The stark contrast between the two proposed marijuana legalization referendums was made painfully apparent at the Common Ground Country Fair.

Legalize Maine, the local grassroots organization sponsoring the version of the referendum that supports local farmers and care providers, showed their deep understanding of the rural culture of Maine by doing the right thing. They signed up for a table in the Social and Political Action tent at the fair, paid their fees and settled in for the weekend to talk to folks about the referendum and get their support and signatures.

According to stats included in the just-released Uniform Criminal offense Report compiled by the FBI about all criminal activities in the United States, there were 700,993 marijuana-related arrests made in 2014, up from 693,058 in 2013, with 88 percent of those arrests being for easy ownership.

AUSTIN — A new poll from a nonpartisan leadership group in Texas shows Texans having more supportive attitudes toward gay marriage and softening marijuana penalties.

The poll, from the Texas Lyceum, came out midweek. The Texas Lyceum aims to educate leaders in a nonpartisan manner about the major issues of the day.

Their Day 1 poll (Day 2 shows how lawmakers and politicians are polling) has a variety of findings.

Border security is at the top of most Texans’ list of important issues, such that 62 percent of Texans supported a recent legislative approval to spend $800 million on border security.

About half of Texans still oppose marijuana legalization, although 57 percent said they would support lowering penalties for marijuana offenses.

A marijuana social club that opened Friday amid questions over the legality of such venues - and a citywide moratorium on new ones - has been shut down for reasons completely unrelated to the controversy.

Fire investigators went to One Love Club, on 21st Street between Highway 24 and Colorado Avenue in Colorado Springs, before it opened to tell the owner the club needed permits it didn't have in order to open, Fire Marshal Brett Lacey said Saturday. But the club opened anyway, and at 10 p.m. Friday the Colorado Springs Fire Department shut it down and kicked everyone out.

Saturday afternoon, the club posted a "thank you" message on its Facebook page.

ALBION, Ill. (AP) – It’s harvest time in southeastern Illinois. And in one city that means not just corn, but medical marijuana.

The Associated Press recently gained an exclusive look at Illinois’ first legal marijuana crop, and the new farmland ritual beginning amid the cornfields surrounding the historic town of Albion.

A company called Ataraxia is harvesting medical marijuana that will soon be sold in dispensaries around the state.

Ataraxia is the first center to make it to the finish line after running a gantlet of state requirements.

Few, if any, political issues have garnered as much attention in recent years as marijuana, and three national polls -- Gallup, Pew Research, and General Social Survey -- have all shown that a slim majority of respondents now have a favorable view of the still federally illegal drug.

Select states push for marijuana reform
However, as we've seen, slim public support for marijuana doesn't guarantee the expansion of marijuana legalization into new states, let alone reform in Congress.

The nation’s top cop thinks states should be allowed to legalize marijuana, but believes the federal government has a role to play in keeping cannabis away from kids and stopping interstate trafficking in the drug.

“I think states have to make those decisions on their own. They listen to their citizens and they take actions,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd on Thursday. “What we have said and what we continue to say is that states have to also have a system designed to, number one, mitigate violence associated with their marijuana industries. And number two, and perhaps most importantly, keep young people, children away from the products.”

Legalizing marijuana Issue 3 would legalize recreational and medical marijuana in Ohio. Click here for more information about the proposal. And click here for an updated list of supporters and opponents.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- If Issue 3 passes, Ohio's legal marijuana industry would generate between $133 million and $293.3 million in tax revenue for local governments, according to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management.

With 2016 due to be a huge year for marijuana legalization advocates, the questions have been coming fast and hard at next year’s presidential candidates – about both their personal feelings on cannabis, and how they would address marijuana policy.

Some of the responses we’ve heard have included blatant falsities – if not outright lies. This, of course, is to be expected during campaign season. But with marijuana legalization’s fate largely resting in the hands of the next administration, hearing candidates spout lies about, or exhibit a failure to understand cannabis in the least bit, is disheartening.

Here are seven of those big lies, and which candidates are espousing them.

he Flandreau Santee Sioux currently runs a successful casino, as well as a 120-room hotel and a 240-head buffalo ranch.

However, this business enterprise has been subject to the effects of both the Great Recession and stiff competition.

Now the small Indian tribe from South Dakota is opening the country's first marijuana resort, to be built on their reservation. This experiment could prove to be a money-making model for tribes who are looking to tap into economic opportunities apart from the casino industry.

The leaders of Santee Sioux intend to grow and sell their pot in the resort's facilities, including a nightclub, a game arcade, a bar and resto, slot machines and an outdoor music hall.