GREENS MP and agricultural spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham visited a Goolmangar rice farm yesterday to reveal his party's intention to initiate a parliamentary inquiry into hemp food, which would investigate government roadblocks that restrict NSW hemp farmers from the $1 billion international hemp food market.

"Since Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) have indicated it (hemp seed) is safe, we want to launch a parliamentary inquiry to change the legislation and regulation in an effort to get hemp food and fibre production up and running, into the marketplace, into retail outlets and into the diets of all Australians," he said.

With a wave of funding flowing into the cannabis business sector, amidst a growing wave of legalisation worldwide, are Asia-Pacific (APAC) economies and legislators missing out on the economic dividends, due to faulty assumptions on the part of legislators?

In 2014, US investors injected US$104.5 million in capital into the cannabis business (canna-business) space, acquiring stakes in cannabis and cannabis-related companies. According to the findings of New York-based research firm CB Insights,investment into the cannabis space peaked in Q4 2014,  growing at a rate of 941.5 percent when contrasted with the previous year.

Hot on the heels of landmark drug law reforms in NSW a struggling local gold prospector Capital Mining has struck a deal to reinvent itself as $25 million Australian-listed, Canada-based, medical marijuana company.

Broken Coast Cannabis will become the second legal weed business to trade on the Australian Securities Exchange.

The medical marijuana industry has boomed in North America and Europe over the past few years as more jurisdictions have legalised it, and is now a budding sector in Australia ahead of expectations for local law reform.  

"Our experience in Canada has shown us that being in the forefront of this new and fast-growing industry is key," Broken Coast Cannabis co-founder and general manager John Moeller said.

Grow Mechanics is a start-up cannabis cultivation and infused-products manufacturing company in Colorado Springs. We are committed to providing access to medical grade marijuana for responsible adult consumption, and to producing consistently potent, lab-tested marijuana and marijuana-infused products for our Colorado community. Through our company standards, practices, and quality products, we inspire ambition, expression, and consciousness throughout our Mechanics family.

At Grow Mechanics we are dedicated to pushing ourselves to be the best, and we are passionate about being a company that cares. We consistently place our energy and focus on:

An Australian mining firm has purchased a substantial stake in a Canadian medical cannabis business for cash and stock options.

Capital Mining said it paid $7 million in cash plus $25 million in stock options for 49% of Broken Coast Cannabis, one of 14 cultivators that hold a distribution license in Canada.

The mining company also will buy Cannan Growers in its entirety for $250,000 plus $1 million in stock options. Both marijuana companies are based in British Columbia.

From horticulture techniques to the best business practices of running a grow, the cultivation management symposium will bring together the best and brightest from around the country.

Join Us This March in Seattle to Discover:

• Horticulture techniques: Designing your garden harvesting and trimming techniques, outdoor and greenhouse cultivation
• Science of cultivation: Genetics, breeding, strain creation, soil science, testing and treatment techniques
• Sustainability: Organic cultivation, “greening” your corporate grow, waste management
• Operational efficiency: Securing your grow, building and managing a team, quality control, operations management

Who you will meet at the show:

Convincing investors that your startup is worthy of their dollars is no easy task. With funding capital scarce and the ranks of companies seeking investment legion, your firm needs to beat out plenty of competition to win the favour of venture capitalists. But it’s not enough to have a better product or service than your rivals. Flaws in your strategy or execution could also cost you a chance at funding.

Want a stake in the medical marijuana business but missed out on getting a coveted state license? You might not be too late.

Weed businesses that scored licenses to grow in Illinois are looking for investors.

But if the chance to get in on the ground floor of what’s already a $2.7 billion industry in the United States sounds too good to be true, insiders say the tiny number of patients so far permitted to use marijuana in Illinois is causing them sleepless nights.

They’re looking for tens of millions of dollars in financing to build marijuana farms — and to keep running while hoping the state will loosen its restrictions on who can use the drug.

The growing legalization of cannabis in the United States is forcing Mexico's drug cartels to rethink their illicit business model, turning to opium poppy plantations and domestic pot consumption, experts say.

Americans have been legally allowed to light up joints in the US capital since late last month, joining Washington state and Alaska, while Oregon will follow suit in July.

A total of 23 US states have legalized the drug for medical use, and opinion polls show that a slim majority of Americans favor legalization.

The changes in the world's biggest drug market appear to have prompted the criminal organizations producing narcotics in Mexico to switch strategies.

A pioneer of Colorado’s medical marijuana industry is leaving the state for greener pastures – in New York.

Josh Stanley, who helped get legislation passed to legalize marijuana and opened the Peace in Medicine Center, Denver’s first medical marijuana dispensary, said he’ll completely relocate to New York.

He plans on opening four medical marijuana clinics and two marijuana farms there.

“I got tired of looking in the paper and seeing ads for joints,” Stanley said. “You see companies getting in on the ‘Green Rush’ … They’re peddling dope.”

Stanley said he wants to focus on cannabis-based pharmaceuticals.