It is Friday night and I am standing on the doorstep of my San Francisco apartment looking down in disbelief at the neatly packaged, vacuum-sealed bag of green-grey marijuana buds in my hands which has just been delivered by a friendly and courteous driver, 16 minutes after it was ordered online. An eighth of an ounce (3.5g) of Purple Platinum cost $25 after a $20 promotional discount. The payment was cash only. The label lists the strain – apparently a classic of the state’s marijuana-growing region – along with the retail dispensary that supplied it. Everything is legal.

A fast-growing social network for marijuana users is entering a key phase in its quest to get listed on the Nasdaq, which would mark a groundbreaking development for the cannabis industry and MJ stocks at large.

Denver-based MassRoots – which applied for a Nasdaq listing in August – passed its first major test Wednesday when its S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission became effective.

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SEATTLE -- Seattle currently has 17 marijuana grow operations. There are 107 more waiting for approval. If all of them start using Seattle's power grid to light up their plants, it would add more than 100-million kilowatt hours of demand.

That's equal to powering 12,288 single family homes or four buildings the size of the Columbia Center.

It's budding new ideas among growers, now turning to LED.

"You could target the kind of light the plant wants," said David Bajorins.

Bajorins is director of operations for CSA Seattle. They test LED technology and recently expanded as business grows. Part of that growth is horticulture.

New LED options offer specific light for specific plant results.

LED lamps, while still controversial, are being touted by some cannabis entrepreneurs as a low-energy, environmentally-friendly way to control the industry’s costs.

 As the legal marijuana industry gains momentum and flourishes, more growers are scrambling to find the most cost-efficient ways to produce their cannabis for a rapidly-expanding market.

In an unprecedented move, federal researchers visited a medical cannabis farm in Vancouver, Washington to gauge the health impacts of working in the industry and performing tasks such as cultivation and processing. Does the repetitive motion of trimming marijuana flowers promote carpal tunnel? Are those processing dozens of pounds of freshly harvested cannabis, over the long term, in danger of inhaling plant particles that may be harmful to their health?

According to Brookings Fellow John Hudak, it’s time for the federal government to recognize the serious policy risks born from limiting medical marijuana research. 

Reggie Gaudino is Vice President of Scientific Operations and the Director of Intellectual Property at Steep Hill, a national leader in cannabis science and technology.

Reggie recently joined our host Shango Los for a conversation about the genetic patenting of specific cannabis strains, the future of cannabis breeding, and how the involvement of big agriculture is going to shift the landscape of the entire marijuana industry.

Silicon Valley’s technology and venture capital firms are starting to make big bets on legal cannabis. Whether it’s Y Combinator, Tao Capital, or TechCrunch Disrupt, pot is hot. 

More than a thousand CEOs, VCs, founders, and journalists will gather over the weekend of November 20 for the first-ever New West Summit, the cannabis industry’s first conference devoted to tech, money, and media, with a full two-day lineup featuring 20 panels, 60 panelists, and 36 exhibitors.

 you’re a tech entrepreneur and you’re tapped into, or interested about, the legal cannabis market in any way, shape, or form, you need to buy a ticket to San Francisco now. On November 20 to the 21, the first ever gathering of the New West Summit will be taking place downtown.

This is the event to go to if you’re looking to connect with people using technology, investments, entertainment, and media to shape the very future of the cannabis industry. Just check out the lineup of speakers and people of interest attending:

Oils and pastes have long been used in the development of Cannabidiol (CBD) products, which are used by patients seeking the remarkable health benefits uncovered in recent studies of this naturally occurring compound found in hemp plants. However, one company claims that their new Pharma Grade CBD Isolate is improving the way CBD products are being manufactured.

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CBD PUR US Pharma Grade Certification (Photo: Business Wire)