A new Wikileaks e-mail leak shows how presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was prepared to respond to certain marijuana-related questions in the most recent debate, including her position on whether banks should be allowed to do business with marijuana companies. The e-mails were part of a hack of John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chair.

One of the e-mails states:

“If pressed: what about marijuana banking restrictions – should we let marijuana businesses access banking services?

Last year, Golden Leaf Holdings, a leading cannabis company, paid $3.3 million for almost 100 acres of land in Oregon to build a marijuana growing, processing and research site.

The future looked bright: Oregon voters had legalized recreational marijuana in 2014. But Measure 91 gave counties and towns the opportunity to opt out and ban pot businesses.

Days after Golden Leaf signed the papers on the property in Marion County near the town of Aurora, the county banned marijuana businesses in unincorporated areas. So did about 100 other towns and counties.

“That shut us out completely out of the recreational market, which was our original strategy,” said Beau Whitney, a Golden Leaf vice president.

The summer of 2016 turned out to be quite lucrative for Colorado’s marijuana industry.

Legal marijuana shops tallied up $126 million in medical and recreational cannabis sales in August, setting a new monthly record, according to Colorado Department of Revenue data made public Wednesday. The young industry’s previous monthly high was set just a month before, with $122.67 million of revenue in July.

At that time, economist Adam Orens, with BBC Research and the Marijuana Policy Group, attributed the sales surge to a seasonal spike:

With nine states poised to legalize cannabis next month, an increasing number of our clients are seeking help on taking their cannabis business national. They want to know what it will take to cross states with their cannabis cultivation centers, their cannabis retail storefronts or even just with their brand names. If you too are looking to present your cannabis business on a national stage, you need to consider the following seven things:

The expansion into recreational status has gifted the cannabis industry with a new B2C marketing target: the casual and occasional consumer. This target market is overlooked because they aren’t perceived as worth catching, but these potential customers are curious about trying cannabis… they just don’t know where to begin. The draw to the occasional user is that they make up most of the population, what they lack in large quantity purchases they make up for in an enormously untapped customer base that extends to every single person in the country. A very necessary aspect to recognize about the casual consumer market is the diversity; every income level, gender and age bracket consumer has at least some sparked interest in casual, occasional recreational use.

"Pot packaged like candy. Up to 20 times stronger than it once was. Marketed to kids. Sold next to schools in nearly 2,000 pot shops across Florida. No medical standards. No pharmacists. No prescriptions. And no way to stop it unless you vote no on Amendment 2."

Florida election ads often stand out, when they bleed over into the media market in south Alabama. There just seems to be something a little more colorful about political battles in the Sunshine State. But even in that context a current TV commercial is eye-catching.

Comedian, musician and pot activist Tommy Chong says he intends to keep "priming the pump" until marijuana is legalized across the United States and in Canada.

Chong, 78, said the introduction of legislation promised for next spring to legalize recreational marijuana in Canada could set an example for the United States, where a state-by-state approach isn't ideal.

Chong, who is scheduled to appear Thursday at the two-day International Cannabis Business Conference in Vancouver, said he hopes the next American president will legalize pot throughout the U.S. so states can rake in millions of dollars from taxing the drug.

California and five other states will vote on whether to legalize recreational marijuana this November. In addition, Arkansas and Florida will vote on whether to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. 

Marijuana usage is on the rise. 

Consider that over the last 30 days, the S&P 500 has fallen 2.5% from 2,186.5 to 2133. Yet over that same period, the North American Marijuana Index increased 42%. Investors might want to add marijuana stocks to their portfolios. 

The smell is unmistakable.

There must be a small mountain of pot lying somewhere in a back room of the storefront office on St-Laurent Blvd. That thick, skunky aroma — strong enough to trigger memories of a misspent youth — is apparent the moment patients are buzzed through the front door of Fondation Marijuana.

A whiteboard by the reception desk advertises strains with names like Grand Daddy Purps, Jean Guy and Blue Magic.

Despite the overwhelming smell, despite the fact that there are untold kilos of cannabis stored behind the sheetrock wall, the office has a distinctly sterile feel to it: medical forms, filing cabinets, a photocopier and two security cameras pointed toward the centre of the room.

Washington State Department of Agriculture The Washington State Department of Agriculture has proposed a new program to certify organically grown marijuana. A separate certification would be required since marijuana is still illegal under federal law and the organic program is a federal program.

The Washington Department of Agriculture has proposed hiring a “cannabis coordinator” to direct the agency’s expanding role in regulating and promoting the state’s billion-dollar marijuana industry.

The coordinator’s duties could include overseeing a new program to certify organically grown marijuana, for the health conscious pot buyer.

“There seems to be consumer interest in that,” WSDA spokesman Hector Castro said. “We have done this for other commodities, obviously.”