Summary: One of the most striking juxtapositions of the 2016 U.S. elections is that on the same day that the nation elected to the presidency a candidate who employed openly racist language and fueled his campaign by denigrating and stoking fear of Mexicans, four U.S. states—notably including California—continued to roll back cannabis prohibition, a policy rooted in overtly racist demonization of Mexicans and black Americans in the early 20th Century. With over 20 percent of Americans now living in states that have voted to regulate rather than ban cannabis, the United States is in no position to slam the brakes on similar reform efforts abroad. The U.S.

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel will join President-Elect Donald Trump’s transition team, a move that solidifies the Facebook Inc. board member’s power and could help Silicon Valley have a say in the next administration. Since Thiel was the first institutional investor to put money into the nascent cannabis industry, this could be a positive sign, and an indication that Trump's government is open to business opportunities in the marijuana sector.

Illinois is marking its first year of medical marijuana sales as more states voted on Election Day to allow legal use of the drug.

Despite anecdotes of medical marijuana's positive influence on patients, broader data and randomized clinical trials of its use remain very limited, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Officials said there have been very few overt problems with the program since the first dispensaries opened in Illinois on Nov. 9, 2015. Police said they haven't seen any significant complications and that no patients have had their licenses rescinded for using the drug illegally. 

When it comes to legal marijuana, Colorado is an industry leader. Following in our footsteps, four states, California, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine voted to legalize retail marijuana on Tuesday.

More states betting on legal marijuana means more competition for Colorado's industry. Dispensary owner Jim Parco says he's not worried.

"Despite the fact that other states have legalized, they can't bring it into Colorado just as we can't take it out of Colorado," Parco said.

Parco says dispensaries like Leaf On The Mesa in Pueblo County shouldn't be worried about business going elsewhere because they have established themselves in the community.

Although it has long been said that the alcohol industry is frightened by the concept of legal weed, one of the largest booze conglomerates in the United States just revealed that it wants to get involved in the cannabis industry.

In a recent interview with Ad Age, Rob Sands, Chief Executive Officer at Constellation Brands, the driving force behind Corona, Modelo and Svedka Vodka, said the company is currently considering the development of a new line of marijuana-infused alcoholic beverages.

As four more states legalized marijuana this week, Denver voters took the considerably less dramatic step of authorizing a pilot program that will allow cannabis consumption in specially licensed businesses. Under Initiative 300, which was favored by 53 percent of voters on Tuesday, a business that wants to let customers bring their own marijuana and enjoy it on the premises can establish a "designated consumption area" with the consent of "an eligible neighborhood organization" and a permit from the city.

When it comes to Canada’s sizzling medical marijuana sector, a million dollars just isn’t cool anymore. Well, at least not for Canopy Growth Corp (TSX:CGC).

Spurred, as many medical cannabis stocks were, by a vote to legalize marijuana in the state of California, Canopy this week soared past the billion dollar market capitalization mark. With a couple hours left until the markets closed on Friday, the stock was trading at $9.36, giving it a market cap of $1.2-billion.

AusCann has entered into an agreement to form a joint-venture with Chilean group Fundación Daya.

TW Holdings Ltd (ASX:TWH) is in the process of re-listing on the Australian Securities Exchange as AusCann Group Holdings Limited.

AusCann has entered into an agreement to form a joint-venture with Chilean group Fundación Daya – the only group to have held a medical cannabis production licence in Chile.

Let’s recap the numbers from yesterday’s post, the first in this series about marijuana in wine country and the impact of California’s approval of Proposition 64:

According to 2015 crop reports, the yield per acre in Sonoma County for wine grapes is approximately $8,500 per acre, and the yield per acre for vegetables is $24,000. The estimated yield for cannabis per acre is $8,200,000, or two orders of magnitude greater than wine grapes.

They’re the kind of numbers — and potential for profit — that could tempt all manner of businesses to rush in.

“A logical next step for us based on public support”

On the heels of Nevada’s decision to legalize recreational Cannabis use, Good Chemistry Nurseries is bringing its award-winning nursery system and world-class product to Nevada with the launch of a new Reno production facility that will service dispensaries throughout the state. The announcement was made today by company founder & CEO Matthew Huron.