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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is one step closer to legalizing medical marijuana.

The medical cannabis bill was sent through to a third Senate reading Tuesday night by a narrow 16-13 vote.

The bill reading generated some heated debate on both sides.

The bill would allow for people in Utah with qualifying illnesses to be able to use medical cannabis in edible or liquid form, and establish licensed dispensaries to sell it.

Did you know there is a group of Republicans advocating for marijuana reform? Now that marijuana is legal in DC, we searched for the associations pushing forlegalization in other parts of the country. Here's what we found:

NORML (NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE REFORM OF MARIJUANA LAWS)

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Trenton), one of the lawmakers who led the charge to establish New Jersey’s medical marijuana program, said that in the near future he will present information from a public hearing on the topic, held on Monday, to the state Department of Health.

David McNew, Getty Images

March 3, 2015: Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, right, embraces her son, Roland Gregg outside federal court. (AP)

SPOKANE, Wash –  Three people were found guilty Tuesday of growing marijuana, but they also were exonerated of more serious charges in a widely-watched federal drug case in a state where medical and recreational marijuana is legal.

The three remaining defendants of the so-called Kettle Falls Five were all found guilty of growing marijuana. But a jury found them not guilty of distributing marijuana, conspiracy to distribute and firearms charges that carried long prison sentences.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rice set sentencing for June 10.

The defendants were Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, her son Rolland Gregg and his wife, Michelle Gregg.

In Texas, a conservative lawmaker filed a bill to completely deregulate marijuana in the Lone Star State Monday, proposing to strike any mention of the psychoactive plant from state law.

"Everything that God made is good, even marijuana" said state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, who filed the bill. "The conservative thought is that government doesn't need to fix something that God made good."

The 24-page bill begins: "The following provisions are repealed," then lists dozens of Texas statutes related to marijuana. If the Legislature were to approve the bill, pot in Texas would be regulated like any common crop.

In a press release, Simpson said he supported regulating marijuana like the state regulates "tomatoes, jalapeños or coffee."

(Getty Images)

Murders are up nearly 17% from last year [PDF], shootings have increased by 23%, and the marijuana trade is to blame, according to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton. "In this city, people are killing each other over marijuana more so than anything that we had to deal with an '80s and '90s with heroin and cocaine," Bratton told reporters yesterday. "The seemingly innocent drug that's been legalized around the country."

March 3, 2015

Nearly 40% of the 519 businesses that applied for medical cannabis business licenses in Nevada have chosen to remain anonymous, taking advantage of a stipulation in the state’s MMJ law that allows applicants to withhold their information from public view.

A state senator believes that’s a big problem, saying the anonymity option gave rise to questions regarding political favoritism in the licensing process.

“It’s been a disaster,” Sen. Richard ‘Tick’ Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

by Carimah Townes Posted on March 3, 2015 at 10:12 am Updated: March 3, 2015 at 11:24 am

• Medical marijuana accounted for $386million of sales and recreational pot brought in $313million in 2014, according to annual report
• 49.7 tons of medical marijuana flowers were sold, while 4.81million units of edible marijuana were purchased last year
• Voters in Colorado and Washington opted to legalize recreational marijuana use by adults in landmark twin ballots in 2012 
• First retail stores opened in Colorado on January 1, 2014

A year after retail marijuana stores opened in Colorado, sales hit nearly $700million as 17 tons of the recreational buds were bought by consumers in the state's first year of full legalization.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Investors have raised at least $36 million to fund ResponsibleOhio's plan to legalize marijuana and purchase the commercial growing sites promised to investor groups.

Investors contributed $4 million to each of nine limited liability corporations tied to ResponsibleOhio last year, according to securities offering filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ResponsibleOhio officials have said they expect to spend more than $20 million to get their constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot and passed by a majority of voters in November.