Marijuana is becoming big business. As more states legalize it for medical and even recreational use, companies are looking to cash in. Hundreds of those companies displayed their wares at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan.

Vacuum sealers, oils, sprays, pills, drops, lights, edibles, vaping devices, and all their suit-wearing purveyors filled a floor of the Javits Center to showcase the hundreds of tributary businesses now feeding into and out from the cannabis industry.

How a military vet turned her skills set into a cannabis-infused skincare business!

As state after state has legalized marijuana in one way or another, big names in corporate America have stayed away entirely. Marijuana, after all, is still illegal, according to the federal government.

But Microsoft is breaking the corporate taboo on pot this week by announcing a partnership to begin offering software that tracks marijuana plants from “seed to sale,” as the pot industry puts it.

Bill Would Also Let D.C. Legalize Marijuana Sales

A key Congressional panel just voted to increase marijuana businesses’ ability to access banks.

Out of fear of violating current money laundering and drug laws, many banks are reluctant to do business with marijuana providers. As a result, most marijuana dispensaries operate on a cash-only basis, making them targets for robberies.

Many critics and proponents of marijuana legalization alike have voiced concerns about the potential emergence of Big Marijuana, a corporate lobby akin to Big Tobacco that recklessly pursues profits and wields sufficient clout to shape regulation to its liking.

Although marijuana remains illegal under federal law, medical and/or recreational marijuana is now legal in more than two dozen states. As the federal government has largely tolerated state legalization, corporate capital and muscle have begun moving in on these new state markets. Such commercialization raises a new set of concerns about how industry dynamics may impact consumer behavior and potentially incur social costs.

California lawmakers regulated medical marijuana in black and white last year, but with rules set to take effect by 2018, there’s plenty of gray area to generate busts between now and then.

A popular medical cannabis brand in that gray area in Northern California was the subject of a local law enforcement sweep, according to scattered reports from sources today.

CBD lab at a Santa Rosa biz park raided in coordinated searches of at least four biz properties and homes #cannabis pic.twitter.com/HsBrpauhNX

— Julie Johnson (@jjpressdem) June 15, 2016

As the cannabis market becomes global, how is the current state of the industry faring in the U.S. and Canada?

Marijuana greenhouse and equipment company GGS Structures Inc. put together an infographic that outlines the amazing progress made within North America over the past few years. See the infographic below:

In one episode of HBO's hit show The Wire, Stringer Bell, the brutal head of a heroin drug cartel in Baltimore, insists that his meetings about the day-to-day operations of the "game" run in strict compliance with Robert’s Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, a book first published in 1876 that gives guidelines for fair and orderly meetings.

Indeed, Bell’s street corner pushers were required to be recognized by the chair before speaking.

At the time, the scene seemed outlandish. However, perhaps it was just ahead of its time.

Recently, the Canadian government announced at the United Nations that it will table legislation in the spring of 2017 to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

This will create a cash cow.

Philadelphia thought it was pretty darn progressive by decriminalizing marijuana in 2014, but if one New Jersey lawmaker has his way, Atlantic City could one-up Philly by becoming an all out marijuana tourism destination like Vancouver, Denver, Seattle and Amsterdam.

A cannabis producing and processing company based in California has been selling and shipping a range of their products to UK customers. They also ship to other countries where the import and export of the cannabis flower is illegal, such as Brazil, Spain and Germany. This is the first time a cannabis-derived product has been shipped on an international scale, and the products have been reaching UK customers with no problem – but before you start to fret, everything is completely legal.