When it comes to starting a marijuana business, not all states are created equal. In many medical marijuana states with older programs, the barrier to entry into the market is not that large. In Oregon it’s literally as easy as applying for a dispensary license for a fee, and finding a place that is a proper distance away from a school or another dispensary. I know people that have opened dispensaries in Oregon for $10,000, and that includes all the startup costs to start making sales. Most dispensaries in Oregon cost more than that, but for a basic dispensary, that amount is doable.

This is a marijuana update.

Legal marijuana sales continue to draw national attention. BloombergBusiness recently estimated that the industry’s revenues are nearly $3 billion annually – almost all in cash.

“Men enter this world entitled and ready to take big risks. Women walk into the world flawed and hold back.” –Barbara Stanny

The city of Seattle has issued the first violation notices to medical marijuana businesses since Mayor Ed Murray and council members announced an initiative to regulate the industry.

Already, there is some resistance.

City attorney Pete Holmes says of the first eight businesses to receive notices, three shop owners are taking the city to court. That may signal a long, tough fight ahead for the effort to close shops that don't comply with new city and state laws.

House Bill 5052, approved by state lawmakers, requires medical marijuana businesses to close if they opened after January 2013. These newer businesses must be issued notices of violation and close by July 2016.

CannaCamp includes special weed-and-cuisine pairing dinners and cannabis yoga classes

If vacation is about serious chillaxing and getting away from it all, CannaCamp may be just the ticket for some travelers. The ranch, now accepting reservations, claims to be America’s first “cannabis resort,” where vacationers can toke up without fear—and in plenty of company.

Always on the lookout for ways investors are participating the cannabis space, today we are taking a look at a publicly traded company that, on the surface, offers a unique access point. Rather than a recommendation for or against the companies mentioned here, consider this a case study on the intricacies and pitfalls of small cap stock investing in general, especially in areas like cannabis where “alternative financing” is often the only kind a company can obtain.

Thanks to last year’s pro-CBD legislation, South Carolina is one of 10+ state in America that allows cannabis oil intake for those with severe ailments (like epilepsy and cancer).

But unlike most of these other states where kids can’t access CBD oils and are dying (see: Wisconsin, New York), South Carolina now has the cure moderately available. The oil aiding South Carolina’s patients in need is called Palmetto Harmony, a locally produced CBD-centric product (that means it doesn’t get anyone high).

A circuit judge has ruled that Missouri's so-called "Right to Farm" amendment doesn't allow farming pot.

Gene and Dolores Halbin were charged last year in Bates County — south of Kansas City — for growing marijuana in their basement. Gene Halbin used marijuana to treat a painful form of glaucoma, said Dan Viets, their attorney.

SAN LUIS VALLEY — The concrete was soupy, a wet mush unlikely to harden properly, so Sundance Stadtler added sand to the mixture he was pouring into wooden forms to make footers for his new home in Costilla County. Stadtler, a 19-year-old from Vermont, arrived in the San Luis Valley in February with a plan to build a home and grow marijuana legally.

He purchased 5 acres of desert property for $3,250 and set up a tepee for temporary lodging as he began building.

Stadtler is one of a number of people lured to the county in the San Luis Valley by legal marijuana and cheap land.

Officials say the population boom is creating problems for schools, social services and other agencies.

Some of the most successful companies in the cannabusiness were founded by women. Check out the stories of three founders who have already made a significant impact on the burgeoning industry.

While it's certainly not easy to achieve success in the heavily regulated legal marijuana industry, it's a field that remains highly accessible to savvy entrepreneurs. That's especially true in Colorado, which unlike other emerging markets doesn't have a limit on the number of licenses to grow and sell pot.