Colorado's Amendment 64 is known nationwide as the ballot item that legalized marijuana here, turning the state into one of the country's test sites for decriminalizing and regulating the use of pot for people 21 and over.

But Amendment 64 legalized more than just pot. It also made legal growing industrial hemp, the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana that is poised to create a new industry in Colorado.

While they both come from the same plant, different varieties are used for marijuana and for hemp. They are different both in their botanic composition and their cultivation, according to the Rocky Mountain Hemp Association.

If you run a small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME) that’s experiencing growth and struggling to find the capital to fill customers’ orders, you’re not alone. Thousands of business owners find themselves in the same predicament. Banks often have a cursory, one-size-fit-all process for dealing with SMEs because of your risk profile.

According to a 2014 Harvard Business School study, 40% of businesses applying for credit get rejected. Of these companies who fail to win approval, approximately one-third will return to banks with a fresh perspective in presenting their proposal. But what about the businesses that see their bank applications declined and can’t try again?

The United Food and Commercial Workers union has been organizing employees in the U.S. cannabis and hemp industries since 2008. Its Cannabis Workers Division now represents several thousand workers in six states and Washington, D.C. It negotiates on behalf of workers with respect to wages, benefits and conditions of employment.

On the political front, the UFCW has mobilized its membership for petition drives, lobbied for legalization and been an agent of change in the way that employment in legal marijuana is regarded by the National Labor Relations Board. Still, some in the business community contend that the industry is not yet ready to embrace unionization.

The legalization of marijuana – no matter how sticky the parameters – will undoubtedly bring the people behind the scenes of a billion-dollar industry to the forefront. 

Women, in fact, comprise a large portion of growers, dispensary owners, and canna-business professionals. 

To help them emerge from the shadows and connect, Women Grow was established last year in Denver, Colorado. Since then, it’s provided a professional network for both established entrepreneurs and newbies of the cannabis industry.

With monthly events for women – and men – in 25 plus cities across the country, Women Grow is launching a Portland chapter this week with its first networking event on May 7th at McCormick Mansion.

My kids are in elementary school -- a little young for the "weed talk" -- but I wonder whether the fact that recreational pot use is now legal in a handful of states will complicate things once we start having those conversations.

Sue Scheff, a parent advocate who works with children in at-risk communities, says she's heard from plenty of kids who say, "Well, it's legal so it must be OK."

"We already have the messaging problem," said Scheff, author of "Wit's End: Advice and Resources for Saving Your Out-of-Control Teen."

"So we need to come up with a new way to discuss it ... because the kids are tuning us out."

Whether you’re a proponent or opponent of medical cannabis, the therapeutic drug is slowly building momentum in the capital with more businesses dedicated to its use.

The latest arrival is Canadian Cannabis Clinics. It will be opening an Ottawa clinic at the end of May in a medical building on Montreal Road, the fourth Ontario location to open in a year.

The business operates like any other medical clinic where patients see a doctor and use their OHIP card as payment, but these doctors focus on assessing whether medical cannabis should be prescribed. The owners stress no cannabis will be on site.

How does the clinic operate?

It’s looking more and more likely that voters in a key battleground state will be voting on marijuana legalization in November, and recent polling suggests it could win. That’s this November, not November 2016.

The state is Ohio, where a controversial pot legalization initiative is already well on the way to qualifying for the ballot, and its backers—or should we say investors?–have the cash on hand to make sure it does.

There are pot legalization bills pending in any number of states, and early on, there were hopes this would be the year a state legislature would get around to legalizing it. New England states such as Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont looked like the best bets, but it now doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen.

ENGLEWOOD — The Englewood City Council on Monday night stamped final approval on a measure that caps the number of marijuana businesses in the city at those already licensed to operate there.

Englewood is home to three medical marijuana dispensaries, with a fourth that has received city licensing approval but has not yet opened, according to city officials.

SEATTLE, Washington — For the past 10 months, three marijuana markets have been operating simultaneously in Washington state: the street market, the medical market and the recreational market.

In the future, however, there will only be two. And contrary to some people’s expectations about legal recreational pot making drug dealers obsolete, it’s the medical dispensaries that will disappear first.

The ability to spot powerful new technologies or industries early on can result in eye-popping returns for investors. The brave few that initially recognized the potential of Tesla Motors' electric car, for example, have been richly rewarded over the past few years:

Right now, legalized marijuana and gene therapy are two emerging industries that could produce similar--or perhaps even better--returns for risk-tolerant investors.