JUSTICE MINISTER Senator Mark Golding says the Government is aiming to create an inclusive framework for the operation of the medical marijuana industry.

He said the system would be designed in a way to allow for small farmers to operate within a lawful industry.

"We don't want a design which is going to be prohibitive in terms of its requirements that would exclude especially small farmers from participating. That is where we think that there (will) be tremendous economic benefits," he said.

The justice minister was addressing the Rotary Club of Kingston's luncheon held on Thursday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

A pungent cloud of marijuana smoke will be wafting over many parts of Canada on Monday. Yes, it’s 4/20 again, the unofficial holiday that openly celebrates pot, reefer, ganga, weed, Mary Jane or whatever you like to call it.

In most places, though, you’re unlikely to see police swooping in to corral the tokers. Even though pot possession remains illegal, the narcs probably won’t be busting anyone except dealers.

Part of the reason is practical; charging dozens, if not hundreds of people is a logistical nightmare. Another part is a reflection of the times, the increasing tolerance, if not acceptance, of marijuana as a part of mainstream culture. It’s no longer on the fringe.

The usage of Bitcoin ATMs and vending machines could increase among marijuana dispensaries, predicts Green Rush Review.

In its recent promotional press release, the medical marijuana news website blamed the absence of proper banking infrastructure as one of the major reasons why cannabis businesses would move towards other bankable options such as Bitcoin. It said:

The blue states have legalized marijuana for only medical purposes, while the red states have legalized it for both medical and recreational purposes. In all, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana in some form.

It's been almost 20 years since the first state legalized medical marijuana, but conflicting regulations between the states and the lack of federal direction on its rules and regulations have left the industry fractured and stunted.

A San Francisco company is hoping to expand into Vancouver and the rest of Canada to help medical marijuana patients get their medicine more easily.

Eaze is a mobile app that allows people to order cannabis products and have them delivered by drivers in only minutes.

"We are definitely interested in bringing Eaze to Vancouver and Canada overall," said Eaze spokesperson Caroline Vespi in an email. "We don't have a time frame yet." 

The company, which partners with dispensaries and recruits drivers to hand-deliver marijuana to patients, says it's asking potential customers to sign up on its website so it can "prioritize expansion based on customer needs."

Rhiannon Griffith-Bowman smokes an e-cigarette in San Rafael, Calif. Some pot entrepreneurs worry that tobacco companies want to make moves on their turf.(Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

DENVER – While federal law makes their entire industry illegal, many marijuana store owners, growers and retailers fear something completely different: Big Tobacco.

Today, most legal recreational marijuana operations are small, limited to a single state and barred from ever getting large by regulators who want to keep a close eye on the fast-growing industry.

But those small operators struggle to get bank loans for expansion, often produce an inconsistent product, and sometimes have no idea how to balance supply and demand for their crops.

DENVER - Cannabis consumers from across the country are gathering at the Denver Mart this weekend for the fifth Cannabis Cup. 

At event, which runs Saturday through the Monday, festival-goers can attend lectures on cultivation and the future of legalization.  

There's also a trade show and expo featuring the latest products and inventions. Shoppers can purchase everything from growing supplies to pot-plant shaped muffin tins.

A Saturday concert at Red Rocks will feature SOJA, Nas and JBoog.

Snoop Dogg, 2 Chainz and A$AP Rocky will be the artists at Monday show at Fiddler's Green.

"This is an economic miracle as far as I'm concerned," said Dan Skye, editor of High Times, the publication sponsoring the event. 

Growing up on New York’s Long Island, Jim Hagedorn would watch TV and see reports of marijuana busts. In the background, he’d sometimes spot bags of Miracle-Gro, the garden fertilizer invented by his father, Horace.

That recollection is particularly apt as the younger Hagedorn, now 59, considers plans for the company his father helped found, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., the world’s largest maker of lawn-care products. This month, Scotts bought a leading supplier of hydroponics, a technology that allows indoor cultivation of everything from tomatoes to pot without soil.

Last November, voters decided it was time for Alaska to take a more sensible, reality-based approach to marijuana. They replaced the failed policy of prohibition with a mandate that the state regulate and tax marijuana similarly to how we treat alcohol. Yet, with only days left in the legislative session, the Legislature has yet to provide the resources needed to establish a regulatory framework.

As legalization churns along, numerous issues are slowly but surely being addressed.

With 420 approaching, it's time for our annual reminder: Don't do anything that might bring shame to Denver, Colorado, or marijuana legalization in general.

This weekend's Cannabis Cup, a trade show for those in, or interested in, the bud industry, is doing its part to keep the jackassery to a minimum by disallowing and sales or giveaways of weed-related intoxicants. This should put it in stark contrast to the Great American Beer Festival, which every October floods our downtown streets with loopy, pretzel-necklaced nimrods.