April 20 (4/20)  is nearly (eight days!) upon us and that means it’s time for the cannabis community to celebrate its national high holiday.

From smokey concerts to peaceful park smoke-outs, there’s never a shortage of 4/20 celebrations in the air. But this year brings a new, special kind of celebration coming from the East Coast in the form of a “Unity Torch.”

Los Angeles' green rush started 10 years ago, when entrepreneurs opened the doors of hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries. Not everyone was on board.

Many of my firm’s cannabis clients are raising money right now. Out-of-state investors looking for a place to deploy capital are looking hard at Oregon (which recently abolished residency requirements to participate in its cannabis industry), and some are already starting to lay the groundwork for pending recreational legalization in Nevada and California. Even more established markets, like Washington and Colorado, are seeing an uptick in corporate entities trying to bring in new money.

California’s first Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation chief says she has no personal experience with cannabis.

In February, California Gov. Jerry Brown named the former chief deputy director of the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Lori Ajax, as the state’s first medical marijuana czar.

In a recent interview with Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times, Ajax revealed that she actually has no personal experience with cannabis.

Kush Research has announced a social media and branding partnership with The Cannabis Marketing Lab, the cannabis industry’s premier digital marketing firm. The partnership will assist Kush Research in expanding awareness of its cannabis and hemp-based medicinal supplements throughout the United States.

“With the help of The Cannabis Marketing Lab, we can raise awareness of the health benefits of cannabis and hemp and particularly our revolutionary supplements,” said Kim Kendrick, CEO/President of Kush Research. “Our goal is to continue to transform the way people think about the natural remedies that cannabis offers, and in working together with TCML we can push this debate to the forefront of the cannabis industry.”

Keith McCarty had already given his parents plenty of reason to be proud of their only son.

In 2012, a technology company he helped build was bought by Microsoft for $1.2 billion. At 26, the Orange native was sitting pretty.

So later that year, when McCarty met his parents in a local taco shop to tell them about the first tech company he was launching on his own, expectations were high.

McCarty said his company would be called Eaze, and it would be an on-demand health care service that connects medical marijuana patients with deliveries from local dispensaries.

With a couple of taps on a smartphone, he explained, patients could order buds or edibles for discreet delivery in 20 minutes or less – much like calling for a ride from Uber.

Americans are more supportive of marijuana legalization than ever before, and that support has led to 23 states passing medical marijuana laws and another four states legalizing recreational marijuana use. In November, voters in states including California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Nevada could weigh in on the issue too. With advocates ramping up their efforts to win support for marijuana legalization in these states, let's take a closer look.

As is the case with humans, pets suffer side effects — including liver and kidney damage — from the medication they’re prescribed. But L.A. veterinarian Dr. Tim Shu says there’s a safe alternative for some of these prescriptions: medical marijuana.

The marijuana extract Shu created for pets, called VETCBD, is meant for animals suffering from arthritis, separation and travel anxiety, appetite loss, seizures and chronic pain. VETCBD is made from cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive extract of marijuana. In other words, pets can’t get high — and, according to Shu, the side effects are almost non-existent.

This has to be the first time Wayne, Garth, Cheech, Chong, Craig and Smokey have shared a museum wall.

Yes, the Oakland Museum of California has gone to pot, devoting its entire Great Hall gallery to an exhaustive, high-profile exhibition titled, "Altered State: Marijuana in California," which opens Saturday.

But far more than pot pop culture, the exhibit weeds through every imaginable aspect of the complex issue -- from medical claims and the "War on Drugs" of the '80s, to recreational use, conflicting laws, economics, environmental concerns, sacred uses of the plant and, yes, even stoner movies like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."