DUBLIN — Brendan Kennedy wants his obituary to read: "I built companies that helped end the cannabis prohibition around the world."

He also predicts that recreational marijuana use will be "fully legal at the federal level in the United States within the next two years."

Kennedy, chief executive of a Silicon Valley-founded firm, Privateer Holdings, is competing to establish a national brand of pot. But his comments Wednesday on stage at Dublin's Web Summit come when there is little clarity that U.S. federal laws would allow such a potentially massive market and with little reliable data.

Next year's U.S. presidential election could further complicate a debate on the issue that has divided Congress, regulators and the American public.

Pleasanton, CA, November 4, 2015 (Newswire) -​Canna Group, Inc., leading consultants to the cannabis industry, today announced the formation of Sugar Leaf Capital Fund I LLC (“Sugar Leaf”), a private equity firm formed to invest in emerging growth companies within the cannabis sector.  Sugar Leaf will have offices in California and Chicago, Illinois. 

Advocates eye 2016 after voters decisively rejected Issue 3 which would have handed control of a legal cannabis industry to a small group of millionaires

Marijuana legalization advocates in Ohio are turning their attention to 2016, after voters on Tuesday rejected a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational use in the Buckeye State – a measure critics said would have enshrined an oligopoly in the state constitution.

Issue 3, as the proposal was known to Ohioans, lost in a landslide at the ballot box Tuesday, an embarrassing defeat for backers of the campaign, who poured over $20m into the race. About 65% of Ohians opposed the initiative, and 35% voted in favor.

California is the world’s eighth largest economy and the cannabis industry can benefit greatly from the passing of the 2016 ballot initiative.

California has enjoyed legal medical marijuana for almost two decades, giving the state one of the greatest head starts in the industry. States like Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have since legalized recreational use for adults and passed legislation providing for state regulation of the industry.

For the past two decades, California’s medical marijuana market lacked strict, enforceable regulations, allowing for a black-market-mentality to remain prevalent.

Peter Thiel is the entrepreneur, venture capitalist and hedge-fund manager best known for co-founding Paypal. Still not sure if he has the "startup chops" to make his advice worth watching? Well, then, he also invested $500,000 in a little startup called Facebook in 2004.

We should also mention that Thiel's Founders Fund made an investment earlier this year in Privateer Holdings, the company that owns the cannabis business, Leafly.

Uruguay was the first country in the world to legalise the personal cultivation, consumption and sale of cannabis.

Now its government is moving a step closer to a full commercial market for it, by awarding licenses for businesses to grow the drug. 

Many supporters hope the move might also lead to a breakthrough in cannabis research for medical purposes.

Wyre Davies reports from Montevideo.

Now that Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have won the federal election, we will soon see whether our new government will follow through on its campaign promise to legalize marijuana and remove possession from the Criminal Code.

Ten years ago, before the Harper years, the nation seemed poised to revise its position on marijuana prohibition. In fact, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that something was about to change, as the debate at that time often focused on decriminalization versus outright legalization.

However, the Liberals' attempts at decriminalization didn't sit well with our American neighbours, who were vehemently opposed to such action back when George W. Bush was president.

According to Brookings Fellow John Hudak, it’s time for the federal government to recognize the serious policy risks born from limiting medical marijuana research. 

Just like in vegetable cultivation, the use of pesticides in growing cannabis is a growing concern for consumers, especially medical cannabis patients.