By Roni Stetter, Cashinbis

ile recreational cannabis for adults is legal in a couple of states, medical dispensaries still dominate the industry landscape nationally; and, the ancillary services companies that do business with them are some of the biggest upcoming brands to watch in the industry.

Social High, a cannabis-focused social media platform designed to connect the cannabis community by creating a safe and diverse environment where users can share their experiences, announces the official launch of its mobile application, now available for iOS users in the iTunes App Store.

Featuring a user experience unlike any other, Social High will offer cannabis users a platform to express their personal experiences through features such as:

They've tried public service announcements. They've tried board games. They've even tried emojis. Now, the nation's substance abuse counselors have a new weapon in their fight to keep teens from smoking weed: "marijuana goggles."

As cannabis prohibition laws crumble seemingly by the day, it’s allowing more research to be performed on this psychoactive substance that has long been a part of the human experience.

The first study to analyze the effects of cannabis on driving performance found that it caused almost no impairment. The impairment that it did cause was similar to that observed under the influence of a legal alcohol limit.

Researchers at the University of Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator carried out the study, sponsored by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Institute of Drug Abuse, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy

A new E Source report, “Harvesting Energy Savings in Cannabis Cultivation Facilities: Quick Wins for Cultivators and Utilities,” outlines the quickest, most cost-effective measures for improving the energy efficiency of indoor growing facilities, which are often built with the haste of a modern-day gold rush.

E Source has been evaluating energy-efficiency technologies and studying trends in the electric efficiency industry for more than 25 years. During that period, utilities have experienced few events as disruptive as the legalization of marijuana cultivation. In Washington State, for example, analysts predict a cannabis-driven load growth of 80 to 160 average megawatts of power over the next 20 years—equivalent to the electricity needs of a small city.

The Fatal Vision® Marijuana Simulation goggles are a tool meant to simulate cognitive impairments associated with recreational marijuana use. (Photo credit: Fatalvision.com)

(WTNH) — After countless failed attempts, the nation’s substance abuse counselors have a new tool in their fight to keep teens from smoking weed. “Marijuana goggles,” a set of green-tinted goggles, are designed to show users the impairing effects of THC.

Is all marijuana from a singles species, cannabis sativa? Or are there three distinct species: cannabis sativa, cannabis indica, and cannabis ruderalis?

Weed connoisseurs have long grappled with the issue as, intent on their pursuit of a more perfect buzz, they have now built up a couple of generations’ worth of experience with plant breeding, hybridization and cross-pollination. That was pretty much all in the pursuit of getting high, but in the past couple of decades, interest has also turned to cannabinoids other than THC, such as cannabidiol (CBD), with all its apparent medicinal properties, not to mention increased interest in industrial hemp.

When I think about what's happening in the payments industry this week, a scene from the 2001 biopic about Muhammad Ali comes to mind.

Ali, portrayed by Will Smith, walks into a makeshift training room in Zaire just after George Foreman finishes speaking to the media about the duo's heavyweight championship boxing match billed as the Rumble in the Jungle.

Not thinking anything of it, the challenger Ali makes his way to a pair of bongos in the room, slaps them to a catchy beat, and yells: "The champ is here!" He does this several times as the current champ in Foreman leaves the room.

Leaf is an automated device for cultivating weed that keeps an eye on the water levels, humidity, and air temperature of your crop

Back in the day, home growers of marijuana had to learn about horticulture, build greenhouses or rig sunlamps, experiment with fertilizers and feeding charts and soil acidity—all while keeping the crop hidden from prying eyes. As many areas change the laws restricting use of cannabis—a topic further discussed in our Sex, Drugs and Alcohol Debrief—however, home growers are demanding modern equipment to help them, and that’s where Leaf by Corsica Innovations comes in.

Trained scientist Carter Baird has created a quirky online persona, with the mission of educating the public about cannabis and the legal marijuana industry.

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Carter Baird seems genuinely surprised at some of the questions he has fielded in his short tenure as The Pot Scientist. While wandering around Denver’s 16th Street pedestrian mall in a lab coat, Baird coaxes both Colorado residents and tourists alike to come up with any queries they might have about cannabis.

And a lot of those questions, he tells WeedWorthy, have to do with popular misconceptions; such as whether marijuana consumption can make men sterile.