Legal marijuana sales in the United States approached $3 billion last year, according to an investment group for the cannabis industry.  Marijuana remains illegal under U.S. federal law, but the drug has been legalized for medical or recreational use in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Investors and businesses hoping to cash in gather at trade shows, like one held last week in Los Angeles.

Products were on display at the Los Angeles Convention Center, from hothouse lights and fertilizer to extractors that get oils from the cannabis plant.

Originally, I was trying to come up with a really whip-smart headline for this…like: “Weed Is The Gateway Drug For Gateway Point Of Sale Services,” but there was no need. The news is simple: A super-smart group of folks that sold a company (Outright.com) to GoDaddy has launched its point of sale service specifically aimed at shops selling cannabis. They’re called Green Bits.

LAS VEGAS - Sept. 21, 2015 - PRLog -- (Monday, Sept. 21) National Licensing Services (NLS) today announced that Caren Woodson and Lauren Payne, legislative policy experts who combined have over 17 years of experience in the cannabis industry in several different states, have joined the Las Vegas-based business licensing consulting firm.

Like the industry itself, employment and investment in cannabis businesses are rising. Yet, it remains true that special risks apply to cannabis enterprises beyond what is seen with “conventional” businesses.

It’s risky, unproven and still illegal at the federal level, but a group of Boulder investors is betting on the cannabis industry.

They’ve launched Canopy Boulder, a mentorship and seed-stage investment program, and put up $1.2 million to shepherd 20 entrepreneurs into the new, fast-growing field of marijuana ancillary businesses and services.

The way they see it, the cannabis market is theirs for the taking. But because it’s new, there is no model to look to for guidance.

A growing number of states are licensing distributors of medical marijuana but these businesses may have a tough time finding a bank.

A worker walks on the site of greenhouses under construction in Maple Ridge, B.C. Owners of the greenhouse have applied to Health Canada to grow medical marijuana at the facility.
(DARRYL DYCK For The Globe and Mail)

When Craig Speirs was first elected as a councillor in the quasi-rural community of Maple Ridge five terms ago, marijuana was a minor issue the police dealt with.

Now, Mr. Speirs and his fellow councillors have nine well-capitalized businesses applying to start marijuana-production facilities in their city. Two are already in operation, even though they do not have Health Canada permits and are technically illegal.

The case study in how a business can exist outside of the embrace of traditional banking — as, in this case, traditional banking is afraid of being done for money laundering, since the product in question is still illegal on a Federal level — continues.

The Suquamish Tribe and the State of Washington recently signed and entered into the nation’s first marijuana compact to allow a Native American Tribe to cultivate, process, and sell marijuana within a state’s highly regulated marijuana system.  I previously blogged about how Washington was the first state to adopt a compacting system for tribes and regulated marijuana, but this signed compact reveals more about what tribes can expect when they “partner” with Washington State on cannabis.