Recreational marijuana is legal in Oregon starting today. And with it comes a host of new business opportunities.

But it's not just people growing and selling pot who are preparing to cash in.

Marijuana is not like other cash crops. People don't typically raid wheat fields or break into grain bins. But Noah Stokes of CannaGuard Security in Portland said the high value of pot makes it a frequent theft target.

Stokes said the underground nature of the marijuana business has meant many growers haven't invested in state-of-the-art security systems.

INDIANAPOLIS — The First Church of Cannabis won’t have cannabis for its inaugural service Wednesday, church founder Bill Levin said on his Facebook page.

Marion County prosecutor Terry Curry and IMPD chief Rick Hite had a news conference Friday (June 26) to warn about arrests if people had marijuana. After that news conference, Levin said it changed nothing about his plans.

On Monday afternoon, though, it did change.

“Right now, we do not want to address this in criminal court, because it’s not a strong hand,” Levin said in an interview with The Indianapolis Star. “If we address this in civil court, we have a stronger hand.”

Tiny sprouts in a sterile, virtually scent-free room will someday become 18-inch medical marijuana plants, packed into an almost unbearably bright “flowering bay.”

Aurora Cannabis, Alberta’s first commercial marijuana production facility, has just finished its first harvest at its facility near Cremona.

“It was a good crop. We have seven different strains. The buds look good,” said C.E.O Terry Booth.

Tiny marijuana seedlings sit in pots at Alberta's first official medicinal grow operation in Cremona.

The federal government is no longer allowing patients to grow their own supply. The only legal way to access medical cannabis is to get it by courier, from licensed commercial operators.

Lawmakers moved methodically to ensure that when Oregonians take a drag on their first legal recreational-marijuana cigarettes or plant their first legal seeds Wednesday, that they have the full weight and force of the state behind them.

One bill sent to the governor aims to tax marijuana less than two of the three other Western states where recreational use is legal, a bid to keep smaller producers in the legal-growing system.

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34 points to help you decide if entering this expanding market is right for your business.

Friday, June 5 was the deadline for medical marijuana grower-dispensary hopefuls in New York State to file their applications with the State Department of Health. Early that morning, Kurt Van de Wetering and his team at THC Health Inc. hand-delivered their application, which filled two, 5-inch-thick binders with well over 1,000 pages. THC Health was one of 43 applicants (according to Buffalo Business First) vying for just five licenses being awarded by the state. Now they wait.

Denver's Dixie Elixirs, which makes marijuana-based carbonated drinks and candies, is prettying itself up so it can be acquired by Big Alcohol.

America's legal cannabis industry has been clawing its way back to where it was before it became illegal in 1937--a legitimate, hugely profitable provider of clothes, paper, and medicine, and a safe respite from everyday stress. The process of legalization and social acceptance has been slow, starting in 1996 in California. Today, medical marijuana is legal in 23 states (as well as Washington, D.C.) and recreational pot is legal in four.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 29, 2015) - mCig, Inc. (OTCQB: MCIG), a leading provider of technology, products, and services for consumers, manufacturers, dispensaries, and growers within the global medical and recreational marijuana industry, announced today that the Company has signed a letter of intent agreement ("LOI") to acquire Security Grade Protective Services, Inc., a full-service security firm specializing in the cannabis industry.

I’ll begin this story with a disclaimer: I rarely smoke weed. Aside from the few times that I’ve tried it recreationally, marijuana has never really appealed to me as it does to the millions of Americans who light up for medical purposes or just for fun.

Oaksterdam University is not an accredited institution, but you might have been fooled if you went to the Capital Hilton here this past weekend.

More than 100 students took part in a 10-session seminar, part of the cannabis college’s focus on education in regions with recently loosened marijuana laws. During one session on Sunday, an instructor flipped through PowerPoint slides about cannabis-extraction methods and wove organic chemistry into one presentation. Meanwhile, attendees — clad in Oaksterdam sweatshirts, tie-dyed T-shirts advertising the marijuana newspaper High Times, and marijuana-leaf tie-clips — dutifully took notes.