Modern growing techniques and genetic advances have led to higher concentrations of THC in European cannabis.

Err. Down with this sort of thing. Shocking.

The concentration of the euphoriant THC in cannabis has tripled in the space of twenty years. The reason may be a systematic processing of the cannabis plants, some of which are being grown in skunk farms in Denmark.

The marijuana movement, for lack of a better phrase, is growing like a weed.

Looking back only two decades we would not find a single state allowing marijuana to be legally sold in a shop or prescribed by a physician, and only a quarter of respondents in Gallup's national survey shared a favorable view of the drug.

“People should be focused on the business, not hanging out and getting high” insists Carter Laren, co-founder of marijuana startup funder and incubator Gateway, which launches today in Oakland, CA. But even if you’re stoned, you should be able to see the opportunity here. Marijuana prohibition is coming to an end, and massive businesses will grow in its place. Gateway wants to seed them.

The Ford Motor Company has created a unique body suit that simulates the effects of driving under the influence of illegal drugs. The aim is to educate young people about the dangers of driving whilst under the influence of drugs.

Ford developed the suit together with scientists from the Meyer-Hentschel Institute in Germany to simulate some of the effects of popular drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin and MDMA (commonly known as Ecstasy). Physical effects include slower reaction time, distorted vision, hand tremors and poor coordination.

As legal cannabis spreads from state to state, 420-friendly technologies are expanding, too.

Here’s a look at some pot-related tech companies that have taken root in the past few years:

MassRoots: marijuana’s Facebook

MassRoots was founded in 2013 by a team of four guys looking to bring to life a 420 social network.

According to COO Dan Hunt, the app — which has around 625,000 users — is somewhere between an Instagram and a Facebook for potheads.

“Our core function for users is sharing cannabis experiences, finding like-minded people to smoke with and staying up to date with local dispensaries,” he told the Daily News.

Skunk is now three times stronger than it was twenty years ago because of intensive farming methods, a new study warned.

And the strength was more than doubled in the past three years alone.

Potent skunk has been blamed for a causing psychotic illnesses in smokers.

Now experts said higher levels of THC, the chemical that gives the drug its euphoric properties, was due to the systematic cultivating of cannabis plants in illegal cannabis factories.

Two decades ago most marijuana was grown outside in hot countries such as Morocco and Lebanon.

These outdoor-harvested plants were of lower quantity and therefore less potent.

Lynette Shaw, the self-proclaimed "godmother of marijuana dispensaries," is thrilled that tech is helping bring cannabis into the mainstream.

"It's fabulous. I'm honored to see my godchildren creating all of this," the 61-year-old said here Friday at the inaugural New West Summit, a two-day conference on the budding billion-dollar convergence of pot with technology, business and media.

Shaw, who in 1997 opened one of the first legal cannabis dispensaries in the US, received a lifetime achievement award at the confab, for her work as an activist in legalizing medical marijuana. And her "godchildren" were well represented at the summit, which wrapped up this weekend.

FinTech startups in London are booming. Just recently BlockChain, the world’s most popular Bitcoin wallet, raised $30.5 million, making it the highest investment achieved by a UK startup. 

Blockchain is an open-source software code that uses high-tech encryption to monitor and record bitcoin transactions. On November 18, BlockChain was joined by Credits.Vision and Nutmeg at the Google campus in London for an angel investor event organised by HoxTechangels.

HelloMD is a pioneering digital healthcare platform that might set a precedent for the medical cannabis industry.

In California, where brick and mortar cannabis dispensaries have been permitted to sell pot since 1996, its assumed ubiquity has sewn a fabulist notion that the state is an idyllic playground for weed smokers.

Palm Beach Vapors Enters Health and Wellness Market with Launch of GNUPharma® Palm Beach Vapors
Posted on: 19 Nov 15

Recent studies have found electronic cigarettes to be up to 95 percent less harmful than traditional cigarette smoking, and millions of smokers worldwide have used them as a safer alternative to tobacco. With the launch of GNUPharma®, a research pioneer in the health and wellness market, the benefits to vaping now reach far beyond smoking cessation.