On tonight's episode of Weediquette, host Krishna Andavolu takes a look at the structural roadblocks that underground cannabis growers and sellers face when trying to legitimize their business. Andavolu talked to us about what to expect in this episode; an edited and condensed version of his comments is below.

Although the legal cannabis industry is in the first inning of what will prove to be a multi-decade growth cycle investors must conduct ample due diligence before investing.

From the United Kingdom to Canada, the legal cannabis industry has made significant strides over the last year, a trend that we expect to not only continue but to accelerate as new markets open and existing ones develop.

Capital Markets Become More Receptive to Cannabis

Capital markets have become more receptive to cannabis businesses over the last year and this is especially true for licensed medical cannabis producers in Canada.

EDITOR'S NOTE: With Canada poised to legalize marijuana in 2017, CBC News reporter Solomon Israel went to Denver to see how the fledgling pot industry there has affected where people live, their health concerns and how it shapes public spending. This is the first of three pieces in our series.

Even though pot isn't yet legal in Canada, marijuana dispensaries are already taking root in Toronto neighbourhoods like Kensington Market and the Danforth.

And while that's sparked complaints to police and local councillors, it could be worse: Torontonians could be living near an urban marijuana farm.

29-year-old the lead agronomist for a Whistler marijuana company.

As a 14-year-old loading soil at a Quebec poinsettia greenhouse, David Bernard-Perron never would have expected he'd grow up to be the lead agronomist for a marijuana company in Whistler. 

But at 29, that's exactly what he's doing, and the company he works for is at the forefront of quickly growing industry.

Bernard-Perron says the poinsettia job can be credited with getting him interested in plant sciences, but even as a student working on a masters degree in organic agriculture at McGill University, he wasn't especially interested in cannabis. He barely had any experience working with it, and he didn't count himself as a recreational user.

The Sharks have seen it all. Entrepreneurs of all stripes vy for their cash in the Tank, and sometimes their businesses are just plain weird.

There was the hiker who turns roasted crickets into energy bars, the husband and wife on a mission to change the way we poop, one Squatty Potty at a time, and, who could forget, that guy who badly wants to draw a cat for you.

Last week, the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) ruled against a certain cross section of pot growers in the state. The Petitioners at issue wanted to grow medical marijuana on land covered by a “rural residential” zoning designation. When Jackson County adopted a zoning ordinance prohibiting such activity, the growers sued. Because LUBA sided with the County, medical marijuana grows in that jurisdiction will be limited to land zoned exclusively for farm (EFU), forest or industrial use. In that sense, the ruling is fairly narrow, although it could discourage prospective litigants in other counties on similar appeals.

First the city fast-tracked the formerly incarcerated for weed licenses; now — new rules would make Oakland part-owner.

On Tuesday night in Oakland, community members and longtime cannabis professionals will go head to head with the Oakland City Council Public Safety Committee on how the term “equity” will be defined in the city’s forthcoming permitting process for the industry.

At issue is the future of Oakland’s legal marijuana industry, and who gets to be a part of it. Council will consider changing its cannabis licensing rules to mandate the city become a 25 percent owner of certain new marijuana business.

It didn’t take long for Simone Cimiluca-Radzins to learn that breaking into the cannabis industry was a task easier said than done.

Incidentally, it was this very realization that opened the door.

Cimiluca-Radzins founded Kalogia – a LinkedIn-esque platform that connects cannabis professionals around the world – in late 2014 after she herself experienced the challenges of networking in a growing yet still stigmatized industry.

Cheryl Shuman likes to make weed purées for dessert, topped off with Goldschlager Cinnamon Schnapps.

"Imagine a beautiful cannabis infused chocolate soufflé with a raspberry purée on top with the gold sparkles from the Schnapps,” she told me. “It's delicious and oh so glamorous.” 

This is Shuman’s world: glitz, glam, and ganj. As the director of the Beverly Hills Cannabis Club, a high-end purveyor of luxury weed and accessories, her love for cannabis overlaps with her activism which overlaps with her pot rebranding campaign. And while we might associate weed with Ziploc baggies and hazy basements, this is more about diamond studded vape pens and Hollywood soirées.