A Denver-based credit union took on the Federal Reserve in court last week over the right to deal directly with the cannabis industry.

The Fourth Corner Credit Union of Denver has challenged a federal law forbidding financial institutions from doing business with the marijuana industry. Under federal law, such institutions found to be doing business with dispensaries that legally sell marijuana –which is still federally classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance– face prosecution and closure.

“We are asking for a level playing field, but they own the team and they own the field,”

The Asbury Park Press’ Dec. 24 editorial, “Don’t gamble with marijuana in Atlantic City,” opposing my proposal to bring recreational marijuana to the city only demonstrates the ever-expanding problems with the gaming industry.

CHICAGO (AP) — Officials say Illinois patients legally purchased nearly $1.7 million worth of medical marijuana during November and December Program director Joseph Wright on Monday announced sales figures since Nov. 9, when Illinois launched regulated sales with the opening of the state's first licensed cannabis dispensaries. Wholesale sales — what growers sold to dispensaries — totaled more than $1.5 million. That indicates Illinois has collected roughly $107,000 in taxes in the pilot program. Marijuana wholesalers pay a 7 percent tax to the state. Wright says licensed dispensaries have served 2,815 unique patients. By the end of 2015, there were 20 dispensaries licensed to operate in Illinois. The retail price per gram on average was roughly $14 to $15.

DENVER, Jan. 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MassRoots, Inc. (OTCQB:MSRT), one of the largest and fastest growing social networks for cannabis consumers, is pleased to report it has crossed 725,000 users.  Over the next several weeks, MassRoots expects the SEO value from its new web platform, the introduction of new features for its users, and performance updates from its backend migration will continue to fuel its rapid user growth.

Company Expands Landlord Footprint and Plans to Rent Approximately 125,000 Square Feet of Warehouse Space to Qualified Cannabis Cultivating Tenants

Technology and finance are forging a new world for marijuana business and politics. Here are some of the emerging players:

Sean Parker, former president of Facebook and co-founder of Napster. Parker is the key backer of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act. The proposed 2016 ballot measure would allow California residents to possess an ounce of marijuana and impose a 15 percent tax on state-regulated marijuana sales.

AXIM Biotechnologies, a small, Manhattan-based company with ties to the Netherlands, says it has a trump card in its quest to develop a cannabis-based chewing gum to ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

The company says it will be able to price its gum cheaper than a major competitor after securing a "significant" discount on cannabis made available by the Dutch government.

To be sure, AXIM has a long way to go before its Medchew Rx gum - still in development - will be a viable alternative to an under-the-tongue spray developed by GW Pharmaceuticals.

That spray, Sativex, is already approved in 27 countries - though not in the US, where cannabis remains prohibited under federal law.

In Colorado, the past 16 weeks have seen 15 recalls of cannabis products because of pesticides, including the largest such recall last week.

The state's one of several that now mandate or encourage testing of recreational marijuana for contaminants.

But in Arizona, the products of medical-marijuana sellers and cultivators never have been officially scrutinized. If the state approves recreational use in November, that's going to change — with a likely increase in pot pricing.