A new fund could be lighting up in investor portfolios soon.

In what would be a first for the exchange-traded fund industry, a marijuana-based ETF could soon begin trading. The ETF Managers Trust on Thursday filed paperwork with regulators, referring to the fund as Emerging AgroSphere ETF.

The fund wouldn’t track marijuana as a commodity, but instead invest in medical marijuana companies involved in the production or sale of products derived from hemp. It would also buy companies which are in the supply chain of either of those categories. 

There are some caveats:

Amid the recent legalisation of medicinal cannabis, there have been calls for a removal of the ban on recreational use. Mary Meadbh Park looks at the state of the market in Dublin.

BOB Marley famously said that: “herb is the healing of the nation, alcohol is the destruction.” Since his day, cannabis has risen in popularity worldwide, including in Ireland. The growing increase of users has created a thriving market for the plant, particularly in Dublin.

It is seldom now that a walk around the city centre on a weekend night will not bring up that all-too-familiar aroma at least once. This, of course, begs the question: “who is smoking it?” and most importantly, “where did they get it?”

Cities have the right to deny business licences to illegal marijuana dispensaries and to prohibit the cultivation or sale of marijuana through their zoning bylaws, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled.

The case is the latest development in what has become a patchwork of inconsistent rules and legal skirmishes as cities grapple with changing laws and an aggressive new marijuana industry. While the sale of marijuana at storefronts, such as dispensaries, remains illegal, some cities such as Vancouver have moved to regulate them through business licences. Others, including Abbotsford, have remained determined to keep them outlawed.

At risk of raising the ire of the White House, Colorado is on the brink of becoming the first state with licensed pot clubs. But the details of how these clubs will operate are as hazy as the underground clubs operating already.

Denver officials are working on regulations to open a one-year pilot of bring-your-own marijuana clubs, while state lawmakers are expected to consider measures to allow either marijuana "tasting rooms" run by marijuana dispensaries, or smoke-friendly clubs akin to cigar bars.

In any business, the owner can trademark the name, logo and even images associated with their business with the United States government.

Every business, that is, expect the marijuana business. The federal government grants trademarks for businesses but the federal government still classifies marijuana as an illegal drug. That makes getting a trademark at the national level impossible.

However, lawmakers in California, which has been among those leading the way in the new era of legalized marijuana, have proposed a solution for businesses in the Golden State.

California Trademark Proposal

Are you guilty of living in the past? Using methods that were once tried-and-true can be alluring, but it can also prove dangerous to your search strategy. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand spells out eight old school SEO practices that you should ditch in favor of more effective and modern alternatives.

Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. This week we're going to chat about some old school SEO practices that just don't work anymore and things with which we should replace them.

Let's start with the first one — keywords before clicks.

George Zimmer is the founder of the Men’s Wearhouse chain of clothing retailers. He is also a philanthropist whose donations to California’s Proposition 215 back in 1996 helped to get the nation’s first medical marijuana law passed.

Mr. Zimmer was in Portland, Oregon, this morning to deliver a keynote address to the Cannabis Collaborative Conference. In his remarks, he urged the entrepreneurs who were gathered to learn how to profit in the green rush to embrace an ethic he calls “stakeholder capitalism”. Mr. Zimmer emphasized that this fledgling industry can be modeled in such a way as to maximize the result for the marijuana consumer, not just the shareholders in the marijuana companies.

Ontario officials will seek public comment on a proposal by Los Angeles-based MedMen to build and operate a 35,000- to 40,000-square-foot medical marijuana growing operation somewhere in Richland County — possibly on two undisclosed industrially zoned parcels within Ontario city limits.

Mayor Randy Hutchinson was non-commital about a conference call held recently with Barrett Thomas, director of economic development for the Richland Community Development Group; a MedMen company representative; and Shelby Mayor Steve Schag, in which the company described its plans to apply for a state license to open a marijuana growing operation. The marijuana would be for medical use.

Last year Tim Blake, a co-founder of the Emerald Cup, California’s oldest and most prestigious cannabis harvest competition, realized he’d run into a problem with contaminated cannabis.