This sign at the First Inn of Pagosa Springs, Colo., subtly alerts customers that they're welcome to consume marijuana on the premises.

BOULDER – Colorado's marijuana tourists quickly run into a harsh reality after stopping at one of the state's approximately 330 marijuana stores: Most hotels and ski condos prohibit indoor smoking of any kind, never mind the "kind" kind.

Enter Sean Roby and his new website, Bud and Breakfast. Roby aims to make his site the Air BnB of marijuana-friendly lodging, connecting visitors with homeowners willing to let their guests partake of legal marijuana. The site has about 50 listings from around the globe, with many in Colorado, and is an outgrowth of Roby's existing of "Taste of Travel" company.

Marijuana is one of the few sectors of the American economy where the jobs are, but how to find that pot dream job? There's an app, of course.

WeedHire.com, a site that's looking to become the Monster.com of legal marijuana jobs, this week released the world’s first iOS app to help people find a job in the pot industry. The site, launched in May 2014, released an Android version of its app in September. 

“Marijuana is not that different than other industries, and it’s not just about the plant. There’s a need for people to work in accounting, finance, legal, HR, etc.,” said David Bernstein, a former electronic-waste executive who founded WeedHire.com.

CHICAGO -- Late one Saturday night, Rob Sampson had a confrontation with his 15-year-old daughter about marijuana. But it was his daughter doing the confronting and it was Sampson defending the drug.

Sampson and his wife, after a long night of polishing his new company's applications to grow medical cannabis, returned to their suburban Chicago home to find their daughter waiting up. They hadn't yet told her their business plans.

"She said, 'What is going on?"' Sampson recalled. "'I know something's going on and you guys aren't telling me."'

SAN DIEGO, March 31, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Payout, Inc. (OTC Pink:GOHE), a leading provider of international electronic payment solutions, announced today that it has entered into a strategic relationship with CannaTrac™ Technology, Inc. (CannaTrac™) for the deployment of Global Payout's closed-loop marijuana industry payment platform. As announced on March 18, Global Payout has developed a closed-loop payment system that resolves the unique challenges present in the fast-growing medical cannabis and recreational cannabis industries by reducing the risks associated with cash transactions, and by solving the crucial payment and transaction execution issues currently plaguing the industry.

Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states. Nine more states—including Pennsylvania—have medical marijuana legislation pending. The legal marijuana industry is big and growing rapidly; it is projected to generate annual revenues of over $8 billion by 2019. Given this rapid growth, many entrepreneurs are exploring entering the market. These would-be marijuana growers, processors or distributors quickly learn, however, that the legal marijuana industry poses unusual challenges. Some of these challenges are discussed in this article.

Legal Marijuana is Illegal

Bitcoin has been on a roller-coaster ride, losing more than half its value last year.

Anthem Blanchard, CEO and founder of physical gold and silver broker Anthem Vault, thinks that his cryptocurrency, called the Hayek, will bring more stability to the Wild West digital currency marketplace. Matching the ancient currency of gold with a new medium of exchange makes sense, Blanchard said, adding, "Seeing bitcoin combined with gold is exciting. Crypto-gold is more secure and spendable."

Cannabis entrepreneurs can now submit applications to take part in a mock investor pitch session at the Spring Marijuana Business Conference and Expo to be held in Chicago next month.

The deadline for applications to participate in the Marijuana Business Pitch Slam is April 10. The session will be held from 11 a.m. to noon on May 20 at the Chicago Hilton.

The five companies selected to present will deliver a short investment pitch in front of a live audience of industry professionals and a panel of experienced investors. The panel will then critique the presentations to provide insight into what investors look for when evaluating a pitch, and will select a winner for the “Best Pitch” award.

Last November District of Columbia citizens voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana, joining those of Colorado, Washington state, and Alaska. Since then debate continues about where and when it’s okay to ingest the weed, how to regulate and tax it, and the moral implications of approving use of a drug that is illegal under federal law.

Washington's marijuana business has created a legal occupation that offers career opportunities for bud trimmers.

"I've done everything from pumping gas to remodelling houses, but I think there's longevity in this," 32-year-old bud trimmer Kurt Vermillion said.

Bud trimmers make between $12 and $15 an hour and use small scissors to trim away leaves and other things from marijuana buds. Most trimmers work on about half a kilogram of pot per day.

Experienced workers can move up to gardeners or concentrate makers and make $50,000 to $90,000 US a year.

For 37-year-old Julie Whittaker, who started trimming buds in November, the job turned out to be less stressful than her former work in the banking software industry.

Public stock investors in the cannabis industry are largely relegated to the over-the-counter marketplace. This is much different from stocks trading on an exchange, and far less expensive for companies to access. Therefore many small, micro-capitalization companies choose to offer shares of their company through this market.

We are believers of free markets and access to efficient forms of capital; from that standpoint, we see OTC as a potential option for companies. However, regulators cannot keep up with the biggest scams, think Enron and Madoff, let alone effectively monitor the thousands of small companies. This gap in oversight creates opportunities for the ill-inclined to pounce, get rich and rob the everyday investor. We see this malfeasance all the time.