First Landmark Acquisition Catapults Nesta into the Billion-Dollar Legalized Cannabis Market.

Nesta Holding Co. Ltd., a private equity firm targeting the US cannabis industry, today announced its acquisition of Wikileaf, the leading price comparison website for licensed recreational and medicinal marijuana consumers.  This first landmark acquisition catapults Nesta into this lucrative US market.  It will enable the company to readily identify and catalyze the growth of high potential firms in this industry, and capitalize on the budding legalized cannabis market which could inject up to $44 billion into the US economy by the end of the decade⁽¹⁾.

The future of medical cannabis is an altogether complicated and exciting conversation and the outlook includes both plants and pills.

The future of medical cannabis research is an altogether complicated and exciting conversation. Will plants continue to rule the day? Are isolated molecules the best means of treating particular diseases? Do synthetic cannabinoid drugs hold the answer to efficacy and standardization? At this juncture, only one thing is certain: the outlook includes both plants and pills. 

Here's a scenario we have all seen in film before: Somebody consumes an entire bag of raw cannabis in order to avoid getting caught with it. Eyes pop wide open and gasps ensue. “You just ate that whole bag!” somebody shouts. However, the aftermath of this scene usually involves a very different representation of what actually happens when you consume raw cannabis. Spoiler alert: The effects will be lackluster at best. Why is this the case?

The answer to this mystery lies in a process called decarboxylation, one that is necessary for us to enjoy the psychoactive effects of the cannabinoids we consume.

Decarboxylation Explained

This very second, Silicon Valley startups are doing what they do best: working out how to grab a piece of the booming market in marijuana. Confident Cannabis, for example, is one start-up that’s put out a call for coders and techies to develop their front and backend software. Their aim is primarily making getting high “as easy as ordering delivery food.”

Most cannabis businesses know the importance of having good quality online content. Your website is your digital storefront. In many cases, it’s your customer’s first (or only) introduction to your brand. Good content is important not only for getting the right customers to your site, but also crucial for getting them to stick around long enough to make a purchase.

Developing a comprehensive content strategy that takes into account each of your target audiences as well as your own business objectives can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. The following are three examples of content strategies I would suggest you avoid.

How does marijuana cultivation impact the environment?

Answer by Dean Croshere, Director of Operations for MedMen, a Marijuana Management Company, on Quora:

As the black market in cannabis evolved, people figured out a way to grow their stuff one way or another. Maybe it was in a basement under lights, in a guerrilla patch in the middle of a national park, or in pots hanging from trees—because ganja seems to grow anywhere prying eyes won’t find it. But now that the fight for legalization appears to be on its way to victory, cannabis cultivators of the future—and some from the present—will have the chance to revisit the question: “Should I go indoor or outdoor?”

Marijuana’s medicinal benefits have paved the way for wider social acceptance of the drug, as more and more medical professionals are recognising the significant role the drug can play when it comes to treating a vast range of conditions.

This is mainly because there have been multiple case studies and clinical trials that have indicated that medicinal marijuana is an effective method of treatment when it comes to a vast range of debilitating conditions that affect millions of people around the world.

These include conditions such as chronic pain, cancer and epilepsy right through to conditions such as Aids, Glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) has organized the formation of a lab proficiency standards and pesticides focused work group comprised of regulators, industry leaders and cannabis lab specialists.

The group, whose first meeting takes place this Thursday in Olympia, will work to determine lab proficiency standards for Washington’s cannabis testing labs, as well as how to proceed with the regulatory control of pesticide use on legal cannabis crops.

The Open Cannabis Project is building a record of all existing cannabis strains to protect the industry from commercialization.

Mowgli Holmes knows what he wants. When I call him, he quips almost immediately: “What I want to happen is for Snoop to come to my lab, put on a white lab coat and orange safety goggles, and smoke a gigantic joint in front of the DNA sequencer. That’s what I want to happen.”

It’s a PR stunt the biotech cannabis labs could use. Theirs has been a weathered brand.