As state after state has legalized marijuana in one way or another, big names in corporate America have stayed away entirely. Marijuana, after all, is still illegal, according to the federal government.

But Microsoft is breaking the corporate taboo on pot this week by announcing a partnership to begin offering software that tracks marijuana plants from “seed to sale,” as the pot industry puts it.

Father’s Day is just around the corner, which inspired us to highlight a few cannabis products that your dad would love. Whether he’s a marijuana newbie or ganja old-timer, these items are a great addition to your father's stoner toolkit.

Myster Stashtray

The use of marijuana is a contentious issue globally, with many politicians calling for the legalization of the drug.

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, who said alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, is the latest to join the cause.

Former IFP MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, who died of cancer, tabled a bill in 2014 that would decriminalise the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes.

The use of marijuana among IT professionals is also nothing new.

In 2014, FBI director James Comey said the agency may have to relook its “no-tolerance” stance on marijuana use to attract the best computer programmers and hackers to fight cyber criminals.

gro.io Launches World’s First Smart and Connected Home Hydroponics Platform

Today, after three years in development, gro.io launched the world’s first app- controlled, intelligent hydroponic system.

gro.io’s automated growing platform combines a powerful computer with sensors, valves and pumps, making it easy for everyone to grow hydroponically.

“While both attitudes and laws around marijuana are changing rapidly, most people still view growing their own as a difficult and time-consuming process,” said gro.io Founder Doug Slemmer. “We’re going to change this. Our smart, fully integrated hydroponic system minimizes the time, complexity and knowledge required to grow just about anything.”

Step 1: Build software for pot labs. Step 2: Find out who has the strongest herb. Step 3: Create a marijuana marketplace connecting dispensaries with the best growers.

That’s the plan that scored $3 million in seed funding led by Slow Ventures for Confident Cannabis. Right now it’s on Step 2, having established the largest real-time database of cannabis in the world just nine months after launching.

Built by four Stanford grads, the Y Combinator and StartX company wants to corner a critical data stream in the fast-growing ganja business. For now, it’s the CarFax of weed.  If it succeeds, Confident Cannabis could become the sticky-icky stock exchange, where growers and sellers connect.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has approved four software companies for tracking retail marijuana sales, a requirement of the state's recreational marijuana licensees. The companies include a startup from one of Portland's best-known and most controversial tech entrepreneurs.

Oregon's rules for recreational marijuana retailers require that they record their activity, and software systems approved Monday track sales, packages, transfers, plants and harvests, among other functions.

The companies approved Monday are OMMPOS of Astoria; Flowhub, from Denver; Greenbits, from Portland; and Portland-based Odava.

App allows consumers to purchase cannabis products at the touch of a screen

PayQwick, LLC, the first federally compliant, cash-free way to pay for marijuana, today announced the release of its iPhone app. The PayQwick app allows consumers to purchase marijuana and other marijuana products via their iPhones at participating PayQwick retailers. The Android version of the app will be available in the Google Play Store in the coming weeks.

“Our primary goals when we launched PayQwick were to make purchases easier for consumers and to create safer selling environments for retailers and growers,” said Kenneth Berke, CEO of PayQwick. “The new app offers another solution for consumers and retailers alike.”

Odava, a Portland, Oregon based startup that provides software tools for the cannabis industry, has raised $170,000, according to a recent SEC filing. Odava is seeking an additional $130,000 as part of this seed round.

Odava’s enterprise platform includes a point-of-sale system and other tools to help marijuana dispensaries track their business and comply with local laws. The company was approved as a certified Cannabis Tracking System by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission on Monday. The state requires recreational cannabis retailers to record their activity and software, like Odava’s, enables them to do so.

Marijuana Central has seen incredible growth in the past six months and now receives over 300,000 unique visitors per month. Company founder Korban Stone says, “We have not done any marketing yet, but we continue to see the number of visitors rise.” He plans to begin advertising and marketing the site and last month the website began to monetize by accepting listings from marijuana related companies. “We’ll be investing our revenues into driving more traffic to the site. I don’t see this growth trend ending any time soon as this is just the beginning of this industry and we’re positioned to grow with it.”

Science will revolutionize cannabis industry; Create consistent higher potency products.

A big problem in the cannabis industry is inconsistency in products--even the same cannabis strain can vary from plant to plant. Today Ebbu, LLC, announces it is the first cannabis company in the world with a fully operational production scale purification process (patent pending) using chromatography. Chromatography is a process that allows Ebbu to separate and purify individual compounds from the cannabis plant. Ebbu uses a customized, one-of-a-kind NovaSep SuperSEP 1000 that can separate at least 18 compounds at the same time.