Why marijuana gives you the munchies

Scientists think they’ve figured out why marijuana makes you crave snacks.

A study released on Wednesday found that the part of your brain that normally curbs your appetite reverses functions when you smoke pot, making you desire that bag of chips or pint of ice cream.

Researchers injected mice with a molecule that activates a receptor in the brain that would normally be activated by cannabis. After that, the appetite-reducing part of their brain saw increased activity. But instead of sending out chemicals to stop the mice from being hungry, it sent snack-a-licious chemicals that encouraged them to chow down.

As Reuters points out, marijuana doesn’t usually make you want broccoli. The scientists say that’s because your brain wants high-calorie food.

See, it’s just a chemical reaction. Now could you pass the nachos?

Cypress Hill’s B-Real is opening a marijuana dispensary

Forget owning a nightclub or a winery. The next vanity purchase for celebrities might be marijuana shops.

B-Real, the lead rapper from Cypress Hill, seems to think so. He spoke to Billboard on Tuesday about plans to open a dispensary in Southern California.

The store could potentially host concerts by weed-friendly performers like Snoop Dogg, he said. Celebrity budtenders could be behind the counter, as well.

“You don’t want it to seem theme-parkish on one end, but you want it to be an experience,” he told Billboard.

Of course, recreational marijuana isn’t legal in California yet. This is a medical shop that just happens to look like a really cool place to hang out.

Jane Fonda still smokes pot

Jane Fonda has been open about marijuana use in her past, but the 77-year-old actress and fitness guru told the Daily Mail she still indulges “every now and then.”

Going green (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Fonda said there are times when she definitely won’t touch cannabis, however.

“I cannot see a movie on pot,” she said. “The number of movies I’ve seen thinking, ‘This is probably the best I have ever seen,’ and then I’ll see it again sober and think, ‘What was I thinking?'”

Maybe she should try watching Barbarella again.

Vermont could be the next state to legalize marijuana

A bill introduced in the Vermont legislature on Tuesday could make the state the latest to legalize pot. If the state does approve marijuana sales, it would be the first to do so through a vote in the legislature and not a ballot initiative.

Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) is open to the idea. He said marijuana is available in Vermont anyway, on the black market, and that people who deny that are “in Lala Land.”

Correction, Feb. 18, 1:41 p.m. ET: An earlier version of this story said mice in the study consumed cannabis. They were injected with a molecule to activate the same receptors that cannabis would activate.

Ted Hesson was formerly the immigration editor at Fusion, covering the issue from Washington, D.C. He also writes about drug laws and (occasionally) baseball. On the side: guitars, urban biking, and fiction.