The state of Washington is about to hand out its very first cannabis research license. This new license allows companies to grow and process cannabis purely for research purposes.

Verda Bio, a Seattle-based pharmaceutical company, told me they successfully received their research license and will soon be growing cannabis in their SoDo facility. The LCB confirmed that after a fee was processed the research license would be issued.

Would you welcome a cannabis farm as your next-door neighbor?

A federal jury in Denver is being asked to decide, in a trial that kicked off Monday, whether it agrees with a Colorado couple who claim their home is being devalued by a cannabis firm that set up business operations 40 feet from their property line.

Plaintiffs Hope and Michael Reilly say the existence of the cannabis businesses, and noxious odors it produces, are decreasing the value of their real estate and interfering with the use and enjoyment of their land.

As marijuana legalization looms Oct. 17, British Columbians can look south of the border to Washington for a model of success six years after its own legalization date, says that state’s governor. On Wednesday, Premier John Horgan and Gov. Jay Inslee held a bilateral meeting to collaborate on a host of cross-border issues, including climate change and a possible high-speed rail linking B.C., Oregon and Washington state. After the conference, the pair addressed the impending Canadian legalization of cannabis.

Earlier this year, the state of Washington implemented a new system to track cannabis from seed-to-sale. But a new report says that tracking system is highly flawed and the state needs to fix it, writes Joseph Misulonas.

Officials in Washington have announced plans to ban particular cannabis candies they believe are too appealing to children, writes Calvin Hughes.

The admission comes after BuzzFeed News uncovered the committee’s existence and reported on its requests for negative information on marijuana.

The Trump administration was evasive in August when BuzzFeed News reported on a secretive marijuana committee operated by the White House — detailing memos that indicated the committee’s agenda to propagate negative attitudes toward pot and portray the drug as a national threat.

But now the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has acknowledged the committee’s existence in a letter to a Democratic senator seeking information in light of BuzzFeed News’ report.

America’s veterans have given their all to protect this country — putting their bodies on the line regardless of the cost.

Too many are now dealing with the side effects of their service, problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain. But increasingly, they are struggling to gain access to medication that could help them effectively cope with those side effects.

Citing the war on drugs’ disproportionate impact on people of color, judges in Seattle have agreed to vacate the marijuana convictions of hundreds of people who were punished for pot possession before the state made weed legal.

According to the Seattle Times, in April, city attorney Pete Holmes filed a motion asking the city’s seven municipal court judges to vacate the convictions of anyone charged with misdemeanor possession between 1996 and 2010. Holmes, who was elected in 2010, decided to stop prosecuting minor weed offenses when he took office.

It's been nearly four years since Washington, D.C., citizens overwhelmingly passed Initiative 71, granting all citizens over the age of 21 permission to possess up to two ounces of marijuana. The law allows district residents to use and grow pot on private property, and to exchange weed as long as no money, goods or services are exchanged.

Even in cannabis-legal Washington, DC, people are still getting severely sick due to synthetic marijuana.

Synthetic marijuana has caused a string of overdoses in the Washington, D.C. area this week, according to a report in the Washington Post. In one 24-hour period from Wednesday through Thursday, emergency medical personnel took dozens of people to local hospitals for treatment. City officials say the victims had been using K2 or Spice before being stricken.