While attending a meeting on Capitol Hill with legislators and their staff on the myriad of over twenty proposed cannabis law reform legislation pending before Congress, a youngish legislative aide viewing a spreadsheet of all the varying bills, whilst listening to all of the talk of effectively nothing passing in this Congress, looked up dazed at everyone and suggested that ‘this potpourri of piecemeal legislation can’t really be passed without trying to address the underlying issue: federal prohibition statutes and guidelines’.

Yep, you got it Skippy!

At the second Republican presidential debate, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie claimed that he’s “not against medical marijuana.” But his exchange with a registered cannabis nurse this week seems to suggest otherwise.

On Wednesday at an event in Newton, Iowa, cannabis nurse and Gulf War veteran Shelly Van Winkle asked Christie how he would balance states’ rights to legalize medicinal marijuana with the fact that federal law still considers marijuana a Schedule 1 drug. Would he do anything to address the confusion?

File photo of a bag of marijuana being prepared for sale next to a money jar at BotanaCare in Northglenn, Colorado. RICK WILKING / Reuters File

The filing came in a legal battle between the Federal Reserve and the would-be Fourth Corner Credit Union, which was set up last year to serve Colorado's $700 million-a-year marijuana industry.

The credit union can't open without clearance from the Federal Reserve, which said in its filing that "transporting or transmitting funds known to have derived from the distribution of marijuana is illegal."

Nearly one in ten American adults, or more than 22 million people, smoke marijuana, according to a new study. The number of adults using marijuana has doubled over the last decade.

This rise in usage is a reflection of a cultural shift on the acceptability of marijuana use, according to researchers with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Other studies have shown that increasing numbers of adults think marijuana should be legalized.

Fifty-eight percent of Americans now believe that use of marijuana should be made legal, “tying the high point in Gallup’s 46-year trend,” according to a Gallup Poll released on Thursday.

The support for legalization is highest among so-called millennials, with 71 percent of those 18 to 34 saying that cannabis should be legal.  Sixty-four percent of those 35 to 49 years old agree, along with 58 percent in the 50-64 age group.

It stands to reason that legalizing marijuana, by making it easier, cheaper, and less risky to obtain, would encourage consumption. That is mostly a positive development, since it implies greater consumer satisfaction as more people enjoy a product that prohibition made harder to get. But it also stands to reason that as marijuana consumption rises, so will marijuana-related problems. The extent of those problems is a big part of the current debate about the wisdom of emulating Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska by treating marijuana suppliers as legitimate businesses instead of criminal organizations.

B.C. Senator Larry Campbell says prime minister-delegate Justin Trudeau should give it a year to 18 months before legalizing marijuana — to make sure it is done right.  

Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana across Canada 'right away', but hasn't committed to a timeline for legalization. 

Campbell — the former mayor of Vancouver — said there needs to be communication across all three levels of government for the proper roll-out of pot legalization. 

Cosmos explorer and show host Nel deGrasse Tyson laid his hand out during a #WhenIWasYourAge Twitter trend two days ago. And the astrophysicist both nailed it and inadvertently admitted he’s about that life:

#WhenIWasYourAge Second-hand smoke was when somebody offered you a toke on whatever they were puffing.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2015

Washington, DC –-(ENEWSPF)--October 22, 2015.  Yesterday, as representatives from the Oregon Cannabis Association visit Capitol Hill, Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) on the House floorcalled for an end to the federal government’s failed approach of marijuana prohibition.

To follow are Congressman Blumenauer’s remarks. Click here to watch his speech.