Since passage of the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act in California (“MCRSA”), our California marijuana business attorneys have been getting calls nearly non-stop regarding what folks can do now to have a medical marijuana business later in the Golden State.

Phil Fontaine, the former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, has teamed up with one of the first licensed cannabis growers to bring medical marijuana to First Nations.

Indigenous Roots is a joint venture between Mr. Fontaine and Cronos Group, which operates the Peace Naturals Project in Ontario and The Zone Produce Ltd. in British Columbia.

It would work co-operatively with First Nations to supply people living on and off reserves with the drug.

In a news release issued Tuesday morning, the partners say the idea is to allow First Nations to invest, operate, and participate in the economic opportunities related to the emerging cannabis industry.

When David Sparer arrived at his Airbnb in Venice, Italy, he encountered an unsurmountable challenge: the spiral staircase. He was debilitated by his arthritis. His friend, the founder of Los Angeles–based cannabis company the Clear, gave him some cannabidiol (CBD) to put under his tongue and on his feet. The next day, Sparer toured all around the city with less pain than he’d had in 10 years on Naproxen, a powerful anti-inflammatory that significantly damaged his liver. 

He was converted to the powers of CBD.

Some Canadian flower growers are turning to weed, with the country's plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use expected to spur a spike in legal sales of the drug.

While medical marijuana is already legal in Canada, the Liberal government said in April it will introduce a law in 2017 to support expanded legalization, a policy already backed by several U.S. states.

Canadian legal marijuana sales may climb to C$4.6 billion ($3.44 billion) by 2019 from just C$125 million, according to PI Financial.

The potential demand spurred Jeannette VanderMarel and Scott Skinner, experienced in growing lavender, to plant their first marijuana crop in September.

Medical marijuana…a hot topic for quite some time. Some people say they’re against the cannabis industry for many reasons, including the stigma of dispensaries and others try to shed a positive light on the growing business.

That’s exactly what the medical marijuana business conference here in Lansing aimed to do today.

“See that it’s normal, see that it’s not scary and become part of the new cannabis economy,” said Medical Marijuana Conference Host Rick Thompson.

In just over two weeks, three new laws will go into effect in Michigan to regulate medical marijuana. Because of that, the conference served as an educational space for aspiring medical marijuana entrepreneurs.

The marijuana industry gets a lot of headlines because of the large dollar figures involved. This year Colorado alone is on its way to selling more than one billion (with a B!) dollars worth of marijuana. Marijuana sales figures are climbing in Washington, and with the exception of the recent slowdown in Oregon due to marijuana testing issues, Oregon’s sales have grown steadily too. Alaska just started marijuana sales, and eventually the ‘2016 class’ of legalization states will start sales.

State regulators on Friday tried to calm the troubled Oregon marijuana industry, revising testing rules that had stifled the market and thrown businesses into jeopardy, but the move was met with doubt by industry players.

The Oregon Health Authority called the revisions, which took effect immediately, “temporary rules aimed at lowering the testing burden on producers and processors based on concerns and input from the marijuana industry.”

A consultant to marijuana businesses, however, said the revisions fell far short of what the troubled industry was hoping to see.

Growth expectations over the long run for the marijuana industry are practically unsurpassed by any other industry in America on a percentage basis. Today, 28 states have legalized medical cannabis, and another eight (along with Washington, D.C.) have legalized recreational adult-use pot. This translates into a $6 billion legal industry right now, according to investment firm Cowen & Co., but it could be a $50 billion industry by 2026. That's a nearly 24% compound annual growth rate over the next decade, for those of you keeping score at home.

Hundreds of people spent their Sunday in Lansing to learn about new laws that will impact Michigan's medical marijuana industry.

The laws deal with anything from the growth and sale of medical marijuana to legalizing medical edibles and other non-smokable forms of medical marijuana. 

On Sunday, Dec. 4, the Michigan Cannabis Business Development Group held a conference in an effort to make sure all in the industry know of the upcoming changes.

Marijuana legalization is now a foregone conclusion. Over half of U.S. states have enacted laws that have legalized marijuana for recreational or medical use. That means American capitalism has kicked into high gear, with estimates that the domestic legal cannabis market will reach $50 billion by 2026, according to Bloomberg.