In 2014, when recreational marijuana became legal in Colorado, Matt Karzen, an assistant district attorney in Routt County at the time, noticed a lot of criminal cases coming to his office involving drivers arrested on suspicion of driving stoned. 

It was the first time such cases had gone through local justice system under the laxer laws, and he was not sure how they would play out in court. So, his office brought a case in front of a jury as a sort of litmus test for convicting high drivers.  

According to Governor Jared Polis, legal cannabis companies has led to the generation of $1 billion in revenue in Colorado. Part of the revenue generated by the marijuana industry is kept aside to help protect the youth against substance consumption. The other portion is utilized as funds for constructing new school buildings.

Despite legalization continuing to spread, and efforts advocating towards federal legalization of cannabis, the black market in the U.S. for cannabis continues to thrive across the nation.

Simply put, despite access and legal product being available, people are still as or more likely to purchase their cannabis from black market sources, with this trend not showing any signs of stopping.

Tax revenues from Colorado’s cannabis industry have topped $1 billion since legalization, according to a new report released on Wednesday by Denver cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg. The report details and analyzes fees and taxes collected by the Colorado Department of Revenue since the beginning of legal sales of cannabis for adult use on January 1, 2014. Colorado voters legalized possession and sales of recreational marijuana with the passage of Amendment 64 in 2012.

It has been four years since cannabis was legalized in the state of Colorado, but the black market has never been stronger. Simply put, the sheer revenue potential from illegal cannabis sales is large enough for many to take the risk of persecution.

State and federal officials conducted a three-year investigation and found that trafficking ballooned after voting for legalization in 2012.

Marijuana has been legal now in some parts of the United States for around two decades. It all began with the legalization of a reasonably liberal medical marijuana program in California back in 1996 and progressed into a scene where adult residents in 10 states now have the freedom to purchase cannabis in the same way they might beer. It’s a concept that is preventing thousands of people from going to jail every year as a result of personal pot possession. It also boosts local and state economies, creates thousands of new jobs and helps put the food on the tables of around 211,000 families nationwide.

In a move sure to delight Colorado’s social smokers, state Governor Jared Polis signed a bill into law this week that has legalized social consumption of cannabis, albeit under certain conditions.

Illinois lawmakers working to legalize recreational marijuana have hit a potential snag that other states have wrestled with: whether to allow people to grow a few pot plants for personal use.

The 10 states that have legalized recreational marijuana have different "home grow" rules, with Michigan allowing individuals to grow as many as 12 plants and Washington state not allowing them to grow any.

DID YOU KNOW? "As of July 1, 2015, Oregonians can home grow of up to four plants per residence, regardless of how many people live in the residence. Four adults in one residence does not mean 16 plants. The limit is four per residence," according to the State of Oregon.

In a reminder that marijuana legalization does not legalize the production of all marijuana, Colorado police announced that they spent Wednesday morning busting a large swath of unauthorized cannabis production. Officers seized an almost unbelievable total of $240 million in marijuana plants and $13.5 million in market-ready cannabis, in addition to a Porsche, a BMV, and a Mercedes Benz from middle to upper class homes across the Denver suburbs.

In a huge victory for the people of Colorado, patients will be able to choose medical cannabis over any opioid treatment if they wish.

Residents in Colorado will soon be able to fully exercise the right to use what feels good for their health, as a bill that just recently passed in the Assembly will allow them to choose the type of medication they can take.

The bipartisan Senate Bill 13, which recently passed in the Colorado Assembly, was signed by Governor Polis and will become law in just a few days.

New Jersey recently implemented a similar law, according to which opioid addiction is a condition that qualifies for medical cannabis treatment.