VANCOUVER — A Colorado official has some sobering words of advice for Justin Trudeau if he fulfils his promise to legalize pot in Canada.

“It’s going to be a lot harder to implement than you think. It’s going to take a lot longer to do it. And it’s going to cost more than you think,” said Lewis Koski, director of the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division.

Colorado is one of four U.S. states to fully legalize recreational bud. Their challenges — including how to regulate edibles like brownies and cookies and a rise in drug-impaired driving — could be instructive for Canada’s incoming prime minister.

Among the questions Trudeau’s government could grapple with are whether to allow people to grow pot at home or buy it in stores, and how much sales tax to charge.

In next year’s election, Montana voters could be deciding whether to legalize marijuana, ban marijuana completely or allow concealed handguns at schools.

Those are just a few of the many proposals for voter initiatives that are in the works for the 2016 election.

County election officials began accepting signed petitions for constitutional and statutory ballot measures Oct. 19. Signatures can be submitted until June 17 to make the ballot.

Measures that qualify will receive appointed committees in July to draft pro and con statements. The arguments, and the rebuttals, will be published in the official voter information pamphlet in October.

Legalize recreational marijuana

Pot plants aren't the only thing thriving under Bruce Linton's watchful gaze.

The CEO of Canopy Growth Corp. -- the Smiths Falls-based enterprise formerly known as Tweed, North America's first federally approved and publicly listed medical marijuana facility -- is watching his company's stock skyrocket.

That the markets reacted so dramatically on the morning after Canadians elected a Liberal majority government, with leader Justin Trudeau campaigning on a promise to reform the country's pot laws, is no coincidence.

PHOENIX ­ — An Arizona State University student is asking the Court of Appeals to rule that he ­— and all others with state-issued medical marijuana cards — can legally have their drugs on university and community college campuses.

Attorney Thomas Dean contends state legislators acted illegally in 2012 when they expanded the voter-approved list of where medical marijuana use is illegal. More to the point, he said that makes the conviction of his client, Andre Maestas, invalid.

He is getting a fight from prosecutors.

Police issue Halloween candy warnings

Police across the country are issuing warning to parents to be on the lookout for THC-infused candy making its way into their children’s Halloween candy baskets this year.

The warnings have received national news coverage with headlines like, “Marijuana-Infused Halloween Candy Is Now A Very Real Concern In Colorado” and “Halloween Candy Warning: Police Advise Parents to Be Vigilant for Latest Ecstasy Drug Designed to Appeal to Children.”

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Watch: Denver police halloween marijuana edibles warning

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It seems that no presidential debate this year would be complete without denunciations of the drug laws, which, it is alleged, result in long prison terms for thousands of people, disproportionately African-Americans, who are guilty only of low-level offenses, thus fueling "mass incarceration."

At the Republican debate on Sept. 16, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina charged that "two-thirds of the people in our prisons are there for nonviolent offenses, mostly drug-related."

STARKVILLE —

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the shadow of legal marijuana is growing in the U.S. Based on the inability to generate sufficient ballot initiative signatures, it appears unlikely Mississippi will join that movement any time soon and certainly not by virtue of the 2016 election.

But electorates in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia have legalized small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, some 21 states had legislation introduced in 2015 that would in some way allow or advance policy for adult recreational use of marijuana, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Charlotte, NC - The non-profit "NORML" is calling on political candidates to take a stand in support of decriminalizing marijuana.

The group rallied on the corner of Trade and Tryon on Saturday asking candidates in the upcoming election to lead the state in supporting reform.

The lobbying organization is also gathering signatures to take to City Council, requesting local law enforcement agencies make marijuana arrests a low priority.

A silent protest dubbed the “Day of the Kansas Dead” will be held at the Capitol on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Bleeding Kansas, an organization established with the goal of getting a cannabis compassion and care bill passed in the Legislature, is organizing the event.

Lisa Sublett, founder of the organization, said the protest is being held “to memorialize those who have died without the right to heal.”

The event will take place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and participants are encouraged to dress up with costumes such as the grim reaper. A living art sculpture will also be formed.

Though Sublett identifies as a Republican, she said she is frustrated by the party. Republicans say they value life, but they disregard the suffering of people, she said.

Now that the Liberals are in power, Canadians want to know if prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau will keep his word and legalize marijuana or if his promise will simply go up in smoke.

According to the party’s campaign platform, Canada’s prohibition approach doesn’t work.

“It does not prevent young people from using marijuana and too many Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug,” the Liberals say.

“To ensure that we keep marijuana out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals, we will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana.”

But even the soon-to-be sworn-in prime minister doesn’t know when that might happen.