Aside from the obvious societal and legal implications, the proposal by Senators Rand Paul, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Cory Booker to change marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug will also have financial ramifications. One of the difficulties in running a marijuana business is dealing with the IRS, still empowered to enforce IRC Code 280E. The code was created during the Reagan era to help in the administration's War on Drugs and specifically prohibits the deduction of normal business expenses from any income derived through the sale of illegal drugs. This includes expenses such as rent and payroll and has resulted in tax rates for some marijuana businesses to approach 70 percent as opposed to a more-normal 30-35 percent.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch)—Paying and accepting cash for “legal” marijuana transactions isn’t easy, or safe for that matter. But prepaid debit card processor Global Payout Inc. GOHE, +8.70%  is aiming to change that with a payment system unveiled Wednesday that’s exclusively for Mary Jane.

In the marijuana industry, even in the more than 20 states where recreational and/or medical marijuana is legal or decriminalized, cash is the sole method of payment between buyers and sellers. That creates both danger and inconvenience for producers and retailers, according to Global Payout Chief Executive Jim Hancock, as they are forced to handle large amounts of cash.

How do you save millions on taxes while bringing millions more to the state economy?

The answer could be blowing in the wind Saturday in Trenton where a group of activists plan to march to the State House, speak out and smoke out.

Launching what organizers call "the strongest cannabis campaign the state has ever seen," "NJ Spring Smoke Out" is just the beginning in a blaze of pro-marijuana demonstrations set throughout the state this spring, including a return to Trenton on April 20 and to Camden on May 2.

Medical marijuana has new competition, and it's fierce: Sales of recreational pot in Colorado are growing faster than sales of medical pot, even though medical marijuana is cheaper because of a lower tax rate.

That trend will continue, according to the most thorough analysis yet of the two, side-by-side legal markets.

GreenWave Advisors, which provides analysis for the cannabis industry, reports that medical marijuana sales growth in Colorado dipped in 2014, as did the number of new medical cardholders.

ALBANY—Tensions between the private marketplace and state regulation can seem especially fraught in the burgeoning industry of medical marijuana, as illustrated in a discussion hosted by Capital New York today that included a Cuomo administration official, the legislative sponsors of New York's medical marijuana law and experts in the sector. 

Responding to criticism about restrictions on the size and scope of New York's planned medical marijuana program, Governor Andrew Cuomo's incoming counsel Alphonso David said, "The reality is marijuana is still illegal, so we had to create a balanced piece of legislation and regulations."

Last year, the National Cancer Institute — “the U.S. government’s principal agency for cancer research” — created a stir by publishing the truth: the molecules found in pot kill breast and lung cancers in lab tests. Marijuana remains a federally illegal, schedule 1 drug with “no medical use” and “a high potential for abuse”, so the NCI was pressured to take down the statement. But it remains.

A Lumby company hoping to procure a medical marijuana licence is expanding its investment opportunities.

Common shares of True Leaf Medicine International are now listed and trading on German stock exchanges in Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich. The stock is being traded under the symbol TLA.

This comes on the heels of an announcement last month that the stock would be trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol MJ. 

True Leaf states in a news release that the new listing in Germany will provide the company with increased visibility for its activities in all European capital markets.

Company CEO Darcy Bomford anticipates the investment community in Europe will be interested in his company.

After only 3½ months of operation, Leamington’s Aphria Inc. is spending $1 million to expand its medical marijuana production.

The investment is part of a two-phase expansion plan for the business that just began operations in December. Startup costs were $6 million.

The phase one investment will increase the current growing capacity of 1,200 to 1,500 kilograms of marijuana to 2,500 kg annually.

But Aphria CEO Vic Neufeld said that’s still not enough to keep up with the growing demand.

“It’s not enough for us to service this business opportunity,” Neufeld said Wednesday of wholesale demand that has developed in the last two months.

One of the most revolutionary social movements in the past decade has been the growing acceptance of the consumption of marijuana in Western society, including the substance’s legalization in U.S. states such as Colorado and Washington. While marijuana is illegal for general use in Israel, the Jewish state is considered to be one of the world’s most forward-thinking countries when it comes to medical marijuana, with scientists and researchers flocking there to learn more about the benefits of the drug.

The Georgia Senate overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana bill, but one with major stipulations and is much more limiting than the House Bill that passed a few weeks ago.

The bill sets up a five-year scientific study involving only people under 21 with seizure disorders. A key senator promised to meld it with a broader House bill.

Sen. Lindsey Tippins’ (R-Macon), the author of the bill watched as his bill was approved in a 54-1 vote Friday after an hour debate session. Tippins said he wants more evidence that the remedy is effective.

“I want to protect our children,” he said. “We must gather a conclusive body of evidence.”