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Here's a pro tip from a couple of doctors: Be sure to make special plans on April 20. That date, of course, is the unofficial holiday devoted to celebrating all things marijuana. (You might know it better as "4/20.") The two physicians — John Staples of the University of British Columbia and Donald Redelmeier of the University of Toronto — aren't asking that you honor marijuana's medicinal properties by experiencing them directly. Rather, they're warning you to be on alert for others who do — and then get behind the wheel while they're still under the influence. (Kaplan, 2/12)

Massachusetts is likely to experience a surge of stoned drivers and an increase in youth marijuana use and risk “significant” black-market pot sales if cannabis regulators carry out their plan to license a wide variety of unique marijuana sellers, such as movie theaters and delivery services, the state’s top public safety official warned Monday. (Adams and Miller, 2/13)

When California voters 15 months ago passed Proposition 64 – formally known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act – it didn’t create a lot of options for where people 21 and over can legally consume pot. ...While there is no statewide registry of lounges, people in the cannabis industry say they know only of a cluster in the Bay Area – eight in San Francisco and one in Oakland. (Branan, 2/12)

Advocates for legalizing recreational marijuana use in Connecticut — and taxing its sales — are hoping a holistic, economic argument will win the day this year. ...And while Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has not proposed legalization or taxation, he did list it for the first time in his annual budget presentation — albeit as an “option” for those who don’t like the budget-balancing moves he has endorsed. (Phaneuf, 2/13)

While marijuana taxes stand alone in the world of so-called “sin taxes” because they vary among cities and counties, an analysis by this news organization found the cumulative tax on legal weed is more than triple the tax on wine and beer, which is typically about a dime on the dollar. For cigarettes, on the other hand, the total tax rate is more than 80 percent. (Krieger, 2/12)