Will Kentucky become the next Colorado or Washington and gather millions of dollars in sales for legalizing marijuana? Colorado and Washington have found success with legalizing marijuana for recreational use, and now it appears that Kentucky is following their lead.

WHAS 11 was one of the first to report the breaking news story on December 11, and they state that “Kentucky Senator Perry B. Clark (D-Louisville) pre-filed an act that would legalize and regulate cannabis in a similar way the Bluegrass State handles alcohol.”

Nothing kills a buzz like the sight of federal agents seizing tens of thousands of marijuana plants from a tribe's reservation.

One year ago, a wave of euphoria swept Indian country when the U.S. Department of Justice released a memo that many read as the feds giving the nation's more than 560 tribes an unrestricted green light to grow and sell marijuana on their reservations — even in states such as Wisconsin where weed remains illegal.

WASHINGTON — Among the top contributors to Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential campaign are the usual suspects — a financial management firm, a real estate developer, a manufacturer of hand tools.

But Paul also is getting significant support from an unlikely source for a conservative Republican — the marijuana industry.

The Marijuana Policy Project gave Paul’s campaign $5,000 — the legal limit that a political committee can give a candidate, according to campaign finance records.

The National Cannabis Industry Association gave $5,000. Its executive director and federal lobbyist added another $2,000, according to a tally by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign spending.

Anthony Franciosi now 26, has grown from 14-year-old pot smoker to professional cannabis farmer and outspoken advocate for organic crops and sustainable production practices. The 7000 sq. ft marijuana grow space he is creating outside of Steamboat Springs Colorado aims to use the latest technology in lighting, water use and waste management to minimize resource use while growing organic cannabis.

His company, HonestMarijuana.com, expects to produce 900-1200 pounds of marijuana in 8-10 strains in 2016, employing 8-10 people depending on the season.  As an early entrepreneur in the growing Colorado market for legal marijuana, he’s watched the industry develop.

TALLAHASSEE (NSF) – Three nurseries rejected by health officials for medical-marijuana licenses are challenging the licenses granted to Florida’s first “dispensing organizations,” with possibly more appeals on the horizon before a Monday deadline.

In a challenge filed Friday, Gainesville-based San Felasco Nurseries argued that the grower was erroneously disqualified because of issues surrounding a background screening of its research and development director. The nursery also alleges that the winner of the license for the state’s Northeast region, Chestnut Hill Tree Farm, is ineligible to be one of the five dispensing organizations, which will grow, process and distribute non-euphoric marijuana legalized last year.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Supporters spent more than $21 million on a losing fall campaign to legalize marijuana in Ohio for personal and medical use, campaign finance reports filed Friday show.

Most of the nearly $12 million ResponsibleOhio raised from July to October came from 10 companies or organizations listed under corporate names, according to the figures reported to the Secretary of State's office. About 250 people gave individual contributions during the period. Their contributions of $2 to $200 totaled less than $8,000.

After being slammed by a pot-infused edibles company suffering the blow of its third pesticide-related recall, a cannabis-testing laboratory in Colorado has a message it wants known: “We don’t want to see anyone in the industry have their product recalled or quarantined,” Gobi Analytical said in a statement released to The Cannabist this week.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mentor Capital (MNTR), GW Pharma (GWPH) and Terra Tech (TRTC) lead the new Mentor Capital Cannabis Index for Value Investors. 

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mentor Capital, Inc. (OTCQB:MNTR) announces that the leaders in Mentor’s new Cannabis Index for Value Investors were Mentor Capital at (252%), Terra Tech (OTCQX:TRTC) at (86%) and GW Pharmaceuticals Plc. (NASDAQ: GWPH) at (33%) when compared to the NASDAQ average set at (100%). Sales plus book value were compared to market capitalization for leading marijuana stocks to establish this new marijuana stock index.

Marijuana has been proven to be tremendously effective when it comes to treating epilepsy. It seems like most of the time that I see medical marijuana being talked about on the news or in print media, it’s almost always talking about how CBD can help epilepsy, with countless success stories. There are a lot of uses for medical marijuana, all of which I support. But I especially support cannabis for the use of epilepsy because of how many personal success stories I’ve personally witnessed.

The United States government banned the cultivation of hemp in 1957 in an effort to crack down on marijuana use, but the drug isn't the only thing for which the plant is used. In fact, it's valued as a food source and in the manufacture of textiles, prompting many states to begin legalizing hemp in recent years. Delaware joined this roster in 2013, legalizing weed for medical purposes.

The following state officials have played crucial roles in the effort to legalize industrial hemp cultivation in the state.