Cannabis is legal for medical patients in 29 states and all of Canada. It’s legal for all adults in eight of those states and in Washington, DC. But in most of those places, smoking, vaping, dabbing and even eating cannabis are illegal anywhere except private locations with the property owner’s permission.

Whether your product is medical or recreational, most Americans who seek to consume simply can’t, legally, from Washington state to Washington, DC.

Fortunately, some on-site consumption establishments have figured out ways to serve their customers without anyone serving time. Some are modest and homey, almost like stoner rumpus rooms. Others are sexier and closer to the Amsterdam ideal. Some are mobile. Others are arty. One might resemble a downscale dot-com.

Money That Didn't Go to Drug Cartels.

Since legalizing cannabis across the entire state, Colorado has seen some amazing profits. In 2016, the first state to legalize marijuana for medical as well as recreational use has sold nearly $1.1 billion worth of cannabis and related products. Wow.

Think about all that money that didn’t go to drug cartels and other various illegal dealers. And what about the tax? That is a lot of tax on $1 billion!

CURE Pharmaceutical Announces Research Collaboration with CannaKids to Develop Cannabinoid and Terpene Molecules Using Cure’s Proprietary Delivery Technologies.

CURE Pharmaceutical (OTCQB:CURR), (“CURE”) or (the “Company”), a leading disruptive drug delivery technology company serving the pharmaceutical, biotech, veterinarian, nutraceutical and medical foods markets, today announces a research collaboration with CannaKids in order to develop and research the delivery of various forms and components of cannabinoid molecules for both human and animal therapeutic use via CURE’s patented drug delivery technology.  Multiple human and animal studies have shown that endocannabinoids may play a key role in metabolic processes, lipolysis, pain, gastrointestinal and cancer. 

With the increasing number of states allowing the use of marijuana -- medically and recreationally -- the allure of marijuana stocks is understandable. It's a lot easier to make money in growing industries.

But before investors buy marijuana stocks, they should know what they're getting themselves into.

With a 5-0 vote at their Feb. 21 meeting, town councilors approved moving forward with an ordinance aimed at welcoming entrepreneurs interested in growing and selling marijuana for recreational use.

“This town has been struggling for years,” Councilor Sue Waite-York said. “We’re not in a position to let this opportunity slip by.”

Small town America is disappearing. Less people are living in small towns and more people are flocking to urban areas and suburban areas where jobs are more common. It’s something that has been going on for decades. Small towns have fragile economies, often revolving around one or two major businesses. When those business, or the industries they are in, go under the towns usually go with them.

Brightly lit and bustling, Harborside Health Center serves as something of a model for the medical marijuana industry — even as California’s freewheeling approach to cannabis is seen as an example of how not to do things.

As dozens of customers at Harborside pick their products, chatty budtenders talk knowledgeably about the selection, which includes cannabis for smoking, eating and vaporizing.

Business is booming: Between this store in Oakland and another location in San Jose, Harborside’s sales total $35 million a year. Sales are so strong that Harborside offers free yoga, tai chi and acupuncture to its customers, who must have a doctor’s permission to enter the store.

Fake news is unfortunately rampant in our age of mass communication, and the marijuana industry is not immune. There are sites reporting that the Trump Administration is planning on raiding legal dispensaries in various states, and after investigating these reports, 420 Intel concludes that these claims are unfounded. We cannot find any evidence to support them, and we are warning cannabis busineses to be wary of speculative articles like this one (note the clickbaity title):

Trump's administration intend to raid legal marijuana dispensaries

When Proposition 64 passed in California, legalizing recreational marijuana use, many people imagined that UC Davis might get into the pot business. With the No. 1 agricultural school in the nation, as well as a top plant biology program, UCD seems poised to become a cannabis research leader.

Not so fast, says Chief Campus Counsel Jacob Appelsmith.

“Under federal law, (marijuana) is a Schedule 1 drug,” Appelsmith said, as are heroin and LSD. Even as states are legalizing cannabis for both medical and recreational uses, the feds are not moving forward at the same pace.