The last season of Weeds threw viewers for a loop by pushing forward three years to find Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) finishing a stint in federal prison which didn't stop her from restarting her drug dealing in New York City, and now Showtime has announced we'll definitely see the next chapter come through with the cable network announcing an order for an eighth season of the series. Consisting of thirteen episodes, the new season will go into production sometime in 2012, and while the press release (which you can find after the jump) doesn't mention it, some insiders have speculated that this could be the final season for the long-running series.

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Here's the full press release:

SHOWTIME is packing another hit of its highest-rated comedy series WEEDS, picking up an eighth season. Thirteen new episodes will go into production in 2012.

Created by Emmy® Award winner Jenji Kohan and produced by Lionsgate, WEEDS has been honored with multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award nominations and wins over the course of its seven seasons on air. Viewers have watched and marveled as Nancy Botwin (series star Mary-Louise Parker in her Golden Globe® Award-winning performance) has progressed from a suburban widow who turns to selling nickel bags to make ends meet for her family to a full-fledged marijuana queenpin.

Last season jumped ahead three years and picked up with Nancy finishing a stint in federal prison. Her brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) and sons, Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Shane (Alexander Gould) – with Doug (Kevin Nealon) in tow -- were camped out in Copenhagen during her incarceration. They were all reunited in New York City where Nancy re-launched her pot business, worked at a hedge fund, fought off competition, and fought for custody of her son, little Stevie, from her sister Jill (special guest star Jennifer Jason Leigh). The season finale, which aired in September, showed the family dining together, happily residing at a Connecticut estate. But when a lone gunman fired a fateful bullet, viewers were left to wonder which of our beloved Botwins was the target, setting the stage for another audacious season.