DENVER — Two-and-a-half years after Colorado voters legalized recreational marijuana, activists are hoping to convince Denver voters to amend city laws to allow a private business to decide if consuming marijuana on their property should be allowed.

The group behind the 2012 passing of Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana for people 21 and older, is hoping to collect enough signatures to force a ballot measure for the November 2015 election in Denver.

The measure, which is still being written, would essentially allow businesses like bars and restaurants to section-off an area where marijuana consumption would be permitted.

The medical marijuana bill that has stalled in Harrisburg, SB3, has many flaws. We've discussed these shortcomings, at length, here in the column. Yet there are some important protections for patients built into the measure that are quite innovative and forward-thinking. 

On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a bizarre ruling that allows for medical cannabis patients to be fired simply for testing positive for THC metabolites. 

WASHINGTON: So you want to be a canna star.  420MEDIA, a Seattle-based video and entertainment company, is casting for talented, ambitious, and entertaining actors and hosts who are passionate about cannabis for a series and commercials that will premier on its new online cannabis TV network, “Hmm Did You Know.” 

The hype over hemp that erupted last year during Colorado’s first sensational flirtations with the marijuana look-alike is now starting to live up to expectations. A handful of growers in 2014 planted and harvested small-scale crops that attracted large-scale attention under hemp’s newly legal status.

This year, hype is being replaced with indicators of hemp’s industrial potential as seen in farm fields, factories, retail outlets and university laboratories. Hemp and its byproducts have a wide range of uses in nutrition, clothing, building materials, cosmetics and health.

The sector still is too tiny to rate even an asterisk in most conventional measures such as crop value and retail sales in Colorado.

JOHNSTOWN, Ohio -- Andy Joseph didn't seek the marijuana industry -- it found him.

The Navy veteran and father of five began building botanical oil extraction systems from his home northeast of Columbus while working as an engineering director for a manufacturing company. The systems were made to extract essential oils and natural flavorings from plants such as lavender, spearmint and peppers.

But entrepreneurs in California found another use for Joseph's machines -- extracting chemicals from marijuana that could be used in hundreds of products. Joseph's business grew as more states legalized marijuana, leading him to quit his job in 2012 to run Apeks Supercritical out of a 2,000-square-foot pole barn in his backyard.

Keystone Organic Farms, which plans to grow medical marijuana, hopes to do so in this former limetone mine, 100 feet underground, in western Pennsylvania.

If Pennsylvania legalizes medical marijuana, Tom Perko plans to go underground -- exactly 100 feet deep.

He's a partner in Keystone Organic Farms, which has an agreement to lease space to grow medical marijuana in an old limestone mine near Gibsonia in western Pennsylvania.

The former Dish Network employee who was fired for using medical marijuana says he has plenty of free time on his hands - and will use it to crusade for changes in the law.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that the satellite service provider had the right to terminate Brandon Coats for testing positive for marijuana, even though medical pot is legal in the state.

The 35-year-old Coats, who was left 85% paralyzed by a car accident 20 years ago, now says he will turn to lobbying the state legislature to pass a law that will explicitly protect employees who fail drug tests because of medical marijuana use.

A TED interview with Sir Richard helps explain why he's got so many fans.

Richard Branson may be the most popular businessperson alive. Employees, peers, and even strangers seem to love him. With more than eight million followers, he is by far the most popular Influencer on LinkedIn-almost doubling the next figure (Bill Gates's 4.4 million followers).

I'll admit, I had never heard of Branson before I started working for myself some years ago. I quickly found out that his status among entrepreneurs is legendary.

So what makes Sir Richard so darned likable?

Earlier this week, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that although medical marijuana is legal, employers have the power to fire workers if they fail company-sponsored drug tests. Monday’s ruling is the latest in a series of decisions around the country denying job protection to state-sanctioned medical marijuana users who medicate off-duty. More than that, the decision is significant in that it sends a message to employers across other states wrangling with adopting laws to a nascent industry that is illegal under federal law.

Small business, restaurant and retail industry groups met with Alberta's new NDP labour minister Thursday to fight against a proposed $15 minimum wage.

Premier Rachel Notley has said she plans to raise the minimum wage from $10.20 to $15 by 2018. Industry representatives warn the increase could have unintended effects on the economy.

Richard Truscott, vice-president, Alberta and British Columbia, for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said a wage increase could cut into the slim profit margins earned by small businesses.

"When you add 20 to 30 per cent in terms of overall wage costs, increase that minimum wage by almost 50 per cent for those service-based businesses, it's very hard to eat those costs," he said.