The push for legalization—particularly farming—is being hampered by in a number of ways.

I finally escaped Washington, D.C., last month, arriving by car with my girlfriend as new residents of Seattle early this month.

I've welcomed most of the changes I've seen here—apart from the Lenin Statue near our apartment. The traffic is lighter. The food is better. The people are nicer. The neighborhoods are more walkable. The mountains are beautiful. Most politicians and bureaucrats are further away.

Since passage of Proposition 64 in California last November, my firm has been getting calls nearly non-stop about what it takes to secure a license to operate a marijuana business in the City of Los Angeles. Some are asking me about “buying” a Proposition D-compliant dispensary now to secure a California retail cannabis license from the state in the future.

A study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory revealed that legal indoor marijuana-growing operations are highly energy intensive, and are responsible for an alarming percentage of the nation's total energy use. In California, the top-producing state, indoor cultivation uses about 3% of all electricity use.

A single cannabis cigarette represents 1.5 kg (3 pounds) of CO2 emissions, an amount equal to driving a fuel efficient hybrid car 22 miles, or keeping a 100-watt light bulb on 24-hours a day.

This energy use can account for as much as 50% of a grower's total overhead, and is detrimental to the environment – taking the "green" out of the growing marijuana industry.

With the November 2016 passage of Proposition 64, the marijuana industry found validation from the largest state in the nation. Now, the state is scrambling to create regulations for the $7 billion industry as the January 1, 2018, deadline approaches.

“We’re building the airplane while it’s being flown,” state Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat representing Healdsburg, said, notes the San Francisco Chronicle. “I believe some departments will be fully operational by January 2018 but, if we’re being honest, it’s going to be difficult to get everything done by then.”

For many buzz seekers, coffee and cannabis go together like cream and sugar, or Cheech and Chong.

The hits just keep coming for City College of San Francisco, which earlier this month retained its accreditation for the next seven years and recently received a $9 million earmark from the Board of Supervisors to fund free tuition for city residents.

The sandwich baggie brimming with buds is gradually becoming a thing of the past in California. In its place, an era of name-brand marijuana is emerging.

Celebrities — including actress Whoopi Goldberg, rapper Snoop Dogg, rocker Melissa Etheridge and the family of reggae legend Bob Marley — are branding their own herb. Law firms have sprouted to help marijuana sellers brand their goods. Pretty packages of cannabis-infused products bear labels like “Highland Pantry” (almond butter), “Madame Munchie” (cookies) and “Sweet ReLeaf” (skin cream).

Take a closer look at the County Board of Supervisors vote to decide the fate of almost 1,000 registered grows.

The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors will meet on Tuesday to decide the fate of commercial and personal cannabis cultivation in the county. Specifically, it will decide to either immediately adopt a ban measure which recently gained enough support for a vote, or it will choose to let the ban go to a special election in the spring.

At a school career day event recently, a few students approached San Joaquin Delta College horticulture instructor Michael Toscano and asked him, in so many words: "Can you teach me how to grow marijuana?"

They were serious, he said. With the passage of Proposition 64 last November legalizing recreational marijuana use, a brand-new industry will emerge in the years to come with legitimate jobs for those willing to learn.

Which is why Toscano is now unofficially marketing some of the classes he teaches at Delta as learning opportunities for those who want a future in the pot business.

The “Green Rush” may have already started, but it’s not too late to grab a seat on the emerald entrepreneurial wagon.

Such were the sentiments expressed by some guest speakers at Hacker Lab’s startup expo Thursday night, focusing on tech and the marijuana industry. Recent numbers from the University of Pacific indicate the region could benefit significantly from the cannabis industry.