Much like how big banks have kept their distance from cannabis, large insurance carriers have generally stayed away from the industry even as states across the US continue to launch legal, regulated markets for patients and consumers.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones wants to change that.

Jones, a former state lawmaker and Sacramento City Council member, will be holding a series of meetings aimed at educating major insurers and convincing them to begin insuring the industry.

California is the sixth largest economy in the world, based on gross domestic product. And in November, voters legalized recreational marijuana, something that will further diversify the state’s portfolio.

Reno Public Radio’s Noah Glick sat down with Amanda Rhoades of the Sierra Sun to talk about this new law and how communities around Lake Tahoe are approaching this growing industry.

In West Virginia, a new law includes a provision that requires regulators to encourage minority-owned business owners to apply for growing licenses. (Photo by Heath Korvola/ Digital Vision/Getty Images)

In some states that have legalized marijuana, officials are trying to entice nonwhite citizens to join the cannabis industry with breaks aimed at making up for the toll unequal drug enforcement has taken on Black and brown communities.

So far, the booming industry has overwhelmingly line the pockets of white cannabis sellers.

It's supposed to deliver a mellow "body high." Megan Fenno 2017-05-31

When it comes to wine, sometimes it’s a guessing game as to what we’ll see next. There are wine popsicles, a Champagne vending machine and even blue wine. And now there’s a new green wine called Canna Vine that is infused with marijuana.

Cannabis stinks, its opponents claim, comparing the scent of buds at harvest to skunks.

But beyond its fragrant nose, cannabis enterprise carries an aroma welcome even to many who shun pot: the smell of money.

Cash gushes from the emerging industry. It’s expected to soar to billions of dollars a year in California, with Santa Rosa’s CannaCom Valley at the heart of North Bay cannabis commerce. But cannabis operators must reckon with the reek, which makes some neighbors smoking mad.

At public hearings on cannabis policy held by Sonoma County’s board of supervisors, residents who live near cultivation complained to the board about its pungent smell — especially at harvest. Supervisors responded by banning cultivation in rural-residential zones.

On May 23, 2017, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors greenlit the SLO County Counsel to pursue legal action against unregistered cannabis growers in the the unincorporated areas of San Luis Obispo County. 

Andre Shavers was sentenced to five years on felony probation after authorities burst into the house where he was living in one of Oakland's most heavily policed neighborhoods and found a quarter ounce of marijuana.

After the 2007 raid, Shavers couldn't leave the state without permission. He was subject to police searches at any time. He walked to the corner store one night for maple syrup and came back in a police car. Officers wanted to search his home again.

All the while, cannabis storefronts flourished elsewhere in a state where medical marijuana was authorized in 1996.

Making your own infused oils and tinctures for use in edibles can be a tricky business. The potency of the herb you’re using can vary, and different oils will extract cannabinoids at different rates. Not knowing the strength of your recipe makes proper dosing of the final product a difficult endeavor.

Taking away that mystery was the goal of the founders of Engineered Medical Technologies, a small tech company in Northern California.

or the first time, scientists have demonstrated that a component of cannabis reduces seizures in children with a rare form of epilepsy, marking a significant step in efforts to use marijuana and its derivatives to treat serious medical conditions.

Jeanine Moss never expected to get into the cannabis industry. But that was before her hip-replacement surgery.

Moss, 62, of Marina Del Ray, California, had quit her job as a marketing consultant before she had her hip done in 2014. As she left the hospital, her doctors handed her a “shopping bag filled with opiates,” she said. The drugs made her disoriented and woozy.

So she switched to medical marijuana, which is legal in California and was familiar to her, having grown up in the nearby Venice section of Los Angeles. Within a week, she had tossed away her pharmaceuticals.