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.

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."

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.

An Edmonton woman says her decision to smoke a synthetic drug to beat her employer's drug tests created a two-year addiction that ruined her financially and nearly killed her.

The drug is one of several that are illegal to market as cannabis alternatives, but until recently were sold openly in some head shops and convenience stores as incense, and labelled “not for human consumption”.

While recent police raids may have driven sales in Canada underground, the synthetic cannabinoids are still available on the internet.

"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," said the woman.

While head shops may no longer be selling synthetic cannabinoids such as 'Spice' openly, the same drugs are widely available on the internet. (CBC)

LAS VEGAS -- The owner of what's being called a marijuana delivery service business was arrested Wednesday night, Metro Police said.

The SCORE Taskforce found dozens of guns, marijuana and packaging in 36-year-old Christopher McDermott's home located in the 8300 block of Mount Logan Ct.

The packaging was similar to what was found earlier during a raid at the Super Budz business located in the 1900 block of Highland Avenue.

According to police, they served the warrant because they received multiple complaints about the business from neighboring stores in the area.

Rob Rusher: GrowBuddy

What a man like Rob Rusher, founder of GrowBuddy, is doing is that he’s revolutionizing something that has been in practice for decades upon decades. He is an expert in the field of user experience and making it so that software is a tool that increases efficiency and expands the boundaries of what’s possible. This is his expertise and this is what Rob has brought to growers and cultivators in the legal cannabis industry – A new way to journal and document growth. He’s passionate, inspiring, and we loved seeing just how he plans to shake everything up a bit!

What was the deciding factor for you to join this particular industry?

The Canadian Medical Marijuana experience for investors has for the most part been a tremendous letdown thus far. When Tweed Marijuana Inc. (TSX.V:TWD) lost 10 percent on its first day open of $3.32, and as of Friday last week accumulated a total YTD loss of 41 percent, the writing was on the wall.

Of course, that does not apply to insiders and early stage investors. Tweed founders paid as little as $0.15 a share, and their instant wealth came at the direct expense of retail investors.

But that is the game, and anybody who cries about it has no business investing in it.

WASHINGTON—Ann Lee, a Republican precinct chairman in southwest Houston, had her first marijuana epiphany around her 60th birthday.

A workplace fall paralyzed her son Richard from the waist down. When he began to use marijuana to treat his pain, she decided her lifelong opposition to the drug was wrong.

Her second epiphany came after her 80th birthday. NORML, the marijuana advocacy group, invited her to be part of a five-person panel discussion at a conference in 2012. “As we all talked,” she says, “we realized that three of us were Republicans!”