Organizer dodge permit costs by insisting it’s not an event or festival 

Vancouver’s annual 4/20 rally has evolved into a giant farmer’s market for marijuana and attracts tens of thousands of people. So why don’t the organizers have to go through the city’s official permitting process?

According to a city spokesman, officials have repeatedly suggested that organizers obtain a special event permit to hold the gathering at the Vancouver Art Gallery, but to no avail. Despite the increasingly commercial flavour of the day, the rally is still considered a protest, and not an event.

Marijuana growers are often looking for ways to produce better yields and crops.

Because marijuana grows in the shape of a Christmas tree, it means that more light will reach one part f the plant than other areas.  There are methods of marijuana training that can change this Christmas tree shape and grow more buds for you.

Here is a quick look at some of the ways to do marijuana training for increased yields and better buds.

Super Cropping

This is a name given to a group of methods performed by experienced growers during the vegetative growth period to increase and or improve the overall crop yields. Super Cropping usually begins during the second or third week of vegetative growth and can continue throughout the vegetative growth period.

Growing marijuana was not Ted Berndt's first thought.

The 50-year-old has never even smoked pot. Not once. He swears.

Vancouver is about to become the first city in Canada where the business of selling marijuana will be regulated and permitted.

Although the drug is illegal in Canada and technically only available to people by a mail order, prescription system set up by the federal government, the city will permit the operation of dispensaries under a proposed framework that selects which businesses can open and imposes rigid operating conditions.

The proposed regulatory framework, which will take months to implement and still needs council approval, reflects a permissive view by the Vision Vancouver majority that supports access to marijuana for medicinal purposes.

PAID YOUR TAXES yet, you good little worker bee? 

You should be more like big giant company. They use a variety of crafty ploys with funky names like the Double Irish and the Dutch Sandwich to send their IP and royalties and (most importantly) income abroad where Uncle Sam can’t touch it. 

Investing in public marijuana company stocks is hot, but the risks might leave many out in the cold.

Last year the sector experienced double-digit gains, indicating that marijuana is emerging as a legitimate investment opportunity. TheViridian Cannabis Stock Index of 75 publicly traded companies reported a 38.4 percent gain in 2014.

Bitter hatred and animosity aren’t stopping Shiite Lebanese farmers from selling weed to their sworn enemies — Sunni Islamic State militants — because, well, that’s business.

The Daily Beast spoke with farmers in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, supporters of the embattled Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, who are selling marijuana to Islamic State militants.

Lebanese Shiites typically support Syria’s Assad as a longtime regional ally, and the Islamic State, controlling territory in Syria and Iraq, are staunch enemies of the regime. Additionally, in Iraq, the Islamic State is fighting Iran-backed Shiite militias.

Berkeley-based Steep Hill Labs Inc. is raising $5 million to expand into two states and Jamaica this year as well as pursue innovations in its testing equipment and genetics-related products.

Steep Hill, which employs 30 people, generated $1.2 million in revenue in 2014 and has raised $4 million since its founding in 2008. The company is taking advantage of the Jobs Act to raise its next round of financing from accredited investors, who meet SEC qualifications involving their annual income or net worth to participate in the offering.

Sharks were circling at the Marijuana Investor Summit—TV sharks. Kevin Harrington, who is well known as one of the original sharks from the ABC series “Shark Tank,” gave the summit’s keynote address on April 21, 2015, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel DIA in Denver, Colorado.

A bill to extend the state’s medical marijuana pilot program overwhelmingly passed the House Tuesday.

The bill passed 81 to 28 with one legislator voting present, according to state records.

Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, who sponsored the extension and has championed the state’s medical marijuana law, said he’s hopeful the bill will make it through the Senate and that Gov. Bruce Rauner will sign it — allowing the delayed medical marijuana program to have a full four years of operation before expiring.

Lang’s bill seeks to extend the program four years from when the first dispensary begins officially operating. It’s now set to expire at the end of 2017.