As a European, it’s been exhilarating to watch how the cannabis industry is sweeping across the U.S. The new brands, technology, science, culture, and great products are awe-inspiring. As much as I would love things to follow the same path here in Europe, I just can’t help but feel that things are not going to.

A Winding Road

This year marks the 20th anniversary of marijuana receiving its first state-level approval, when California gave cannabis the green light with Proposition 215. Since that 1996 approval, cannabis has spread like a weed, gaining legalization into other states and giving both patients and consumers hope that they would soon have access to both medical and recreational marijuana.

As we look at the marijuana industry today, a number of amazing facts and figures stand out. As objective observers, and investors, let's take a closer look at nine fast facts about marijuana, including one telling statistic.

1. 24 states have legalized medical marijuana

With films like "Superbad" and "Pineapple Express" on his resume, Seth Rogen easily one of the reigning kings of today's brand of stoner comedies, so it would be understandable if he found the current wave of marijuana legalization around the U.S. troubling from a creative perspective. But Rogen tells CBS News that he's far from worried about the implications of a more pot-friendly culture.

You're one of the vanguards of modern stoner comedy, if that's not too hoity-toity.

[Laughs.] I'll take it.

As society has been progressing, how do you see marijuana's place in comedy changing?

Local dispensaries are pulling pot products from their shelves with yet another batch of recalls hitting cannabis wholesalers statewide. The latest, a voluntary recall by Avicenna Products, affects more than 80,000 concentrates — including wax, budder and vape pen cartridges — that were found to contain traces of pesticides. 

The company announced on May 13 that samples of the products contained residual levels of Myclobutanil, Imidacloprid, Spiromesifin and/or Etoxazole — all pesticides the Colorado Department of Agriculture determined cannot be used legally on marijuana. 

A wave of recent polls shows that majorities of voters in five states, and a majority nationwide, support legalizing medical marijuana. Many voters also support legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

Eighty percent of Florida’s registered voters would support a state constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana. While support drops when voters are asked about recreational use, the issue still garners a majority with 56 percent for it and 41 percent against.

When Jim McCann, the CEO of 1-800-Flowers, admits that he is concerned about his supply chain now that many flower growers are tempted by the huge potential from growing cannabis, you know this is an industry greenhouse growers need to pay attention to. On Fox News show Morning with Maria, McCann expressed particular concern about large growers in California, Colorado and Oregon who are already considering ‘Maybe I can switch to cannabis and get 10 times on the revenue line.’ “That’s a big concern of ours.”

A review of costs associated with the 420 marijuana protest event last month showed that it cost the city nearly $150,000.

A joint release from the city of Vancouver, the Vancouver park board and Vancouver park on Wednesday said that the unsanctioned, illegal marijuana events at Sunset Beach Park and the Vancouver Art Gallery on April 20 showed that additional resources were required to ensure the public’s safety because of the organizers’ decision to hold events at the two locations.

Costs included $99,400 for police, $24,000 for the park board, $13,600 for streets and sanitation, $6,900 for Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, and $4,100 for traffic, special events and emergency management.

The war on marijuana continues even at mid-point of 2016 – the year that California voters will end the marijuana prohibition in the state. While California voters get set to vote to legalize the recreational use of pot, there are good signs and bad signs around the state as the Pot Wars continue.

Right now, a majority of Californians favor legalization.

When Colorado voted to legalize recreational marijuana four years ago, one of the move's chief critics was Gov. John Hickenlooper.

The moderate Democrat said that if he could "wave a magic wand" to reverse the decision, he would. Then he called voters "reckless" for approving it in the first place, a remark he later downgraded to "risky."

“Colorado is known for many great things,” Hickenlooper said. “Marijuana should not be one of them.”

But the governor’s views have softened. During a recent panel discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, he said that despite opposing the legalization of pot, his job was to “deliver on the will of the people of Colorado.”

Why the change?