It’s a category that used to begin and end with the bone-dry pot brownie, served in a college dorm room. Laurie Wolf is a leader in its gourmet revolution.

The ambitious Democrat has put herself at odds with the US attorney general’s call for harsher drug policies – and it’s just the start of her plans.

In February, the newly-appointed US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, indicated he backed a hardline stance against marijuana. 

Also that month, the top prosecutor in the country’s third-most populous county announced that possession of small amounts of the drug would be decriminalised in the Houston, Texas, area.

“Cannabis is the next great American industry,” says Troy Dayton. As CEO of Arcview Group, Dayton works with over 650 high-net-worth investors who have poured more than $100 million into cannabis-related startups since 2010.

He calls early investors in the burgeoning marijuana industry “pioneers” who are hoping to stake their claims in the Green Rush.

Revenues from the US marijuana industry are expected to mushroom from $6.7 billion in 2016 to over $21 billion by 2021, according to Arcview Group research. Dayton predicts that explosive growth will happen, whether or not President Trump cracks down on legalized marijuana.

Just because toking up is legal in some states, doesn't mean that people aren't still enjoying their booze.

When legalization started to push its way through, some people were a little worried, especially those who made their living selling alcohol. Would everyone start to smoke weed and ditch one of America's favored pastimes: getting loaded off booze? 

Given how hush-hush people have been in the past about consuming cannabis, nobody could say for sure how many would partake, and if anything would change post-legalization. Turns out, people like getting high, and they also like getting drunk. Who knew?

April 20 is World Marijuana Day.

It's just over two years since Jamaica decriminalised small quantities. And Canada was set yesterday to announce what's likely to be a bolder experiment.

So what has changed, and what hasn't?

The big change in Jamaica is for small-scale users. Possession of up to two ounces is no longer a criminal offence. You can grow up to five plants at home. And smoking in public is a minor matter, with a fine equivalent to TT$25.

For perhaps a few hundred-thousand Jamaicans those reforms make a huge difference. They remove the daily risk of arrest, prison, a substantial fine—and a criminal record which blocks some employment or a US visa.

The San Jacinto City Council meeting April 4 in a public hearing on a proposed marijuana cultivation ordinance brought strong emotional debate between marijuana cultivators, those opposed and a member of the city council.

The continued public hearing on Ordinance 17-02 that is meant to regulate the establishment of commercial marijuana cultivation in the light industrial zone of the city has been an emotional issue before the council since the passage of Proposition 64. Proposition 64 allows the limited cultivation and use of recreational marijuana.

Fiery rhetoric on marijuana legalization from Attorney General Jeff Sessions is prompting some states to preemptively act to limit federal power over local pot laws.

“They could start issuing a bunch of threat letters, they could begin raiding and arresting people in various states,” Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Majority, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “While those things are definitely scary and would ruin any number of people’s lives and careers, that’s not going to stop the momentum in the industry.”

This vast and fertile valley is often called the salad bowl of the nation for the countless heads of lettuce growing across its floor. Now California’s marijuana industry is laying claim to a new slogan for the valley: America’s cannabis bucket.

After years of marijuana being cultivated in small plots out of sight from the authorities, California cannabis is going industrial.

Over the past year, dilapidated greenhouses in the Salinas Valley, which were built for cut flower businesses, have been bought up by dozens of marijuana entrepreneurs, who are growing pot among the fields of spinach, strawberries and wine grapes.

Ty Nero thinks new pot legislation tabled by the federal government will make people feel more comfortable when they're shopping at his business.

Nero owns Treehouse Lifestyle Supplies in Regina, a head shop that provides customers with access to tobacco products such as pipes and bongs — though they are commonly used for marijuana instead.

Nero thinks the legislation might mean more people start taking an interest in marijuana in general. Already, he said he's noticed more and more people walking into the shop who are new to pot.

"The stigma is going away slowly," Nero said of marijuana use. "It's just propaganda in the first place, it's not bad — anything can be abused. As long as you don't abuse it, it's fine."