It has been a tremendous year here at Marijuana Politics and it feels good to celebrate the holiday season with family, friends and our readers. The cannabis community continues to gain momentum across the globe politically and culturally and we are pleased to get to cover all things marijuana each and everyday. It is easy to see that 2016 will be a banner year for marijuana, as we will undoubtedly see a few more states legalize marijuana for all adults, as well as liberalize medicinal laws as well.

The political success is great, but the personal stories are what are really important. Our hearts are filled with joy when good people like Jeff Mizanskey are released from prison, but we know that more work to be done when we know that people are still in prison for marijuana and unjust consequences are threatened against good people. We will continue to share these important stories next year and beyond and hope that we get to cover more Jeff Mizanskeys and fewer heartbreaking stories.

In addition to political and personal stories, cultural issues are also very important to the cannabis community. The more that people “come out of the cannabis closet” and share their responsible use of cannabis, the closer we get to true freedom and equality as we change hearts and minds one person at a time. We hope that you have a great Christmas and holiday season and if this time with friends and family gets a little too stressful, we hope that you can find the time to relax and enjoy this gift from Stephen Colbert and Willie Nelson: