The Portland City Council voted 5-4 on Monday against granting a permit to a group that wanted to hold a marijuana farmers market in Deering Oaks next month.

Councilors previously granted the Belfast-based New World Organics permission to hold the New England Cannabis Farmers Market, but revisited the issue after hearing advertising for the event which they said suggested marijuana would be available for use there.

Councilor Nicholas Mavodones was concerned that the event had changed from what was originally promised when it was initially approved.

“I can’t in good conscience vote for this,” said Mavodones, who was joined Monday by Councilors Jill Duson, Jon Hinck, David Brenerman and Edward Suslovic.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Patricia Nelson has left her post as director of the state's Office of Compassionate Use, which has been at the center of a long-running fight over a non-euphoric strain of marijuana.

Nelson has served as director of the office since December, after serving for nearly four years in Gov. Rick Scott’s office as deputy director of the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform.

“Patricia Nelson will be rejoining the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget,” said Mara Burger, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health, confirming the departure. “The Florida Department of Health is grateful for her service and wishes her well in her new position.”

TAMPA, Fla. - The U.S. market for legal cannabis goods and services expanded further last week with the announcement that Illinois’ first state-authorized medical cannabis cultivation center has begun growing crops. That’s more good news for Neutra Corp. (NTRR) as the company continues to add new cannabis cultivation clients to its rapidly growing roster.

DENVER — Microscopic bugs and mildew can destroy a marijuana operation faster than any police raid. And because the crop has been illegal for so long, neither growers nor scientists have any reliable research to help fight the infestations.

As legal marijuana moves from basements and backwoods to warehouses and commercial fields, the mold and spider mites that once ruined only a few plants at a time can now quickly create a multimillion-dollar crisis for growers. Some are turning to industrial-strength chemicals, raising concerns about safety.

Marijuana is a known treatment for anxiety – but for parenting? One mom of three insists that marijuana makes her a better parent.

The realization came to Lea Grover while home with her crying 2-year-old twins, she writes in a new essay for Cosmopolitan. She hadn't smoked weed in years, but she decided to take two puffs from her "stash box."

Google has removed from its Play store an app that allowed California residents to purchase medical marijuana from growers.

Green Exchange had said Google approved its Loud Cannabis app and that the program had been available for months before getting pulled. The app allowed people who use marijuana for medical reasons to connect with growers and arrange to have the drug delivered to them.

Downloads of Loud Cannabis increased after the app received an award earlier this month, possibly leading Google to more closely examine the services offered, Green Exchange said Monday.

Under Louisiana’s recently enacted medical marijuana law, LSU and Southern University AgCenters will get the first crack to grow so-called medical marijuana. But The Advocate reports there could be a small complication, Federal law.

Under a new law the Legislature approved earlier this year, the AgCenters were granted the first right of refusal to hold a state-sanctioned monopoly on production of legal medical marijuana. The monopoly would go by public bid to a single provider if the universities refuse.

On the road to legalizing medical marijuana nation-wide, the US seems to have plateaued at 23 states. Only three states passed legislation in 2014; Maryland, Minnesota and New York. That was a year ago. Since June 2014, nothing. Seventeen states introduced legislation or ballot measures to legalize medical marijuana in 2015; all failed to exit the infinite loop holding patients hostage.

But there is a glimmer of hope. In the first half of the year, six states — Virginia, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Delaware — signed legislation permitting the use of CBD-heavy cannabis oils for specific conditions. While there are strict limitations in each of these cases, it is progress, and therefore deserves further examination.

What is CBD?

It is becoming easier to get marijuana, legally. In the last 20 years or so, 23 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have passed laws that make it legal to use marijuana for medical treatments. So have some countries, like Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Israel, Portugal and Spain.

Some pet owners are claiming that hemp-based treats cure many of their pets’ ailments. The treats are infused with cannabinoids or CBDs but don’t have THC, so the animal doesn’t get high. One of the hemp-based treat brands called Treatibles has been used by some owners for anxiety or stress in their dogs. Andrew Mizia stated that his dog Fred can be stressed when around other dogs, and he stated the following regarding the result when he gives the canine the treat, according to ABC Channel 7.