Just two minutes before the Monday grand opening of Logan Square's first medical marijuana dispensary, co-owner Doug Marks steps out of the space's Milwaukee Avenue entrance. The entryway is easy to miss—the word "moca," short for Modern Cannabis, is stamped on the door in bright yellow, pink, and blue, but the words nearly blend in with the mass of posters and graffiti that dominates the adjacent wall. 

A slow trickle of people would follow, but it was hard to tell from the outside: anyone without a medical marijuana card—including the media—were barred from entering the dispensary's main floor.

Sadly, we’ve seen this one before. 

Iowans suffering from chronic, painful medical conditions, their families and friends troop to the Statehouse to urge state lawmakers to give them legal access to medical cannabis. Lawmakers listen, express deep sympathy and then move ahead at a glacial pace with woefully inadequate legislation. 

It’s really the best they can do, they insist.

Five-star Leafly app helps patients and consumers make informed choices about cannabis

SEATTLE -- Leafly, the world’s largest cannabis information resource, took first place in a recent ranking of 2016’s most popular wellness apps. In a survey of nearly 8,000 health and fitness apps, the app analytics company Applause found that Leafly was the highest-rated medical app in the iOS store and the third-most popular medical app overall. To earn the title, Leafly outranked numerous popular general interest health apps, including WebMD, Medscape, and Google Fit.

n Arizona lawmaker's proposal to stop dispensaries from moving out of their state-designated areas highlights the need for updated medical-marijuana program rules.

"We're in limbo — and we've spent a lot money." — Lori Nicks, would-be dispensary operator.

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act that voters approved in 2010 requires the state to adopt rules that govern what was then a fledgling program.

For many decades, one of the strongest arguments for the legalization of cannabis has been the potential medicinal benefits derived from the plant. What we do know is that within the human body exists the Endocannabinoid System (ECS), a group of receptors throughout the brain and central nervous system that respond to compounds from the cannabis plant. The issue, however, is that there are over 400 natural compounds and at least 138 identified cannabinoids, all having various effects on the body.