Outspoken celebrity activist Woody Harrelson is putting his money where his marijuana is. On Feb 5, 2016, the Hawaii Department of Health posted its list of 66 applicants hoping to open the Aloha State's first dispensaries - including the "Cheers" and "True Detective" star.

Cannabis Business Alliance applauds Colorado’s impressive growth while noting regulatory challenges ahead

DENVER, Colorado -- has released the cannabis industry sales report for 2015, with total sales reaching over $996 million, an increase of more than 42 percent over the previous year. The Cannabis Business Alliance (CBA) notes this impressive industry growth even as many of its members prepare for more regulatory challenges ahead.

Grass Station founder Ryan Fox applauds efforts in Denver and Washington, D.C. to consider the creation of private establishments, where cannabis enthusiasts can safely and legally consume in public.

Denver, Colorado -- The recreational use of marijuana has been legal in Colorado for over two years now, but cannabis enthusiasts in the state still face a lot of restrictions as to where they can smoke pot.

As Colorado’s website notes, “retail marijuana is intended for private, personal use” and that cannabis “may not be consumed openly or publicly.”

Startups dealing with marijuana could be positioned to see serious green. Forbes stated that a recent report revealed that legal cannabis sales in the U.S. grew 184 percent last year. For 2015, our country’s legitimate marijuana business was worth $5.4 billion and much of the growth was due to a rise in recreational sales, which went from $351 million in 2014 to $998 million in 2015.

Oregon agriculture officials have ordered a halt to sales of a pesticide popular with marijuana growers after a state lab confirmed that an active ingredient was not listed on the product's label.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture said the pesticide, Guardian, should be removed from store shelves and asked growers who bought the product not to use it. The manufacturer is All In Enterprises of Machesney Park, Illinois.

A statewide stop sale order is unusual and typically does not involve labeling problems, said Bruce Pokarney, a spokesman for the agency.

Tommy McCathron, listed as president of All in Enterprises in Illinois Secretary of State records, said Monday that he didn't want to discuss Guardian.

In February 2016, FDA issued eight warning letters to firms that market unapproved new drugs that allegedly contain cannabidiol (CBD). FDA had previously issued six such letters in February 2015. FDA has tested these products, and many were found to not contain the levels of CBD they claimed to contain. It is important to note that these products are not approved by FDA for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease. Consumers should beware purchasing and using any such products.

The links to the Warning Letters and the test results for the CBD-related products are below:

Cannabis-infused edibles are about far more than peace, love, and higher consciousness.

Peggy Noonan knows a thing or two about marijuana. She was a drug runner between Mexico and the U.S., before earning her living as a dealer in Arizona. Both stints ended badly, with Noonan serving time in a Mexican jail and slapped with federal probation in Arizona. All that feels like ancient history, says Noonan, who’s among the thousands of “ganjapreneurs” in the burgeoning market for edible marijuana products. “It was pretty wild, life coming full circle,” she says.

In four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington State), retail sales of marijuana are both legal and taxable.  Of these states, Colorado was the first to implement sales and excise taxes on legal marijuana and now has over two years’ experience collecting those taxes.  The state is collecting roughly $90 million in marijuana excise taxes alone each year—an amount short of the $162 million it collects from cigarette taxes, but that far exceeds the $42 million it receives from taxes on alcohol.  When state-level sales taxes, license fees, and application fees are added to the picture, Colorado’s haul from marijuana taxes rises to roughly $130 million per year, with millions more flowing directly to local governments via their own sales taxes on marijuana.

"People are getting educated about this plant," Stephen Marley told us at party celebrating new family venture

"This is Bob's night," Stephen Marley shouted to a crowded living room high up in the Hollywood Hills. Saturday was Bob Marley's birthday, and his son — bearded with dreads past his shoulders, an acoustic guitar across one knee — paid tribute to the late reggae icon with a performance of Marley classics, from "Jammin'" to "Three Little Birds," as the family name was being celebrated for a new venture.

he Shinnecock Indian Nation will grow and process medical marijuana, as well as build a dispensary on reservation land by the end of the year, pending approval from the state, tribal officials said this week.

The tribe’s general council on Saturday passed a measure that allows the tribe to pursue state designation as a medical marijuana provider, and also construct both a cultivation facility and a dispensary on the reservation.

The vote was approved 71 percent to 29 percent.