CHICAGO – With federal legalization efforts moving forward, pot entrepreneurs might want to focus on the recreational side of the business rather than the medical side, as major pharmaceutical companies are poised to jump in there. That's the future, according to Adam Bierman, managing partner of MedMen, a marijuana consulting firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Bierman spoke at this week's Marijuana Business Conference and Expo in Chicago.

Before I begin, let me take you to 2737 BC. It has been described that during that period, the first direct reference was found in China in the writings of the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung. The first use of cannabis product was used for psychoactive agents. In the writings, the focus was mainly on its power as a medication for rheumatism, gout, malaria, and funny enough, for absent-mindedness. The importance of medicinal value was focused mainly than the intoxication properties. Gradually its use spread from China to India, and then to North Africa, and reached Europe as early as AD 500. Marijuana was listed in United States Pharmacopeia from 1850 till 1942. It was prescribed for different medical uses such as labor pain, nausea, and rheumatism.

This is the brave child battling epilepsy who has made amazing improvements after using MARIJUANA.

The family of little Addyson Benton travelled 1,200 miles to get help for the toddler who was suffering 1000 seizures each day.

Addyson, aged three, was diagnosed with Intractable Myoclonic Epilepsy aged nine months.

While doctors tried 10 types of medication, nothing was a success, and when her condition deteriorated, parents Heather and Adam made the brave decision to relocate to Colorado, USA, where marijuana is legal.

Raw hemp seeds are one of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet. While it is related to the cannabis plant, hemp seeds are not psychoactive and are legal to consume in most parts of the world. The nutritional profile for hemp seeds includes:

The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) posted online a dashboard-style report that includes snapshots of frequently requested marijuana data. The report includes:

It’s the middle of 2015, and the United States is still fighting its old, failed, discredited war on drugs. But sometimes the battlefield fog lifts a little.

For example: A United States Senate committee has just voted to allow Veterans Affairs doctors to help their patients who want to use medical marijuana.

Recently, 15-year-old Coltyn Turner testified before the Colorado state legislature and rode a bike again for the first time in years. Previously so ill he was confined to a wheelchair caused by the debilitating effects of Crohn’s Disease, over the past year the Colorado Springs teen has used cannabis oil on his path to healing.

“I’d rather be illegally alive than legally dead,” he says.

The history of marijuana prohibition is filled with warnings. What kind of warnings are there about marijuana today? Well, it can still get you arrested in many places... but aside from that, true or false, what other popular warnings are circulating today?

One fairly simple and rather obvious way to find this out is to do a web search for “marijuana warning,” and look at a selected sample of the results.

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon medical marijuana patient who was badly burned in an explosion while he was legally using butane as a solvent to make hash oil is suing the makers and sellers of the fuel.

Kevin Tveisme, 28, of Portland, was injured in 2013 when his furnace clicked on, igniting butane vapor. The explosion destroyed his garage and injured a friend, Joseph Westom, who died 18 days later.

Treating marijuana with butane as a solvent extracts the potent hash oil at a low cost, but butane vapor is volatile. Explosions have become more common with the spread of legal medical and recreational marijuana.

As a medical marijuana cardholder, Tveisme was allowed to make hash oil under Oregon law, the lawsuit says.

VANCOUVER – More than 150 people gathered in Maple Ridge Friday to protest a proposed medical marijuana facility at 272nd Street and Bell Avenue.

They say the greenhouse would be too close to homes and schools and that the facility is going to be much bigger than the 40,000 sq ft they were initially told it would be. It appears the facility will be 115,000 sq ft.

Medical marijuana company Tantalus Labs, which is building the greenhouse, has not yet received a license from the federal government but a building permit has been approved by the City of Maple Ridge.