The opening of a vast, albeit disjointed, North American cannabis market is driving investment in R&D and production.

Attitudes and laws are changing in drastic ways these days. One area where this is particularly evident is in North America’s growing acceptance of the use of medicinal and recreational marijuana.

​California native Malcolm Mirage's dream was to own a legal cannabis dispensary. For years, he had grown marijuana and sold it on the black market, while working a day job as a personal trainer. But in his late 20s, Mirage decided it was time to jump into the growing legal industry — before it got too crowded — and build his expertise into a sustainable, above-board business.

In order to open up that business, which he calls Mirage Medicinal, he needed to come up with $500,000 in startup capital, so Mirage began to scale up his operation, expanding into lucrative markets in other states.

Like many states, Illinois is in deep financial trouble. Looking at the latest audit,  its black hole has deepened to $9.6bn (£7.6bn) and, according to the state’s financial comptroller, the books are “abysmal”.

But there could be salvation at hand if it becomes the first state in the midwest to legalise and tax the recreational use of marijuana. Two Democrats in the state legislature have introduced a bill to change the law, arguing this could raise as much as $700m a year.

Should the bill go through, it would bring the number of states where recreational pot is legal up to nine. If you throw in Washington DC, then more than 80m Americans would be free to enjoy cannabis.

This week on The Plus Factor, we’re talking about an herbal ingredient earning a blazing reputation in the wellness world: marijuana.

Remember when cannabis had a not-so-healthy image? (Think red eyes and munchies.) Well, those days are fading fast, as the potent plant’s healing powers have started to attract some serious interest from wellness brands in all categories—food, beverage, beauty, and beyond.

The vast majority of viewers tuning into The AM Show on Monday support medicinal cannabis.

A (non-scientific) poll on the Newshub website found 94 percent of respondents backing its legalisation.

It comes after oncologists claimed at the weekend half their patients are using cannabis to ease their suffering.But don't expect the Government to ease up the rules anytime soon.

Speaking to The AM Show on Monday, Prime Minister Bill English said there's already a "compassionate" and legal route for patients to get cannabis products - if they need them.

Country has seen 500 companies apply to join ‘green rush’ in cannabis products after more than 100 studies in pharmaceutical use.

In a small pharmaceutical lab in Jerusalem, a complex construction of rubber tubes, pumps and a brass pipe sits on a worktop. A prototype device, its purpose is to “smoke” cannabis to remove its active constituents and turn them into powder, with the hope that the resulting product can be used for pain relief in young cancer patients.

The Izun lab offers a glimpse of the ambition by Israeli researchers to corner the rapidly burgeoning new global market in medical marijuana, a market its proponents argue soon could be worth almost $20bn (£16bn) annually by 2020 in the US alone.

A slew of bills modifying the state’s nascent medical marijuana program have been signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson over the past two weeks.

One dozen marijuana-related bills recently saw the governor’s pen, and five more currently await his signature. Any bill modifying the voter-approved Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment must be approved two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of the Representatives before it can be signed into law by the governor.

The biotech sector will be one of the greatest beneficiaries of the global cannabis movement and investors can find a lot of opportunities within this industry.

Although firms focused on developing cannabis-based treatments are some of the highest quality opportunities, several have recently been under pressure.

Israeli Biotech Firm Falls from Highs

In late March, Therapix Biosciences Ltd. (TRPX: Nasdaq) commenced trading on the Nasdaq exchange and the shares rallied almost 50% during its first day of trading. Since then, the shares have fallen more than 20% and we think this is a stock investors should be watching.

California-based company Beboe has launched a new range of high-end marijuana products for the sophisticated cannabis consumer.

Founded by celebrity tattoo artist Scott Campbell and fashion veteran Clement Kwan, Beboe offers a rose gold, pre-loaded single-use vaporiser "intentionally engineered for social consumption", as well as low-dose cannabis pastilles.

As marijuana legalization swept the US in November, Arizona was alone in its rejection of legal weed.