Smaller industrial buildings that are home to warehouses and distribution centers might lack gee-whiz architectural appeal, and they're often in nondescript parts of town where restaurants and other amenities are few and far between.

But they're perfect for the medical marijuana industry, whose appetite for smaller industrial buildings has made them a hot commodity.

Unlike Denver and Pueblo, Colorado Springs and El Paso County have banned recreational marijuana grow operations and sales, but they allow medical marijuana sales, cultivation and manufacturing.

Denver, the Mile High City, has seen a spike in tourists booking flights and hotels as it prepares for the annual "420" celebration. In part April 20 celebrates marijuana becoming legal in Colorado in 2014.

April 20 has become a red later day for marijuana smokers primarily in North America. Some events on that day promote the legalization of cannabis.  

Last year was Denver's first 420 celebration. Even though it occurred on Easter Sunday, tens of thousands of tourists helped to create a cloud of marijuana smoke above the city.

Weed has gone public.

A social network platform for cannabis users, MassRoots, on April 9 secured the first initial public offering for any company with ties to the marijuana industry. The 2-year-old Denver-based startup is valued at $45 million, with stock now traded publicly through the OTC Markets Group marketplace at 10 cents per share.

DENVER — While federal law makes their entire industry illegal, many marijuana store owners, growers and retailers fear something completely different: Big Tobacco.

Today, most legal recreational marijuana operations are small, limited to a single state and barred from ever getting large by regulators who want to keep a close eye on the fast-growing industry. But those small operators struggle to get bank loans for expansion, often produce an inconsistent product and sometimes have no idea how to balance supply and demand for their crops.

Don’t accuse Denver City Council at-large candidate Kayvan Khalatbari of getting lost in the crowd. If there’s one thing he knows how to do, it’s stand out — this time, on a pizza box.

Khalatbari, 31, has been harnessing the natural delivery system of one of several businesses he co-owns — Sexy Pizza, which has three locations in central Denver neighborhoods — by affixing campaign fliers to pizza boxes before they’re sent out to customers.

Khalatbari says he printed 5,000 campaign fliers for the pizza boxes, enough to last about two weeks at the pizza shops. The piece pictures Khalatbari under the words “I’m a real person.”

The Uber of medical cannabis delivery has arrived, and the venerable accelerator Y Combinator has given its rubber stamp of approval. Meadow, a San Francisco-based startup, allows card-holding medical marijuana patients to browse different types of cannabis from nearby dispensaries and place an order, and within an hour the goods will be delivered to the patient's door.

If you don't have a medical marijuana card, you can schedule an in-home consultation with one of the doctors Meadow has partnered with and get a recommendation to use medical cannabis.

The popular explanation for medical marijuana dispensaries that have popped up in states from Washington to New York is that marijuana is a wonder drug — treating not just nausea and lack of appetite, but also pain, anxiety, epileptic seizures, and the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia.

The federal government refuses to allow people to use it, proponents say. 

The story, however, isn’t quite so simple.

AURORA, COLORADO -- Sweet Leaf, a marijuana store in this Denver suburb, doesn't look like much from, the outside. Windows are blocked. A sign on the door announces that only people 21 and older can come in.

Inside, visitors are greeted with crisp, white walls splashed with cheery magenta polka dots. Jay Z provides the soundtrack. The shop hums from the time it opens at 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. when employees turn away customers still waiting to get in. On a recent afternoon, each of the dozen or so chairs in the waiting room was taken.

Sweet Leaf is a chain of five marijuana shops in the Denver area. The company includes a large scale marijuana grow operation and a mix of recreational and medical marijuana outlets.

DENVER (AP) - A court decision upholding the conviction of a Colorado doctor who recommended marijuana could have major implications for how the state treats physicians who frequently suggest the drug.

The Colorado Court of Appeals maintained the conviction of Dr. Joseph Robert Montante, who was sentenced to a month in jail for recommending pot without first conducting the exams required by law.

Montante challenged his conviction and Colorado’s guidelines for determining when doctors have a “bona fide doctor-patient relationship” and aren’t just writing pot recommendations to anyone who asks.

Colorado Cannabis Tours has announced a new partnership with marijuana culture icon Tommy Chong. Over the past year, the marijuana tourism scene has steadily grown throughout Colorado. As Colorado’s largest city, Denver has become the epicenter of marijuana culture. As one of the first available Marijuana Tours in Denver, Colorado Cannabis Tours has taken a big leap forward with their new Tommy Chong promotion to commemorate the 2nd Annual 4/20 celebration since recreational marijuana was legalized in Colorado on January 1, 2014.