The setting couldn’t be more ideal this mid-May morning in San Jose’s vast Hellyer Park as the 500 or so runners form a pack at the starting line. The temperature is in the low 60s and there’s a slight wind coming out of the west-northwest, really not much of a concern to the entrants.

At first glance, this appears to be just another race, maybe a 5K or a 10K.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, here in the northern part of the 354-acre park, amid nature trails and surrounded by rolling hills underneath blue skies dotted with clouds, the runners lined up are taking part in what could perhaps best be described as an ongoing journey to change perceptions and make history.

Everything from antacids to frozen veggies has a label detailing nutritional values and active ingredients, but when it comes to cannabis that information has been sorely lacking. How does one know how much to ingest or inhale if potency information is lacking?

Sage Analytics has an answer. The company, one of 162 exhibitors at last week's Marijuana Business Conference and Expo in Chicago, wants to bring pharmaceutical-level testing to the cannabis industry with the Luminary Profiler, a black box that measures potency on-site within seconds. Marijuana leaves are sprinkled or extracts are dripped onto a lens that uses spectroscopy "to instantly measure the potency of cannabis products on the molecular level," the company's literature says.

To those on the outside, government relations is perceived as a synonym for lobbying, which, in turn, is viewed as advocacy (or, in some cases, something less legitimate). Let’s forget for a moment that the field encompasses a variety of activities. The fact is, describing government relations processes as “advocacy” does little to highlight the ongoing communication strategies employed in relationship building.

A medical marijuana growing room in an unspecified location outside New York.(Photo: Photo provided by Butler Evergreen)

Hoping to plant a seed and grow a thriving business in western New York, at least three Rochester-area companies plan to seek state approval to grow, process and dispense medical marijuana.

Under the state law that will allow physicians to prescribe marijuana-based medicine to treat select illnesses beginning in January, five companies are being chosen to provide that medication. Applications are being taken through June 5.

When retailers open state-approved medical marijuana shops in Illinois later this year, they will face a distinct disadvantage in luring prospective patients across their thresholds: Marijuana will always be cheaper on the black market.

So what incentives might entice those patients?

Think cannabis-infused premium chocolate. Well-lit display cases that showcase buds as if they were jewelry. Informed employees who can guide each patient to the best strain for their needs.

Dispensary owners in Illinois are thinking, too, about Tupperware-style education parties, spa-like interior design and good old-fashioned customer service — all ways to beat out their fiercest competitors: underground dealers.

Four years ago Cassandra Farrington couldn’t find any venue in the country that would host her idea for a conference on the business of marijuana. This week, she hired out the Hilton Chicago, one of the city’s most famous hotels and one that has accommodated every US president since it opened in 1927.

OLYMPIA -- Almost everything you ever wanted to know about Washington's legal marijuana businesses might be found on a new state website.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board  has developed a new site that keeps track of the number of licensees for legal marijuana production, processing and sales, the amount produced this month or over the last fiscal year, plus sales volumes and tax receipts. Even the number of violations issued for not following state regs.

That's right. Plenty of pot info, with charts and graphs, and even Google maps with those little push-pin icons.

By Kerry Blasdel

Finding a suitable location is often one of the biggest hurdles startup cannabis businesses face. The headache doesn’t end once you sign a lease, though.

Dispensaries and cultivation sites must navigate a minefield of real estate challenges that can change the playing field overnight and force owners to scout out a new location quickly.

The result: You have to go through the maddeningly complex and surprisingly time-consuming process of finding real estate all over again.

CHICAGO – With federal legalization efforts moving forward, pot entrepreneurs might want to focus on the recreational side of the business rather than the medical side, as major pharmaceutical companies are poised to jump in there. That's the future, according to Adam Bierman, managing partner of MedMen, a marijuana consulting firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Bierman spoke at this week's Marijuana Business Conference and Expo in Chicago.