How potent is pot? This seemingly basic question is a serious one for state marijuana industries and the agencies that regulate them. Last week, the Colorado Department of Revenue—the state's marijuana regulatory agency—released a report on equivalency, potency, and dosing that offered important answers to that question. In the process, the study also engaged another critical aspect of marijuana products: equivalency in composition. That is, how much marijuana does it take to produce the items demanded at market: flower, edibles, concentrates, tinctures, etc.

After waiting in line for hours at a booth during a medical marijuana convention in San Francisco, Jeff Harrington needed only a two-minute consultation and a written recommendation to become a medical marijuana patient in California. He now can legally purchase and possess marijuana from any one of thousands of marijuana businesses in the state.

Across the country in Connecticut, an established physician-patient relationship is required before patients are deemed qualified for medical marijuana, and only licensed pharmacists can own and operate dispensaries.

DENVER, CO (August 20, 2015) – Cannabis Trainers, a Denver-based provider of training and certification programs for the legal cannabis industry, is the first state-approved Responsible Vendor Program Provider under a new Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division initiative with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment​.

Cannabis Trainers Founder & Chief Facilitator Maureen McNamara worked with Division leaders to shape the state’s responsible vendor training guidelines. Her company’s Sell-SMaRT™ program is the first to be approved as a Responsible Vendor Program.

State has 21 days to file a response

Several people on Wednesday filed a complaint in Denver District Court against the Colorado Board of Health's decision in July not to add post-traumatic stress disorder to medical conditions that can be treated under the state's medical marijuana program.

The complaint lists Curtis Bean, Larisa Bolivar, Stephen Otero, Matthew Kahl and Zach Phillips as plaintiffs in the case. They are asking that a judge overturn the board's ruling. Several are military veterans, and one is a survivor of sexual and physical abuse.

AURORA, Colo., Aug. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Dude's Brews, the packaged-beer arm of Dad & Dude's Breweria, (6730 S Cornerstar Way in Cornerstar Shopping Center) has announced a successful campaign to bring CBD-rich, cannabis-infused, beer to the US market.

Canna-Beer Series will be released starting fall 2015 with a sneak peek available during the 2015 Great American Beer Festival. The line of beers will be heavily dosed with cannabidoil extracted from the cannabis plant. The first beers to be introduced under the Canna-Beer series line are SATIVA IPA and INDICA DOUBLE IPA.  

DENVER — Every month, Jamie Perino hires a security detail to come to her three recreational marijuana dispensaries. They stop by, collect thousands of dollars in cash and head out to deliver the money to the state, county and city.

Perino, the CEO of Euflora dispensaries, said she can't find a bank that will work with her. She pays her employees and her landlord in cash. She can only accept cash from customers. She must even pay her taxes in cash.

"I can't bank my money," she said. "It's really frustrating. … When I go to pay my federal taxes, you get a 10 percent penalty for paying in cash, but we can't have a bank account. So it's just a big Catch-22."

The Colorado Cannabis Ranch is a lot like a vineyard: you can tour the grounds, take in the views, enjoy a farm-to-table meal, and maybe even hear some live music. But, unlike a winery, you can also step into the on-site dispensary to buy a little of the green stuff.

Marijuana tax revenue supports Colorado public schools

It’s been a year and a half since the legalization of marijuana went into effect in Colorado. Business for purveyors of marijuana was good from the beginning, but has soared in the past year, according to data collected by the Colorado Department of Revenue.

The state collected $9.7 million in taxes related to marijuana sales in June 2015, up nearly $5 million from the same month last year. By May, the state had collected more than $88 million in marijuana taxes in 2015.

DENVER — Colorado’s successful experiment in marijuana legalization is bringing in millions of dollars of revenue per month while simultaneously benefiting schools and contributing to a drop in crime rates.

Colorado reached over $50 million dollars in recreational cannabis sales in June, breaking the state’s previous record, according to Ricardo Baca, a staff writer for Denver Post’s The Cannabist. In addition, medical sales reached $25 million.

Based on the state’s various taxes on marijuana sales, Baca reports that the state has earned over $60 million dollars in marijuana tax revenue so far this year.

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Surna, Inc. (OTCQB: SRNA), a technology company that engineers state-of-the-art equipment for controlled environment agriculture ("CEA") with expertise in cannabis cultivation, announced today that three new members have been added to Surna's board of directors including Stephen and Brandy Keen, co-founders of Hydro Innovations, LLC, and Morgan Paxhia, Founding Partner and Managing Director for Poseidon Asset Management.