DENVER -- 20,000 marijuana plants, 700 pounds of dried weed and more than 30 guns, all found right out in the open.

“You see a group of people who are actually actively engaged, farming the marijuana. So that means there are tents, cookhouses. There are irrigation systems in place. There’s a lot of pesticides,” said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado John Walsh.

The busts started Aug. 19 and spanned the state of Colorado as listed below. Six of them took place through Thursday.

Pike National Forest, Aug. 19 in the Green Mountain Area in Jefferson County. Investigation is ongoing.

I always say that Texas is a tough place for marijuana reform. Unlike most other states that have voted to reform their marijuana laws, Texas does not have a citizens initiative process. In states like Oregon, where I live, citizens can gather a certain number of signatures, and put marijuana reform on the ballot. Texas does not provide its citizens that option.

For decades, buying pot off the street sometimes meant you had to take the seller’s word about the quality and origin of their product. But with some states legalizing retail marijuana sales in the U.S., there’s an opportunity for consumer safeguards and increased transparency for pot purchasers.

The most highly anticipated marijuana initiative in California—perhaps even across the entire United States—was finally submitted earlier this week to the state attorney general. ReformCA, the financially endowed coalition working to legalize recreational marijuana in the Golden State during the 2016 election, recently announced that their proposal, the Control, Regulate, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2016, was simply waiting for the approval of state officials before they launched a mega-campaign that could change the course of prohibition for the entire nation.

A state House panel moved a bill that paves the way for research into industrial uses of hemp research

After approval by the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, the bill now moves to the House floor. The measure would allow university researchers and programs administered by the Department of Agriculture to study industrial hemp through a pilot program.

The legislation is sponsored by State Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) and is one step toward re-establishing the industrial hemp industry in the state, which used to lead the nation.

Industrial hemp production stopped in 1937 when the Marijuana Tax Act was passed. Hemp has been illegal since 1970 when the Controlled Substances Act passed, as hemp comes from the cannabis plant.

A former Navy SEAL makes the case for why the federal ban on medical marijuana needs to be lifted.

Medical marijuana is a political issue. It is a legal issue. But most important, it is a health issue that is playing an increasingly significant role in the quality of life for Americans, especially veterans.

Larimer County Sheriff's Office via the Fort Collins Coloradoan

Earlier this week, we posted about two illegal marijuana grows found on federal land. Ten foreign nationals were busted in separate operations.

Now, Mario Garcia and six others are in custody on charges related to an illegal grow of their own — one they allegedly built up on private land they took over and tried to hang onto via a complicated scam backed by threats and a pit bull.

A majority of voters in the swing states of Florida and Ohio support legalizing marijuana for recreational use while a narrow plurality in Pennsylvania is opposed, according to survey results released Thursday.

There was a sizable gender gap, with more men than women in each state saying the drug should be legalized for recreational purposes, though most people said they would not use it if it were legal, according to the polling from Quinnipiac University.

States considering legalizing recreational marijuana should think again. That is the message of a federally funded agency which recently released a report on the negative effects of legal pot in Colorado. 

"[Traffic] fatalities related to marijuana, it showed about a 28 percent increase [since legalization]," said Tom Gorman, director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which compiled the report. 

He said it also showed hospitalizations went up about 36 percent while "marijuana-related ER" visits went up around 30 percent. "Poison control calls [had] about a 72 percent increase. And all of this is within a year's period of time," he said. 

REARDAN, Wash. -

Steve Walser's life on the farm has changed dramatically over the past two years.

Walser has been a farmer in Washington for decades. He built Willow Wind Organic Farms in Reardan, Wash., to be a family business. They've grown several crops over the years, including potatoes and hay. Today their premiere food is blueberries.

But beside their berry crop sits a secure facility filled with their newest crop: Marijuana.

Recreational cannabis hit stores around Washington in 2014 after voters legalized its use.

Walser joined the pot industry in its infancy. He says his business partner brought knowledge of cannabis to the table, and Walser applied his farming skills.