California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada recently passed laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota enacted medical marijuana initiatives, bringing the total of states (and the District of Columbia) that allow some form of marijuana use to 33.

What does this trend mean for entrepreneurs thinking of entering the cannabis industry?

National prohibitions against interstate cannabis commerce and federal banking and drug laws are keeping big companies at bay, which opens the door for small businesses and startups to establish dispensaries, retail stores, cultivators, processing, manufacturing and testing facilities.

Truman Bradley's pitch for a new kind of cannabis company began with a simple slogan. "It's what's on the inside that counts."

Most companies that make marijuana vaporizer cartridges or concentrates buy their source materials from farmers, slap their sticker on the packaging, and ship it off to dispensaries.

The end user knows little about where their weed comes from or its quality.

That didn't sit right with the former business manager. "None of the major companies were really providing their own source material, and as a result, they were subject to the whims of whatever they could get," Bradley said. "So the quality was fluctuating quite a bit."

Nick Boppe: Head Grower

Nick Boppe is the head grower at Buddy Boy Farm located about 30 miles from Spokane, Wash. Boppe, 37, is in his second year at the 600 acre organic farm. Boppe moved to Eastern Wash. to work at Buddy Boy from Calif. where he was in construction. (Jed Conklin for Leafly)

After a couple decades as an itinerant construction worker, Nick Boppe values his job as head grower for Buddy Boy Farm in eastern Washington for its steady paycheck and the chance to work outdoors.

At the heart of California’s Emerald Triangle is Humboldt County, a legendary locale in the world of weed, as prized by marijuana aficionados for its cannabis as Napa Valley is for its wine.

“Humboldt is the absolute, undisputed leader in cannabis,” said Luke Bruner, a local resident who has advised state and local officials on marijuana issues.

A lot is at stake. The statewide market in medicinal and recreational marijuana is worth about $6.6 billion

Marijuana had an incredible 2016, and the fast-growing pot industry is looking to continue building on that momentum in 2017.

After beginning 2016 with cannabis legal in 23 states for medical purposes, and four states for adult use, the year closed with 28 states having legalized medical marijuana and residents in eight states having legalized recreational weed. Most notably, legislatures in Pennsylvania and Ohio passed medical marijuana laws without bringing votes to the people, while residents in California overwhelmingly passed Prop 64 (recreational legalization), which could add $1 billion, or more, in annual tax and licensing revenue to the state.

The marijuana industry is at a crossroads. Voters have approved recreational marijuana measures in eight states plus the District of Columbia. When these laws become fully implemented in the next few years, more than one in five American adults will live in places where they can walk into a store and legally purchase marijuana.

According to one estimate by ArcView Group, a marijuana industry consulting firm, the legal marijuana market rang up $6.7 billion in sales in 2016.

Coco Chanel, a smoker, made pockets popular in women’s clothing last century. She created the compartments for her cigarettes.

The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado has led to some interesting developments in the war on drugs. According to a video segment on Fox News, seizures of marijuana flowing out of Colorado into neighboring states has risen from 58 in 2008, to 394 in 2015. This indicates Colorado has unwittingly become an exporter of legal weed, found to be illegal in many adjoining states.

How many plants will marijuana producers in Arkansas be allowed to grow at a time?

It's a question regulators in Arkansas are facing... and its one that's caused big controversies in other states where medical marijuana is legal.

In Arkansas, there will be five marijuana cultivators supplying the drug to dispensaries across the state. But how much they will be allowed to grow at any given time remains a question.  

"You don't know exactly what the demand in the state of Arkansas is going to be," Marijuana amendment sponsor David Couch said.  

Just this week, the new Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission made getting into the pot growing business a pricy endeavor.

• The state of Arkansas has become the latest medical marijuana state to exclude small business opportunities by setting outrageous fees and capital requirements for a tiny few marijuana licenses.

  The Medical Marijuana Commission decided on a $100,000 license fee for Arkansas growers of medical marijuana.

  The fee is on top of the $15,000 fee decided by the commission just to apply. If an applicant is rejected, half of the application fee will be refunded.

  The commissioners also decided on basic financial requirements for applicants hoping to have a cultivation facility. They voted that applicants must show proof of $1 million dollars in assets or a surety bond and must also show proof of $500,000 in cash.