The first time I met Flow Kana founder Michael Steinmetz, it was September of 2015. We rendezvoused at a Dogpatch coffee shop because his startup's office was too tiny to host guests. He spoke rapidly and breathlessly (as South Americans tend to do) not just about his brand (as startup CEOs tend to do) but about a culture he envisioned, where cannabis could subsidize California's small farmer ecosystem and usher in a new era that would be "friendlier, giddier, and a little more tolerant." At the end of our hour-long conversation, I sent him an email: "I don't know whether to write a story or to ask you for a job."

Nobody can argue, legal marijuana is a huge growth industry, in every sense of the word. Legal marijuana sales reached $6.9 billion in 2016, and many experts predict that number may triple now that California has voted to legalize recreational use. Bloomberg forecasts that the industry may reach $50 billion in the next 10 years ($22.8 billion by 2020).

Some investors are starting to wonder if there’s a way they can make money in this sector?

Well yes there is, or at least there are stocks they can buy if they want to bet on the industry’s continued growth, which every analyst out there agrees it will.

Mom and pop edible makers 'deserve a piece of legalization,' says organizer of pop-up marijuana food market.

Amid all the uncertainty about the federal government's ​plans to legalize marijuana by mid-2018, a culinary mystery stands out: How will marijuana-infused food products, commonly called "edibles," fit into the legal regime?

Ottawa has signalled that regulations governing the sales of edibles won't be ready by the time recreational marijuana becomes legal. But if the huge demand for edibles at 420 celebrations in Toronto's pot-friendly Kensington Market is any indication, the government needs to start cooking up those regulations, and fast.

Silicon Valley investors are known for pouring money into risky bets like flying cars and asteroid mining. Now, a handful are diving into one of the few industries that makes most of their peers squeamish — pot.

As the marijuana industry soars, with New Frontier Data predicting legal pot sales will balloon to more than $24 billion by 2025, a handful of venture capitalists are climbing on board — albeit cautiously. Those putting money into the industry say it’s a rare chance to stake an early claim in a lucrative market with little competition from other investors. But they’re keeping one eye on President Donald Trump’s administration, watching for signs of a federal crackdown that could derail the burgeoning industry.

Snoop Dogg will not be smoking any joints on Canadian television screens anytime soon.

Ottawa is imposing tight restrictions on how cannabis can be promoted once the drug becomes legal for recreational use next year, including a ban on celebrity endorsements. Yet even while most of the specific regulations around marijuana marketing remain under development, Canada’s largest legal cannabis producer and a growing chorus of branding experts are gearing up to get in on the coming cannabis advertising boom.

Olympic gold medallist Ross Rebagliati and former NBA star Rick Barry offered weed endorsements at the O’Cannabiz Conference and Expo in Toronto, focusing on business opportunities in an exploding industry.

There can’t be much that better illustrates the mainstreaming of cannabis in North American culture than an industry “trade show” at which two world-class athletes endorse the product and muse about a day when pot companies will sponsor pro sports arenas.

With the Liberal government recently promising to legalize marijuana by Canada Day 2018, the era of marijuana Prohibition is over, Olympic gold medallist Ross Rebagliati told the O’Cannabiz Conference and Expo in Toronto on Saturday.

Germany, the largest country in the European Union started 2017 by legalizing medical cannabis creating a major opportunity for cannabis businesses across the world.

Although Germany began to permit patient access to medical cannabis in 2005, domestic production does not currently exist. Until state-supervised cannabis plantations are set up, the country will continue to rely solely on imported products.

With passage of the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MCRSA”) in 2015, California took a huge step towards comprehensively regulating its medical cannabis industry after more than 20 years of little to no such state government oversight under Proposition 215.

New Product Destroys Marijuana Odor Molecules on Contact

A U.S. green biotech company today announced the North American release of NixT™ 420 Odor Remover, a cutting-edge odor eliminator that banishes the scent of marijuana with just a few sprays. Available for wholesale and retail sale at www.NixT420.com, the product was introduced April 20 in what was the most momentous celebration day yet for a booming cannabis culture.

Other states have let some sell early while rules for new stores are created, but who would qualify is debatable.

Medical marijuana dispensaries and caregivers are quietly lobbying state lawmakers to allow them to sell pot to recreational users before retail cannabis stores open in Maine next year.