The legalized world of marijuana is big business. In California alone, sales reached $1.1 billion last year, according to a recent report from CBS News. Now with the medical marijuana sector legal in 23 states and Washington, D.C., entrepreneurs and companies are getting in on this lucrative "pot" of gold. Take for instance, Kush Bottles, the Los Angeles-based supplier of certified, child-resistant packaging, branded exit solutions and accessories for the cannabis industry, which was just recognized by Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America.

1. Ohio - Ohio voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to legalize marijuana with a constitutional amendment to institute a revolutionary proposal that backers say will create a billion-dollar industry in the next four years.

Secretary of State Jon Husted said Wednesday the private investor group ResponsibleOhio had collected 320,267 signatures of registered Ohio voters, 14,676 more than necessary to qualify for the general-election ballot. ResponsibleOhio spent more than $2 million since March on the petition drive to put its proposed Marijuana Legalization Amendment before voters.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved limited use of the powerful and frequently abused painkiller OxyContin for children as young as 11 years old, the agency announced Thursday.

Dr. Sharon Hertz, director of new anesthesia, analgesia and addiction products for the FDA, said studies by Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Connecticut, which manufactures the drug, "supported a new pediatric indication for OxyContin in patients 11 to 16 years old and provided prescribers with helpful information about the use of OxyContin in pediatric patients."

OxyContin is a long-release version of oxycodone, an opioid that acts on the brain like heroin and is intended for only the most severe and chronic pain cases.

San Francisco’s large community of “medical” marijuana users now has its own 5K footrace — except it’s not a 5K race, it’s a 4.20-mile race. The buzz is building for Saturday morning’s 420 Games, the grandaddy-purp of all athletic events geared to cannabis users.

Florida lawmakers passed the so-called Charlotte's Web medical marijuana law two years ago -- but to date nobody has been helped.

That may change under a bill filed for the 2016 legislative session that would remove the limit on the number of growers and expand the number of diseases that qualify for use to include HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, or any terminal illness. Only cancer patients and seizure sufferers qualify now.

The current law has been bogged down in red tape from the Department of Health as well as litigation from nursery owners trying to position themselves as one of only five cannabis growers in the state.

The standards will include improved training and minimum age requirements for certified applicators.

Washington , D.C. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing stronger standards for pesticide applicators who apply “restricted-use” pesticides. These pesticides are not available for purchase by the general public, require special handling and may only be applied by a certified applicator or someone working under his or her direct supervision.

Are you in the process of submitting an application for a Maryland medical cannabis licensed Grower, Dispensary or Processor? If this is you, sleep lightly you are not alone.

Onscreen portrayals of weed-smoking women are changing fast, but they still need to catch up to reality

Many scientists are increasingly frustrated by the disregard of scientific evidence on cannabis use and regulation. To set the record straight, the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP), a global network of scientists working on drug policy issues, released two groundbreaking reports today evaluating the strength of commonly heard cannabis claims.

Pass the joint.

Marijuana is not as addictive as heroin nor a gateway drug, a new report says, and regulating its use does no harm to the public.

The blunt talk comes from a groundbreaking new study issued Wednesday from the Toronto-based International Centre for Science in Drug Policy, which argues anti-pot activists are blowing smoke.

The center’s director, Dr. Dan Werb, said in the report, “More and more jurisdictions are reconsidering their policies on cannabis, yet the public discourse around cannabis is filled with frequently repeated claims that are simply not supported by the scientific evidence.”