A U.S. consultant hired by Ottawa to assess Canada's eventual recreational pot market says jurisdictions that regulate cannabis should expect "unbelievably high" sales growth in the first few years as criminals are driven out of business.

Adam Orens, a founding partner of the Marijuana Policy Group, said he is not yet authorized to discuss his findings on the future Canadian pot market because his organization is under contract with Health Canada.

However, a look at the group's estimates for Colorado's regulated cannabis industry suggests Canada can expect its own sector to generate billions of dollars per year in direct and indirect economic activity.

Individuals and medical professionals looking for cannabis online rarely know exactly how much inventory a dispensary might have at that point of time. Fortunately, one startup has changed that forever.

Today, startup Jane Technologies launched the cannabis industry’s first end-to-end online marketplace, where customers can find and order preferred products available in real-time at local dispensaries.

Recreational marijuana sales are just two months away with sales set to begin on July 1.

The legal and heavily taxed sales of pot are expected to bring tens of millions of dollars into the state by the end of the year.

So, Nevada … are you ready for the green rush?

Jason Sturtsman thinks so. He’s a cannabis advocate we met in a North Las Vegas production plant which creates cannabis vape pens.

“Some dispensaries may very well stay medical but in Colorado, recreation is about 80-percent of the market,” said Sturtsman.

Sturtsman is confident early retail pot sales are on track for a July 1 launch.

The regulatory gates to Canada's legal marijuana regime are open, but only a crack.

Health Canada has received 1,630 applications for licences to grow or sell medical cannabis as of March 31. Only 43 licences have been approved so far, representing just 2.6 per cent of the total applications.

The seven-stage application process to obtain a licence is "not for the faint of heart," said Eileen McMahon, who chairs the food and drug regulatory practice at Torys LLP. Compared to other highly regulated industries like pharmaceuticals or medical devices, McMahon said, the rate of regulatory default in Canada's legal marijuana industry is remarkably high so far.

A lot of confusion and misinformation still surrounds the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program, according to state and industry experts.

In March, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel discussion on the business benefits and challenges of Ohio’s medical marijuana law.

House Bill 523 authorized a basic framework — legalized medical marijuana for qualifying medical conditions, but prohibited its use by smoking or combustion — and made Ohio one of 28 states to establish a public medical marijuana program. But it left state agencies to establish specific rules and guidelines.

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The marijuana industry is the hottest thing since sliced bread, and marijuana stocks are thriving as a result. Here's a quick rundown of how some of the industry's largest players' stock prices have performed over the trailing 12 months:

Medical marijuana has been a recent hot topic in many southwest Michigan communities. And it’s about to become big business here, too.

Two proposed ventures for Buchanan could bring investments of $500,000 to $1 million to the small town.

And even larger, multimillion-dollar commercial cannabis operations in this blossoming industry recently decriminalized by the state of Michigan are being proposed for Galien Township.

For this rural community, it could amount to an economic shot in the arm — in property tax payments and jobs alone — if MedFarm of Michigan opens its midsized grow operation and processing plant here.

Sitting six floors up, looking down on London's rooftops and the City workers leaving the high rises nearby, I sip a coffee and puff a joint of Moroccan hash, bought over the counter five minutes ago. 

I'm in one of the many clandestine Amsterdam-style coffee shops to have popped up across the UK over the past few years – places that all have their own motivations and character, whether they're open-doored and profit-driven or more private and community-based, but which all share one key characteristic: you can smoke – and sometimes buy – weed on the premises. This is just one of six venues that I know of in this part of London, and beyond the capital similar set-ups exist all the way from Peterborough to Newcastle. 

It’s 3am in Beverly Hills and an A-list actor, in the throes of a marathon sex session with five young women, reaches across the silk sheets for his phone.

But the woman he has on speed-dial is not being summoned to join in.

Despite her glamorous looks, Cheryl Shuman is no ­support actress. She is Hollywood’s favourite producer – of top-quality cannabis.

After taking his call, the 57-year-old mum-of-two changes into an all-black outfit of jeans, T-shirt and high heels, packs her antique doctors’ bag and heads across town in her red Ferrari.