With the legal marijuana industry starting to heat up in Chicago, a monthly cannabis meetup is launching to connect medical marijuana enthusiasts and give resources to budding entrepreneurs.

The marijuana industry has blossomed from a back alley trade to a thriving $3 billion industry, but the U.S. Postal Service just told the newspaper industry they wouldn’t be cashing in.

Recreational marijuana is legal in Oregon, but not at the federal level and that’s what prompted the Portland USPS office to issue a warning to area newspapers not to run paid marijuana ads, according to Fox News.

Federal drug policy officials in recent years have done everything they can to send the message that they have a balanced, health-focused strategy that acknowledges drug abuse is a medical problem we can’t arrest our way out of. While Obama administration officials often use fuzzy math or artful language to obscure the fact that most federal drug control funding actually still goes toward failed strategies like arrests, incarceration and overseas interdiction, they rarely lie outright.

But Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), did just that at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.

In most homes with young children you will find evidence of their little lives everywhere. Yvonne Cahalane’s house in Dunmanway county Cork is no exception.

Tiny clothes are drying near a radiator, a shiny yellow plastic car lies abandoned on the couch and the Minions DVD is playing in the background.

But between the scattered toys in Yvonne's home there are other items. A large hold-alls containing piles of boxes of prescription medications, complicated-looking first aid kits and an oxygen tank.

For Yvonne, her husband John and their two sons; Oscar who is three, and Tristan (pictured) who turns two in December, this medical paraphernalia are a part of their everyday life.

Despite a decades-long federal ban on the production of hemp, in recent years several states, including Oregon, have begun legalizing hemp cultivation for industrial purposes. This is because while hemp is related to cannabis, the plant marijuana is made from, it does not have the same high-inducing properties. Instead, it is used to make several types of goods, and has been for centuries. 

Cannabis legalisation has finally been realized in various states and nations and it is expected that this trend should continue for quite some time. However, there is a balance to strike between the urgency of implementing reforms and the risks of moving too hastily. The steps forward that any jurisdiction takes will depend on the nature of the existing market, policy frameworks, and social and political environment. Early adopters will doubtless face different challenges to those that come later. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and no silver bullets.

1. Establish an independent commission of experts to work through the detail of policy development

The Science of Cannabis Institute Hopes to Offer the State's First Accredited Program for Medical Marijuana Consultants

A couple Saturdays ago, I took a class for the first time in years. It wasn't to relearn algebra (although I have definitely forgotten it), but to become a certified cannabis worker. The four-hour course, which is offered by the Science of Cannabis Institute (SCI) and is held on the University of Washington campus, is the first of its kind in Washington State, part of a growing cannabis education industry. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) recently announced that it would create a medical marijuana consultant certification program, and SCI hopes to be the first accredited institution to offer it.

Although using search engine popularity as a barometer for drug usage isn't an exact methodology, it does provide a useful insight into what substances people are trying to discover more about.

Withdrawal.net has broken down the most searched for drugs on Google by each state in the US, observing an increase in methamphetamine searches, coinciding with the drug becoming more popular in the 2000s.

This mesmerising image shows the emergence of meth in the US states, particularly in the north west and mid-west.

California based Hound Labs Inc. is claiming to have made a breakthrough in the rush to develop a portable device capable of detecting THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in the breath of someone that has recently smoked a substance containing the chemical. They claim also that their device will soon be small enough for use by law enforcement to remove impaired drivers from the road.

Technology has completely changed how consumers and retail brands interact. From the Internet, to mobile, to connected devices, the impact of technology on the entire consumer-shopping journey cannot be understated. How consumers research, purchase and review products can now happen at the blink of an eye, without them ever leaving their couch.