It was a close family member’s battle with serious illness that inspired Sydney entrepreneur Adam Miller to create his new business.

Miller saw her go in and out of hospital for six years, and after researching the impact of medical marijuana, decided that it could help. But there was one big problem: it still wasn’t legal in Australia.

“I did enough research to believe that this medicine would suit her nicely and would really help her,” Miller tells StartupSmart.

“But she’s very conservative and until it’s made legal, she isn’t going to consider it.”

A new innovative company in the medicinal cannabis industry may have found an all-natural and highly effective way for women to treat menstrual cramps and pains. No, they’re not actually cannabis tampons but rather small capsules, called Foria Relief.

When inserted directly into the vagina these cannabis tampons provide powerful pain relief.

Foria Relief, which pot enthusiast and writer Sophie Saint Thomas points out is “the first—and only—cannabis suppository on the market dedicated to treating menstrual cramps,” contains only three ingredients: organic cocoa butter, THC oil, and CBD Isolate.

Got room for a bar fridge in your apartment or basement getaway? Then you might have room to grow cannabis (provided, of course, it's legal where you live.)

Leaf, billed as the world's first "plug 'n' plant" secure grow chamber, is sufficiently compact to fit beside a desk or in the back of a closet. Once the seeds are planted, Leaf does most of the work, continuously monitoring and adjusting the pH level, water/air temperatures, and nutrients, to optimize the plant's size, weight, and potency. The roof of the chamber is equipped with LED grow lights as you can see in the mockup from Leaf's Instagram.

While Californians consider legalizing recreational pot use, a few San Diego entrepreneurs are already casting their vote in favor of the state’s cannabis industry.

The group, called Canopy San Diego, is accepting applications for its pot-themed technology accelerator, a first for Southern California. The concept is to find and fund early-stage companies with ideas that can assist the state’s dispensaries and growers. That could range from water conservation tools to more optimal packaging; payroll software to analytics.

This year, 2016, is shaping up to be a milestone for the cannabis industry, with its legal branches (both medical and recreational) continuing to show growing demand and increased revenues.

Just last year alone, market estimates for legal cannabis sales, including both medical and recreational (adult use only), were pegged at $4.4 billion. For 2016, estimates, according to the Ackrell Capital U.S. Canabis Investment Report 2016, show a 30 percent increase, to $5.7 billion, as the industry matures and new markets like Oregon open up.

From Heliospectra:

Got room for a bar fridge in your apartment or basement getaway? Then you might have room to grow cannabis (provided, of course, it's legal where you live.)

Leaf, billed as the world's first "plug 'n' plant" secure grow chamber, is sufficiently compact to fit beside a desk or in the back of a closet. Once the seeds are planted, Leaf does most of the work, continuously monitoring and adjusting the pH level, water/air temperatures, and nutrients, to optimize the plant's size, weight, and potency. The roof of the chamber is equipped with LED grow lights as you can see in the mockup from Leaf's Instagram. 

MERRY JANE presents "Trailblazing Cannabis" highlighting women thriving in the legal marijuana industry.

To foster growth and inclusion in the cannabis industry, MERRY JANE teamed up with Wonder Women Tech to present a panel featuring five women pioneering careers in the legal cannabis space.

The conversation, moderated by MERRY JANE's News Editor Sasha Horne, was held as part of the Wonder Women Tech Conference.

(Photo: Terrell Young/MERRY JANE)

When legal pot shops first opened up in America, there wasn’t a ton of thought given to retail design and aesthetics. Understandably so: Compared to the old pot-buying experience—stealthily purchasing a dime bag on the street corner or in the basement of your friendly neighborhood drug dealer—any store could look fancy and inviting.

I’m in Canada, and I’m having a conversation about weed. So far, everything’s tracking. But this isn’t just a casual convo — HelloMD is a startup focused on health, community and access to information, and they’re based in the U.S. (with people in SF and Colorado). And while the core business began as a way to use telemedicine to connect doctors with patients for medicinal marijuana prescriptions, HelloMD founder Pamela Hadfield tells me it’s since become something more.