Simon Langelier, a 30-year veteran of Philip Morris International, joined the board as a non-executive director this week.

Imperial Brands gained the services of a leader in the field of medicinal cannabis as the British tobacco manufacturer seeks to further its push beyond cigarettes.

Simon Langelier, a 30-year veteran of Philip Morris International, joined the board as a non-executive director this week, the Bristol-based company said in a statement Tuesday.

Lawmakers reviewing the Massachusetts' new recreational marijuana law plan to recommend sharply higher taxes and more control for city and town officials over retail pot shops in their communities, according to a copy of a House proposal obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

The draft legislation also would make dramatic changes to the Cannabis Control Commission, which will oversee recreational marijuana under the law approved by voters in November, effectively taking control of the commission away from the state treasurer.

iAnthus Capital has agreed to buy Valley Agriceuticals for $17.3 million. ValleyAg has just received one of ten medical marijuana licenses issued by the state of New York. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter of this year.

As legalization gains momentum more women are using marijuana and more are entering the cannabis industry.

Marijuana, for the most part, is characterized as a guy thing.

Movies certainly bolster that stereotype. When it comes to iconic images of people who use marijuana, it’s mostly a Boy’s Club. The two Jeffs – Spicoli and Lebowski. Those guys in “Pineapple Express.” And, of course, Cheech and Chong.

But the number of female cannabis users is growing, according to research from the California marijuana delivery company, Eaze. And the number of female entrepreneurs in marijuana continues to grow, as well.

PotCoin, a crypto currency for the legalized cannabis industry, jumped in value on Tuesday after ex-basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea wearing a t-shirt and baseball cap emblazoned with the digital payment system's logo.

PotCoin, which hopes to become the of the marijuana industry, is sponsoring the former National Basketball Association player's trip to North Korea to meet with the leader of the reclusive state, Kim Jong Un.

PotCoin, like Bitcoin, is a virtual currency that can be moved like money around the world anonymously without the need for a central authority.

Some get in the pot business to do good. Some get into it hoping to do good and do well.

This is not your father’s marijuana industry. In a couple of decades we’ve gone from a completely black market in marijuana to a legal market valued at $4 billion a year — and projected to increase rapidly — and from tie-dyed Northern California pot farmers hiding from helicopters to people in suits and ties with dollar signs in their eyes.

Alimentation Couche-Tard is expressing interest in selling cannabis in its Quebec convenience stores.

The company has hired a lobbyist to work on ensuring it has a place in the cannabis-distribution system Quebec will eventually set up.

The province's official registry of lobbyists shows Marie-Eve Bedard began working on behalf of Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD.B) last month and will continue doing so until next May.

She will earn less than $10,000 for her work.

Bedard is a former chief of staff to ex-Quebec health minister Yves Bolduc.

Couche-Tard operates more than 2,000 stores in Canada but it is not clear whether the chain wants to sell cannabis outside of Quebec.

The Herbal Compliance Co. announces the launch of its compliance consulting services for legal medical cannabis and hemp businesses. This unique company will also be partnering with GrowthFountain to raise $1 million in funds through a unique form of investor funding called Regulation Crowdfunding.

Interested investors can see the offering and make an investment by visiting Growth Fountain at https://growthfountain.com/herbal-compliance .

Question: When is a datacentre not a datacentre?

Answer: When it’s growing pot.

Smart datacentre managers use technology to regulate power consumption and productivity. Paolo Pincente, CEO of Grow Ratio, is basing his business on the fact that cannabis grow-ops work the same way.

Pincente comes from an IT background, having sold his managed IT services business pNetworks in 2015. Now, he wants to bring the same efficiencies found in high-performance datacentres into licensed grow-ops.

This Canadian medical pot producer just raised $75 million, placing its value at more than $635 million.

When it comes fast-growing industries, you'd struggle to find one with more consistent annual growth potential than legal marijuana -- and marijuana stock investors know it! Depending on your source, the marijuana industry is set to grow by between 23% and 27% annually over the next 5 to 10 years, with investment firm Cowen & Co. offering the most bullish prediction, with a call for $50 billion in legal U.S. sales by 2026.