If you’re into cannabis, you’ve heard of Steve DeAngelo. He’s the Executive Director of Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the world. He was the star of Weed Wars on The Discovery Channel. And many have called him “The father of the legal cannabis industry.”

Legal marijuana sales in the United States approached $3 billion last year, according to an investment group for the cannabis industry.  Marijuana remains illegal under U.S. federal law, but the drug has been legalized for medical or recreational use in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Investors and businesses hoping to cash in gather at trade shows, like one held last week in Los Angeles.

Products were on display at the Los Angeles Convention Center, from hothouse lights and fertilizer to extractors that get oils from the cannabis plant.

Yuri Soares is chief of development effectiveness at the Multilateral Investment Fund. He holds a PhD in economics from Michigan State University and a Master's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Florida. He has worked in the United States and Brazil.

It’s risky, unproven and still illegal at the federal level, but a group of Boulder investors is betting on the cannabis industry.

They’ve launched Canopy Boulder, a mentorship and seed-stage investment program, and put up $1.2 million to shepherd 20 entrepreneurs into the new, fast-growing field of marijuana ancillary businesses and services.

The way they see it, the cannabis market is theirs for the taking. But because it’s new, there is no model to look to for guidance.

By Paul Armentano / NORML

Scientific discoveries are published almost daily rebuking the federal government’s contention that cannabis is a highly dangerous substance lacking therapeutic efficacy. But most of these findings appear primarily in obscure, peer-reviewed journals and often go unnoticed by the major media and the general public. Here are five new cannabis-centric studies that warrant mainstream attention. 

Early Onset Pot Use Isn’t Associated With Adverse Outcomes in Adulthood

You can count on one hand the number of chief executives of large companies who publicly support the legalization of marijuana. The list goes as follows: 

At the Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition last week in Los Angeles, one thing was striking: the number of women in attendance and delivering presentations was off the charts. In an industry that is just becoming organized, as more U.S. states and countries legalize the use of cannabis, women have discovered an opportunity to claim their place right at the beginning.

They're opening dispensaries, creating consumer products, lobbying for the widespread use of this demonized plant as its beneficial proprieties becomes evident. The legal cannabis market is increasingly attracting women in all aspects – and that's why Newsweek recently wrote this might be the first billion-dollar market to be dominated by women instead of men.

On The Heels of Being Named The Most Visited Site in the Cannabis Sector By Awesomepova, the Largest Medical Marijuana Delivery Service Surges Forward

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- SpeedWeed, California's largest, most experienced and fastest growing medical marijuana delivery service has entered into a strategic partnership with HelloMD, a service that connects members to doctors who can authorize their recommendation and allow them to get their legal marijuana prescription via online video consultations.  

It ain't nuthin' but a ".com" thang.

Rapper Snoop Dogg on Monday unveiled a new media company website devoted to — what else — marijuana. 

Born Calvin Broadus Jr., the music mogul and co-founder of MerryJane.com described his new online destination as "the encyclopedia to the cannabis world" during TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.

"We're providing the industry with something that's void right now," Snoop said. "We are the information hotline for cannabis. We are what's missing."