Proven therapeutic effects on one hand, contradictory laws and moralism on the other, barring the necessary discussion on the use of the herb for various purposes; in the opinion of many consumers, plant the grass at home is a way to not feed the economic chain of the armed drug trafficking, but the initiative still opposes the current Drug Act, which gives loopholes so that, once caught, homemade planters are fined as traffickers.

The race is on to secure the five licenses to be granted under New York state’s medical marijuana program, which takes effect in January.

And the cash-crop lottery could bring in millions for the winners.

Statewide revenues will likely total $239 million in 2016 and more than $1.2 billion by 2020, according to a report issued by GreenWave Advisors late last year.

“Let the cash register ring for New York state,” says GreenWave’s Matt Karnes.

And there appears to be no shortage of investors looking to dip a hand into this cash register.

Venture capitalists willing to take the plunge include Privateer Holdings and Tilray, both of which have already had a strong presence in the legal marijuana space.

Nearly 20 years after voters approved the medical use of marijuana in California, the state’s cannabis trade is a wild west of legitimate enterprises, outlaws and erratic enforcement, caused in large part by a patchwork of inconsistent laws covering the $2bn-a-year industry.

Legislators are seeking to bring law and order to the business. Three bills – two in the state assembly and one in the senate – are competing to create a framework that would codify how medical marijuana is grown and sold in California, including whether local municipalities or the state itself would have ultimate control and what environmental and health measures should be addressed.

VANCOUVER - Don Briere stands behind the counter at Weeds Glass and Gifts in downtown Vancouver, surrounded by shelves of multicoloured pipes and clear boxes overflowing with fragrant B.C. bud.

The affable 63-year-old owns 10 stores, making him the owner of the city's largest marijuana business chain, even though selling pot over the counter remains illegal in Canada.

When asked how a customer would buy cannabis, Briere says all one needs is photo ID and proof of a medical condition that might be alleviated by pot — for example, a prescription for pain medication or a bottle of antidepressants.

"We're making it easy for people to get ahold of a real medication that is natural and safe for you," he says proudly. "Every day we sign people up. Every day."

DENVER -- When 8 News NOW tagged along with Nevada lawmakers on a fact-finding trip to explore Colorado's regulated marijuana industry, the blossoming economy for both recreational and medicinal weed wasn't the only thing that stood out.

So, too, were the problems emerging in Denver, the Mile High City that is home to 200 marijuana dispensaries. Those outlets create quite the opportunity for criminals.

"The Denver police will tell you that really, any high cash business is often times a target for crime,” said Ashley Kilroy, Denver's executive director for marijuana policy.

"I could't even eat this morning," said medical marijuana patient Anne Genovy as she sat in the front row of audience seats in Vancouver's Federal Court on Thursday. 

"My hands were shaking. The weed relaxes me, but not knowing where I'll get it (marijuana) from or if I'll be arrested is torture."

Genovy is one of an estimated more than 175,000 people with a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana as medicine.

Collectively, they wait to exhale as Federal Court Justice Michael Phelan weighs evidence in Allard V. Health Canada. At stake is the future of who will supply patient prescriptions and who is allowed to grow marijuana in Canada.

After a six week break the case has returned for summations.

WHITE CITY, Ore.- - A lab in White City is speaking over concerns regulations when it comes to testing marijuana.
“Currently the cannabis testing lab industry here in the Southern Oregon market is unregulated with very little government oversight” said Jason Wilson, a scientist at Kenevir Labs.
Wilson earned his Master of Science Degree from Southern Oregon University, specializing in Biology and Education. He said his company approaches this from a scientific approach and are concerned about the implications of inadequate testing.
“We view ourselves as providing a public service toward pubic and safety. That’s really our primary concern” said Wilson.

Cannabis aficionados are often fans of a solid play on words or well-placed pun — something that even applies to selecting the right stock symbol apparently.

New edibles company Nutritional High, which will soon sell its products in Colorado and Illinois, just went public in America via the stock symbol SPLIF. So while more established companies have their sly nods embedded in their stock symbols — Anheuser-Busch InBev’s BUD, Harley-Davidson’s HOG and Southwest Airline’s LUV — this little cannabis company rooted in Denver and Toronto has SPLIF marking its pot stocks involvement.

From the word’s entry in The Modern Cannabis Lexicon: “Spliff — A combination of tobacco and marijuana rolled together, often in Europe, that can at times be a cone shape.”

A former client of electronics giant Philips is taking the company to court over its refusal to sell him light bulbs and switches which he then supplied to marijuana growers.

Hans Zondervan told television current affairs show Brandpunt Reporter Philips has refused to do business with him since autumn 2013 because the company does not want to be associated with the cannabis industry.

However, Zondervan claims, Philips continues to supply the industry via other channels and he now wants compensation for lost income. Zondervan started working with Philips in 2002.

A who’s who of British Columbia’s medicinal marijuana industry is gathering in Vancouver on May 7.

The event, a forum hosted by Lift Cannabis Inc., features some of the most experienced suppliers from across Canada and promises to attract stakeholders from both the legal and illegal sides of the business.

David Brown, a spokesperson for Lift Cannabis, told the Straight the conversation was originally scheduled to focus on Canada’s official medicinal marijuana production and distribution system that exists under the Conservative government’s Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR).