The former Douglas County biology teacher used to spend his weekdays cleaning beakers, grading quizzes and thinking up creative ways to teach the Krebs Cycle.

Now, Cullen and his business partner, Ralph Morgan, are the heads of a burgeoning retail empire that boasts 47 employees, about 55,000 square feet of industrial space across the metro region and more than $8 million in annual revenue.

“And here ensue all the ‘Breaking Bad’ jokes,” Cullen said with a bashful laugh.

No Pollos Hermanos, here, however.

SILVERTHORNE — Upstairs at the Bud+Breakfast, the hosts had laid out a fine buffet. Half-eaten store-bought pizzas sat on the stove and the kitchen counter, along with a barely-touched tray of crudité. More importantly, the offerings included five different strains of marijuana, as well as an array of clean pipes and mini-bongs that would make any collector jealous.

It was 4:20 p.m. Happy hour had arrived.

A sliding glass door opened to a long porch and a tremendous view of the peaks surrounding Silverthorne, Colorado. It was a perfect place to hork a fatty, puff a vape pen or eat a THC-infused peach candy ring.

AYDEN — Commercial marijuana growers will be able to apply to operate in Hayden, a northern Colorado town about 25 miles west of Steamboat Springs.

The Steamboat Pilot & Today reports the council voted 6-1 to approve rules and regulations for commercial growers, despite opponents outnumbering supporters almost 2 to 1 in speaking at a Thursday night council meeting.

Councilman Dallas Robinson was the only no vote. He said the council was being misled by “easy money” and that pot grows in Hayden would negatively impact the community’s kids.

Like it or not, the cannabis industry has arrived.

One of the industry’s leading marketing gurus told a business networking group in Centennial last Thursday that regulation has made Colorado’s growing cannabis market a success — at least for now.

The Opportunity Coalition, which sponsors forums for business owners and entrepreneurs to connect, brought Dixie Elixir’s marketing chief Joe Hodas to discuss the growth of the industry in Colorado.

A lawsuit Nebraska and Oklahoma filed against Colorado last year in the U.S. Supreme Court over the Centennial State’s legalization of marijuana is flawed, a legal scholar who is an expert on federalism and drug laws said at an event in Seattle on Tuesday.

A dozen Florida State lawmakers are joining thousands of others in Seattle this week to talk policy, and legalized marijuana is on the lips of many in a state that saw legal marijuana sales begin a year ago.

Washington believes it is collecting taxes on just 10 percent of the marijuana used in the state, partly because medical marijuana is untaxed and unregulated.

Legal marijuana sales began in Colorado 18 months ago. Since then, tourism is up 14 percent.

While Coloradans say the increase is due to a lot of things, K.C. Becker represents the Boulder area and went to Seattle to share the Colorado experience.

New York’s medical cannabis program made a major announcement, Minnesota patients are pinching pennies to get their medicine, the governor of Wyoming is looking at legalization, and if you’re a Canadian patient, your wallet might be getting a break soon. Here’s what’s happening in the cannabis world – are you informed?

U.S. Cannabis Updates

COLORADO

DENVER, CO (KDVR/CNN) - Grow4Vets has been handing out cannabis to military veterans for a year in Colorado.

But the state's medical board has just ruled not to recognize marijuana as a treatment for PTSD.

High There! a cannabis-sharing social network teamed up with Grow4Vets to host an impromptu rally on their Save a Million Vets Tour.

“Now we've created a tour around the country called the Save a Million Vets Tour," Co-founder and CEO of High There! Todd Mitchem said.

Veterans lined up early in Rino's Taxi district, most wearing their colors, letting folks know where they served.

Mitchem came up with the first social sharing network for cannabis users. Now he is partnering with Grow4Vets, helping vets get medication.

Four business owners missed the July 31 review deadline and now the county will give four new people a shot

Dave DeZutter from the firm Eide Bailly pulls a ticket for the lottery to see which applicant could apply for a license to open a marijuana dispensary on Jan. 27, 2015 at Adams County Government Center in in Brighton. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post file )