When recreational marijuana was legalized in Colorado in January of 2014, it promised to be a boom for those who were ready with their brick and mortar stores and new licenses. Growing as rapidly as weed are ancillary businesses that cater to these new marijuana pioneers. You only need to walk inside the massive grow operation at establishments like Medicine Man to realize that marijuana demands sophisticated lighting and cooling systems as well as excellent soil and fertilizers to keep the plants happily budding. To protect the plants, growers and retailers need elaborate security systems. Once harvested, marijuana needs to be sold in specialized packaging. Ancillary products are flourishing as the marijuana economy takes off.

Canadian cities looking for ways to jumpstart economic growth should maybe take a lesson from Nanaimo, B.C., which says it is reaping the benefits of a growing medical marijuana plant that opened last year.

When Carbondale’s GreenHill Laboratoriesopened this week, it became the only facility on the Western Slope offering microbial testing on cannabis.

The lab is one of just three certified by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for potentially dangerous mold such as Aspergillus and bacteria including E. coli and Salmonella, which are commonly regulated in commercial consumables.

After a year of build out, documentation and review, GreenHill received its certification on March 24 and had its first customer Tuesday. Validation for potency and homogeneity testing is pending.

A federal banking official took the unprecedented step Thursday of meeting with marijuana business owners, as the pot business awaits word on setting up its own bank.

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George held a closed-door meeting with about 20 representatives of the marijuana industry.

The meeting was arranged by two Colorado congressmen who have tried unsuccessfully to pass laws expanding banking access for the marijuana industry, Democratic Reps. Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis.

Come Monday, the Duluth City Council could adopt an ordinance designating where medical marijuana growing  operations or dispensaries are allowed to set up shop in the future.Alternatively, city councilors could opt to amend the proposed ordinance, effectively shrinking the zone in which marijuana operations could locate.Although he was absent from Thursday’s agenda session meeting, 5th District Councilor Jay Fosle has proposed the city increase the required setback from residential developments.The Duluth Planning Commission called for a minimum setback of 200 feet in a motion that passed by a 6-1 vote last month.

Punitive punishment for marijuana offenses on school grounds leads to a higher chance of future marijuana use, according to the American Journal of Public Health. (Getty Images)

With marijuana legal for recreational use, one pressing question is how to enforce school anti-marijuana policies. The fear of kids possibly losing themselves in a marijuana fog is a legitimate fear for parents. That much is obvious. But how do we deal with that fear?

Is it better to rule by Thor’s hammer or to encourage an open dialogue?

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For the past decades, Jamaica has been in a downward economic spiral and the trend continues year after year. Looking back 30 years, real per capita GDP averaged only one per cent, making Jamaica one of the slowest-growing developing countries in the world.

We are at a debt-to-GDP ratio of 138.9 per cent, ranking us among the highest in the world. The national unemployment rate of Jamaica is 13.4 per cent compared to 5.5 per cent in the US. Unemployment among the youth is twice the national rate, according to the latest World Bank report. The poverty rate has increased by eight per cent in a few years.

As for the European market for cannabis (EMCDDA), according to the result of the EU drugs agency in Lisbon in recent years there is a major change: "Morocco" is virtually "out", "indoor" plantations are "in". The Cannabis plants are increasingly grown locally for the local market. This is especially dangerous for those behind the smuggling are bypassed.

The numbers have changed little in recent years. For example, 24 percent of the Viennese have at least once consumed hemp products, 13 percent within the past three years, six percent in the last 30 days. This is what the "drug monitoring study" found in the past year.

Consumption pervades all age groups

When Chicago’s Hilton Hotel hosts a MarijuanaBusiness Conference and Expo keynoted by a best-selling economist, cannabis-entrepreneurs seem to be gaining acceptance. Indeed, marijuana-focused trade shows are growing alongside the marijuana legalization trend.