Almost all small-business owners dream of the day when they can expand nationally. This has proved to be a unique challenge for those in the marijuana industry because the products they create are illegal under federal law, and the checkerboard of states that permit marijuana sales have complex and constantly changing regulations.

Dixie Brands, a company in Denver that creates drinks and other products using marijuana, is aiming to navigate those hurdles and become one of the first companies in the industry to build a national presence.

Is Big Weed on the way? Now that California, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts have legalized recreational marijuana, investors should expect the explosion of a major new industry which could have a major economic impact on America.

One main reason why the potential in recreational marijuana is so great is that, until Colorado and Washington legalized cannabis in 2012 (Oregon and Alaska legalized it later), there was no legitimate industry in the country to speak of. By virtue of being legalized — and in particularly in a state as large, and with as vibrant an agricultural sector, as California — the recreational marijuana industry has now created a solid foundation for itself and its own ground floor.

After November 8, 20% of Americans now live in states that have voted to allow recreational marijuana use. 

Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, and California have now joined Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and the District of Columbia in voting for initiatives that make it legal for adults to consume cannabis.  And several states joined the 25 that already allow for medical use of marijuana — the most notable addition being Florida, with a broad medical marijuana law that will allow doctors to recommend cannabis for a wide variety of conditions.

As California, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts appear set to join the growing list of states that have legalized recreational pot, one of B.C.’s biggest medical marijuana producers is seeing big opportunities in the American market.

After there were several successful ballot initiatives south of the border this week, B.C. will soon be the only West Coast jurisdiction between the Bering Sea and Tijuana where toking up is still restricted to medical use. But the people behind Tilray, the federally licensed cannabis production facility on Vancouver Island, aren’t concerned about losing their edge to rivals south of the border when Canada eventually legalizes pot.

When California voters approved Proposition 64 on Tuesday, the basic idea was simple: a majority of people in America’s most populous state believe that adults should be able to consume marijuana if they feel like it, like a glass of wine at 5 o’clock. But the details of the proposition, which stretches more than 60 pages, are complicated.

TIME spoke to Amanda Reiman, the Drug Policy Alliance’s manager of marijuana law and policy, to talk about what people should know.

What happened on Tuesday?

Canada's effort to craft a legalized marijuana regime could be boosted by the move of four more U.S. states to approve recreational use of the drug, says a Halifax law professor.

As it designs a new system, the Liberal government must address the fact Canada is a signatory to three international conventions that require criminalization of the production and possession of cannabis.

The nod this week to recreational pot use from voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada should give Canada more ammunition in the court of global legal opinion, said Archie Kaiser, a professor in the schools of law and medicine at Dalhousie University.

It seems that Canada may be part of an emerging consensus," Kaiser said in an interview.

The year of 2016 may go down as a watershed for weed, the election when legalization shifted from being an experiment in the American West to something primed for the mainstream.

Nine states voted on marijuana-related measures—four related to medical marijuana and five to recreational—and as of late Tuesday evening, seven of them passed. One failed and one remained pending. The upshot is that more than half of the states in the U.S. now have comprehensive medical marijuana laws and roughly one fifth of the population lives in a place where adults 21 and older can legally consume weed for fun.

27.9% of respondents aged between 15-64 have used the drug.

Cannabis is the most popular illegal drug in Ireland, according to a report published earlier today.

The information was released after a joint study by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACDA) and the Public Health Information and Research Branch of the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.

Cannabis remains the most commonly used illegal drug with 27.9% of respondents aged 15-64 having ever used the drug.

However, there was a significant drop in pyschoactive substances with a 2.7% drop from 2010/11 figures to 0.8%.

Will Donald Trump turn over a new leaf for the cannabis industry?

Arguably the oddest election of our times is now in the books. The voters have spoken, and the 45th president of the United States will be Donald Trump. This election was bound to be historic no matter who won, but it'll now be remembered as the point in history where Trump becomes the first person without any prior political or military background to ascend to the Oval Office.

Arizona's ballot measure to legalize marijuana trailed in early election results, and final unofficial tallies showed voters saying "no" to Proposition 205.

The race — which pitted business interests against the legal medical-marijuana industry backed by a pro-legalization group, the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project — echoed the 2010 effort to legalize medical marijuana, which narrowly prevailed. The tally of complete results was likely to take several days.

Republicans gathered at a downtown Phoenix hotel cheered the early results that showed Proposition 205 down.