In June, Microsoft became the first tech giant to take the leap into legal weed.

The 41-year-old company, based in the pot-friendly city of Seattle, managed to do so without stirring up trouble or controversy. It partnered with a marijuana-tracking software startup.

"We're not the sexy company, but we're the smart company," said David Dinenberg, founder and CEO of Kind Financial, who orchestrated the deal. "We're providing infrastructure."

With last month’s election, the U.S. reached a tipping point in the long fight to decriminalize cannabis. More than half of states have now declared pot legal, either for medical or recreational use. Seven states plus the District of Columbia have now legalized recreational pot, and 21 others allow it to be taken as medicine.

In June, Microsoft became the first tech giant to take the leap into legal weed.

The 41-year-old company, based in the pot-friendly city of Seattle, managed to do so without stirring up trouble or controversy. It partnered with a marijuana-tracking software startup.

"We're not the sexy company, but we're the smart company," said David Dinenberg, founder and CEO of Kind Financial, who orchestrated the deal. "We're providing infrastructure."

Electricity-intensive cannabis production has a big carbon footprint, but with legalization, some eco-conscious growers want to make pot a shining model of sustainability.

After a flood of pro-pot ballot measures in November, recreational marijuana use will soon be legal in eight U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, and medical marijuana will be legal in 29 states. Barring a federal clampdown from the incoming Trump administration, analysts expect legal cannabis to be a boom industry, particularly in California, the world's sixth largest economy.

Is it possible to put cannabis on the blockchain?

With one company, that’s exactly what’s taking place. Motherboard reports that Medicinal Genomics is creating a registered list of all cannabis genomes to be stored on the bitcoin blockchain. The purpose is to take any confusion out of marijuana purchases; MG wants to make sure every customer receives the strain they’ve set out to purchase, as each type can have varying effects on patients.

Walk into any licensed cannabis grow op in Colorado and one of the first things you’ll notice are the barcodes.

Nutraceutical pain reliever makes use of marijuana’s CBD compound, doesn’t make you high.

Sales based on Israeli startup Lyotropic Delivery Systems (LDS) Biotech‘s nanotechnology have started in the US. The commercial launch of its cannabis-derived compound, which aims to relieve inflammation and pain, was announced earlier this month by LDS and US based company Ananda Scientific at a marijuana business conference held in Las Vegas.

Want to combine your stoner proclivities with the dating app you love to hate, or maybe hate to love? Well, you can now have the satisfaction of judging weed products like people from the comfort of your own home with Budbo, the “Tinder for weed.”

Budbo users swipe left or right on local marijuana products and strains. Once you’re done swiping, you can tap on your right-swiped items for directions to a nearby dispensary carrying the product.

Sales based on Israeli startup Lyotropic Delivery Systems (LDS) Biotech‘s nanotechnology have started in the US. The commercial launch of its cannabis-derived compound, which aims to relieve inflammation and pain, was announced earlier this month by LDS and US based company Ananda Scientific at a marijuana business conference held in Las Vegas.

Growth expectations over the long run for the marijuana industry are practically unsurpassed by any other industry in America on a percentage basis. Today, 28 states have legalized medical cannabis, and another eight (along with Washington, D.C.) have legalized recreational adult-use pot. This translates into a $6 billion legal industry right now, according to investment firm Cowen & Co., but it could be a $50 billion industry by 2026. That's a nearly 24% compound annual growth rate over the next decade, for those of you keeping score at home.