DigiPath Inc. (OTCQB: DIGP), a provider of reliable testing, education, training, and news coverage to the cannabis industry, was recently featured in a Bank of America investment report titled Medical Cannabis Has High POTential: A Joint Biotech & Tools Primer.

In the report, Bank of America analysts single out cannabis testing as an area likely to experience enormous growth within the industry. The report suggests that cannabis testing could reach $800 to $900 million in size by 2020 as the $2.9 billion medical cannabis industry appears poised to at least double. Cannabis testing services and lab equipment should experience heightened demand as the industry matures.

The world's population growth is straining the earth's water resources and that creates a huge opportunity for sustainable growers in the very near future, said Michael DeGiglio, portfolio manager of the Village Farms International (VFFIF) . 

"We will be building greenhouses, expanding our distribution model where we market for our partners who grow and we will also look at alternative crops," said DeGiligio, adding that marijuana might be one of those alternative crops once it is fully legalized in the United States. 

The marijuana industry has a bone to pick with the media, and it involves beanies, tie-dye tees, and Sean Penn's iconic character, Jeff Spicoli.

In an interview with Tech Insider, Sharda Sekaran, managing director of communications at the Drug Policy Alliance, said she's tired of clicking links to articles about the cannabis industry and seeing photos of stereotypical stoners splashed across the page.

"There's still a major bias on who the marijuana user might be," Sekaran says. "They don’t always look like the guy from 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High.'"

Recent reports of a $6 billion energy bill for the legal cannabis industry are misleading and incorrect.

It was only a matter of time before a lawsuit came about after Seattle’s Liquor and Cannabis Board sent out 14 day notices to long-standing medical marijuana shops around the city. New laws will put a cap on the number of dispensaries in the city, leaving them with two choices – relocate or apply for a license and pray they are one of the lucky ones.

While many of the businesses that were able to likely got the heck-outta-dodge as quick as they could, others are not so fortunate. Those who were left with no choice but to apply for a license were promised that while there was no guarantee for a license that dispensaries which were established the longest ago and had the a good track record for paying taxes and fees would be taken into consideration first.

At least four ganja growers and consultants are known to be separately experimenting with crops or supply chains in undisclosed locations so that they are ready to roll once Jamaica gives the green light on commercial licences.

Junior Gordon from Westmoreland is not saying, but another industry source who has tested his product says that he has the highest-grade marijuana, with Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, content in excess of 23 per cent. That compares to the 9-13 THC content normally found in Jamaican ganja.

"I have already signed an exclusive contract with a pharmaceutical company. I have so many more people calling me daily and coming at me to make deals, but at this time, what I am producing is exclusive to this company," said Gordon.

The federal government should use a court decision ordering it to rewrite the rules on medical marijuana as an opportunity to legalize the storefront sale of such medicine, experts and commercial growers say.

A Federal Court judge in British Columbia ruled earlier this week that patients have a right to grow their own medical marijuana, overturning regulations that forced them to purchase the drug through federally licensed producers.

Justice Michael Phelan gave the federal government six months to rewrite the current regulations.

But advocates say the government shouldn’t stop there.

Managing risk and understanding industry dynamics

It’s difficult to speculate on the dollars that exchange hands in the underground marijuana sales market. If Colorado is any indication, however, bringing those transactions above ground and making them legal can inject unprecedented revenue into the pockets of governments, businesses, and individuals.

The Colorado Department of Revenue reports that licensed and regulated marijuana stores in the state sold $996,184,788 worth of recreational and medical cannabis in 2015.

Traditionally, people who use marijuana have had no idea where their buds come from. You visited your guy, or maybe he came to you, and you took whatever he had. And despite the increasing professionalization of some black-market delivery services, it’s still hard to know how the plants were grown or what pesticides were used.

But as legalization spreads through more and more states, it’s obviously changing the game. Out in the open, businesses and consumers are getting savvier and more demanding. Cannabis companies are investing in branding, and more customers are willing to pay top dollar for artisanal bud with specific characteristics of taste, potency or sustainability.

More than 6,000 people are expected at the Southwest Cannabis Conference and Expo this weekend when it takes over the downtown convention center.

Presenters include Montel Williams, former NFL stars, doctors, advocates, and veterans like Roger Martin.

"It's obviously a cutting edge thing, especially in Texas," said the US Army veteran, who a few years ago started the Colorado-based group Grow for Vets.

He says he plans to expand the non-profit's marijuana outreach efforts for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to Texas because so many military vets call the Lone Star state home.