Reports out of Washington state last week confirmed what many suspected but few had publicly acknowledged: Colorado’s cannabis pesticide problem isn’t just Colorado’s problem. It exists in every state. 

BOULDER, Colorado — It was week three for the new class at CanopyBoulder, the first seed-stage business accelerator focused squarely on the cannabis industry, and on this sunny Tuesday afternoon, CanopyBoulder managing director Micah Tapman was giving the 10 nascent marijuana companies chosen for the program a lesson in making personal connections.

A few days earlier, a major businessman in the Colorado marijuana industry had given a presentation at the accelerator. But after the talk, hardly any of the program participants had introduced themselves to their guest. Considering that individual is worth millions, that was the wrong move, said Tapman.

Colorado, already a national leader in hemp cultivation, is pushing forward with a plan to certify seed, in part to ensure THC levels, the active ingredient in marijuana, do not exceed legal levels.

“We’ve always felt that if hemp is going to be an agricultural crop, it has to be treated like a mainstream agricultural crop. The grower needs to know what he is getting,” said Duane Sinning, assistant director of the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Division of Plant Industry.

To be classified as industrial, hemp may contain no more than 0.3 percent THC. If hemp farmers inadvertently plant seeds that create higher THC levels in plants, those crops have to be destroyed, Sinning said.

On March 16, 2016, Comprehensive Cannabis Consulting, a cannabis consultancy and author of Cannabis Benchmarks, announced that it predicts there will be a cannabis shortage in Colorado and Oregon due to noncompliant cannabis being removed from circulation for contamination and residual pesticides.

Moving the black market in marijuana into the light has been a boon for state tax coffers, entrepreneurs and cannabis users, but an inconvenient fact went unaddressed in the process: Potentially dangerous chemicals are used to grow it. 

That changed last fall, when a Colorado newspaper’s investigation found shelves stocked with products grown using pesticides that hadn’t been approved for cannabis farming, spurring a rush of legal, regulatory and business activity. 

Since then, states have quickly drawn up regulations, companies have seen their products and methods put under the microscope — sometimes taking big hits to their businesses — and cannabis product and pesticide buyers have filed lawsuits against their manufacturers. 

The largest annual event of the marijuana industry drew local backlash from elected officials in Colorado and is moving to California.

Marijuana might be legal in Colorado, but the industry still has battles to fight.

After trouble obtaining a permit in Denver, High Times magazine is moving its annual U.S. Cannabis Cup over the 4/20 holiday to San Bernardino, California.

As commercial marijuana grows in Colorado continue to receive plant quarantines and product recalls over the use of potentially harmful pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, one industry group is trying to set up a way to ensure safe growing practices. The Organic Cannabis Association's pesticide-free certification program will test participating grows for residuals of harmful pesticides and award scores based on the products used at the grow.

"We view cannabis producers as just another set of farmers," says John-Paul Maxfield, chairman of the OCA. "This is our first step toward building a larger organic certification."

Shaleen Title is the co-founder of THC Staffing Group, where she and co-founder Danielle Schumacher connect cannabis companies with high-quality job candidates who represent a diverse cross section of America. Four years ago, she helped legalize cannabis in Colorado as an organizer for Amendment 64. Now based in Boston, Title works with legalization campaigns in other states to include language that creates opportunities for diverse communities and people of color. Leafly spoke with her recently about the challenges of those initiatives and the opportunities for cannabis companies to expand diversity within their own ranks. 

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Thanks to changing federal and state regulations, the marijuana industry in California is booming. And now women are taking the lead and breaking through the "grass ceiling.

Weed, pot, marijuana, Mary Jane, no matter what you call it - the sale of legal cannabis is growing fast.

Industry leaders expect sales to soar from $2.5 billion in 2014 to as much as $8 billion by 2018 and women are staking claim to many of those new businesses.

"Women are natural healers," Andrea Unsworth said. "We're the people who are typically in your home when you are sick, you know you go to mom."