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Colorado this week began the country's first experiment with legal recreational marijuana.

(Associated Press)

It's shaping up to be a pivotal year in marijuana policy with Oregon playing a key role in the debate over legalizing the drug,

.

More than half of the states are considering liberalizing their marijuana laws, reports

. Oregon and Alaska are two states seen as most likely to legalize this year, he reports.

And while it could be a historic year for advocates of cannabis, opponents too see it as a chance to disrupt the pro-pot momentum.

Kevin Sabet, a leading opponent of legalizing marijuana who

, told The Times: “We feel that if Oregon or Alaska could be stopped, it would disrupt the whole narrative these groups have that legalization is inevitable. We could stop that momentum.”

On Wednesday, Sabet's group, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, announced it had

.

At least 14 states — including Florida, where an initiative has already qualified for the ballot — are considering new medical marijuana laws this year, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, which supports legalization, and 12 states and the District of Columbia are contemplating decriminalization, in which the drug remains illegal, but the penalties are softened or reduced to fines.

Medical marijuana use is already legal in 20 states and the District of Columbia. An even larger number of states, at least 17, have seen bills introduced or initiatives begun to legalize the drug for adult use along the lines of alcohol, the same approach used in Colorado and Washington, but most of those efforts are considered unlikely of success this year.

The allure of tax revenues is also becoming a powerful selling point in some states, particularly after Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado said last week that taxes from legal marijuana sales would be $134 million in the coming fiscal year, much higher than had been predicted when the measure was passed in 2012.

The influential Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group, announced this week that it's bought a building in Washington, D.C. -- two miles from the White House,

.

Rob Kampia, the group's executive director, said the group is soliciting donations to help pay its $664,000 mortgage. The office space is a 4,040-square-foot suite that takes up nearly the entire first floor of a residential building.

Kampia said there's a good reason to contribute: You'll be helping to end marijuana prohibition.

With its new property, the group can get down to the official business of Washington: wooing elected officials.

In Oregon, state officials are preparing to open the medical marijuana dispensary registry. The new state office begins accepting applications Monday.

on the dispensary program. If you've got a question about the program, add it to the comments section below and I'll try to track down an answer.

-- Noelle Crombie